Thursday, April 25, 2013

Mavic Aksium wheels

Now that I've had 2 weeks of riding on the Aksium wheels, here's some thoughts. The first is that I can't tell any difference in speed. What I do notice is the bike is lighter than with the stock Giant PR2 wheels. I didn't think that mattered or that I'd even notice, but it is noticeable.

The wheels look nice and they've worked well. Breaking is about the same as before. On my regular lunch ride, I haven't noticed any appreciable speed increase on holden reservoir going south. The thing is, I don't even know how to compare, since I don't have a lab to isolate all the variables. On windy days I don't know it makes any difference. If there is, I can't tell.

One thing I did notice is the older giant PR2 were gentler on potholes and bumps. I usually inflate to about 110 and use 700x25. The tires that came with the Aksium are 700x23, so it's not comparable. Once I swap out the stock tires for Gatorskin hardshell, it will be easier to see if there's a difference.

The last few weekends I've done 40-60 mile rides and I haven't noticed any additional hand, wrist or shoulder fatigue. I can't attribute this to Aksium wheels being stiffer, since I haven't measured it. Even if it is, swapping out the stock tires and reducing the PSI to 105 would probably be enough.

Overall, I'm happy with the Aksium wheels.

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