Ritchey WCS vs Mavic Aksium

[TheLemming]

Hi guys,

Hoping for a bit of input on an obscure comparison.

I've got a Boardman pro carbon with some surprisingly fast rolling factory fit ritchey ds wcs wheels.
I've been offered some rather cheap mavic aksiums.

I'm trying to work out whether or not these are an upgrade? Does anyone have experience of the two?

Thanks ladies and gents :-)

Edited by TheLemming on Monday 21st October 19:05

[anonymous-user]

I was quite keen on the Ritchey wheels on my Boardman, I replaced them with Fulcrum 7s and it didnt appear to make any difference.

I'd save your cash till you can spend £300 or so, then you are looking at Shimano Ultegra 6700s, Campag Zondas, Vision T30s and you will notice the upgrade as they will be lighter than the Aksiums and have better quality hubs. The T30s are about 1550gs and a nice 30mm rim, well worth a look.

[47p2]

Ribble are doing Ultegra 6700 for £220 right now. Last week there was a promo code taking them down to £197

[TheLemming]

Thanks,

Google seemed to suggest they were Ritcheys top end ally wheels in 2010 and were at least on par with fulcrum 5s if not better - but couldn't see any group tests or reviews etc.

The mavics came with 25mm Gators, so I'm tempted to use them as winter wheels :-)
By "been offered" I mean "have impulse bought".....

Edited by TheLemming on Monday 21st October 22:45

Edited by TheLemming on Monday 21st October 23:07

[BGarside]

Been using Aksiums for a few Summers. They are surprisingly strong for wheels with 20 spokes - had them on a hire bike in Portugal a couple of years back and they coped with some shocking road surfaces and even offroading when I got lost one.

Also the hub bearings are smooth and can be serviced - just pry off the grease shields on the cartridge bearings and stick some grease in.

My only issue is they feel a bit flexy when putting the power down. I'd prefer 28-32 spokes in the rear wheel for more stiffness.

[Raven Flyer]

The Ritchey WCS are actually quite good. I replaced mine with Elites. The Elites were lighter but not by much. The Ritchey were more aero and created less drag but could not match the stiffness of the Elites. Elites are in a different class to Aksiums so that should show how good the Ritcheys are.

If you generally ride on the flat or at least on terrain that doesn't require getting out of the sadlle, I would stick to the Ritcheys.

[TheLemming]

A bit of experimentation says the ritcheys are substantially better, faster rolling, lighter, all round "feel" better.

Looks like they are going on my winter bike, which breaks my rule of "don't spend a single penny upgrading the carrera tdf".
Actually not a bad bike, just to make it "decent" would involve replacing every single component.... and these cost more than I paid for the bike (it was rather cheap).