And Mavic said it couldn't be done

[Dr Imran T]

The rims on my my Mavic ksyrium SL were pretty worn but other than that they were in very good condition. Now rather than bin a very expensive set of wheels, I did a bit of searching around on the internet and found that the rims of the elites fit perfectly fine and could be used to rebuild my SL's.

I went to my LBS [Firth Cycles in Queensbury] and got the the guy there to check all the measurements etc and he said it should be ok to use elite rims.

Bike shop guy then rang Mavic and they said it could not be done and that I should order a new set of wheels [hardly surprising] - We ignored their advice... a few weeks later my new rims arrived and I got Barry to rebuild my wheels for approx £20/30 each.

Wheels are once again as good as new and I saved myself a lot of money by just persevering...

I've read that there have been many people disappointed with Mavic's customer service when it comes to repairing old wheels.

If anyone else is in the same predicament then feel free to PM and I may be able to help/point you in the right direction.

Hope this helps someone

[Birdthom]

Are the Elite rims readily available then? Mine are almost shot, so would be good to know.

[S10GTA]

Interesting. I don't have mavic wheels, but Zipp 303's. Rims are starting to wear, was worried they would become an expensive ornament once they were dead....

[Dr Imran T]

Birdthom said:

Are the Elite rims readily available then? Mine are almost shot, so would be good to know.

yes. I got them from JE James and then supplied them to my LBS to do the rest

[Disco You]

S10GTA said:

Interesting. I don't have mavic wheels, but Zipp 303's. Rims are starting to wear, was worried they would become an expensive ornament once they were dead....

Zipps are "handbuilt" anyway. Not "factory" wheels like mavics.