Mavic Cosmic Carbone SLE WTS Exalith 2 or Reynolds Strike Carbon Clincher?

Triathlon Forum
1

I am in the process of buying a new road bike and I am trying to decide which wheels to get the bike with. Which wheels do you think are better as all-round wheels?

Mavic Cosmic Carbone SLE WTS Exalith 2
or
Reynolds Strike Carbon Clincher

The bike is a Canyon Aeroad and the wheels come as part of two of the stock configurations. I wasn’t necessarily looking for an aero road bike but the geometry ended up fitting me better. The bike would be my everyday ride.

2

Do you ride in wet conditions frequently? If so, I’d go for the Mavic wheels.

3

I don’t ride too often in the rain, although currently I live in London, so …

I was also wondering how each handle in windy conditions. The Mavic has shallower profile which in theory should handle better, but I read that the profile of the fairing is also less round compared to the newer generation of aero wheels (which supposedly handles better in windy conditions), so idk if the Reynolds might handle better despite the deeper profile.

I consider myself an experienced enough rider, and I ride rear disk and 90 front on my TT bike when racing, but I have no experience with riding aero wheels on a road bike (I assume the fact that there is much less weight on the front of the road bike affects the wheels it can tolerate to a greater degree). So with aero being nice to have, I prefer if the wheels handle at least reasonably well in windy conditions, so that the bike is fun to ride on daily basis.

4

I cant speak for the reynolds, but the braking on the mavics is excellent.

5

I’ve ridden Cosmic Carbones in years past, and they are pretty stable with anything under 30mph gusts. But really, either wheelset would be fine. The Mavic’s would be a little heavier, but also a little more durable, so it might be a better option for a road bike.

6

For an every day ride the Mavic would be probably more durable.
Might be worth looking at the Campagnolo Bullet 50s or Fulcrum Redwind 50 wheels too. Have Al. brake surface, great bearings and are good value at Wiggle

7

I’ve ridden Cosmic Carbones in years past, and they are pretty stable with anything under 30mph gusts. I’m riding a set of Mavic CXR60s as my daily wheels. 20+ mph gusts is when I tend to look for my other bike, which has Flo 30s.

8

I got a Canyon with the Cosmic Carbones.
So far I haven’t had any trouble whatsoever riding them and its been pretty windy down South recently as you know.
They feel really solid, roll well, plus with the bonus that with the exalith coating you get a great sound when you brake - go for it!!