Mavic Ksyrium ES Cracked Rim

after a bit more than two years, the rear wheel of my pair of Mavic Ksyrium ES (now sold as Ksyrium SL) wheels has basically completely disintegrated. the back wheel has 10 drive-side spokes, and eight of them looked like the one shown here, with severe cracking in the rim. i am surprised that none of the spokes pulled out, i was probably getting very close to that. i noticed that the back wheel became untrue, and a closer look then revealed that the complete rim was in really bad shape.

the wheel is a bit over two years old and has no more than 5000 miles on it, probably quite a bit less. i am 185lb, and i ride a forgiving carbon frame, and there is no weight limit for these wheels. i specifically bought them because everybody said that for a pair of light-weight wheel, these would be the ones to get in terms of durability. they were $1200 for the wheel-set retail price, which i consider to be expensive enough to also expect good service from a company.

my bike dealer sent the wheel to Mavic and eventually i had a lengthy conversation with the Mavic Man. to me it seemed clear that with the rim cracking almost everywhere, there must be a problem with the aluminum, maybe temperature or material issues during production. however, even though this wheel clearly did not perform as you might expect from a high-end wheel, and was showing clear signs of production problems, the Mavic Man was in no mood to compromise. it was pretty clear that he never even looked at the rim, neither.

so now i am getting a rebuild of the back wheel which replaces everything except the hub, and that costs $350. pretty expensive, but hopefully worth it. it doesn't seem to be the case that many of these wheels are failing the way mine did, so i hope the new one will last longer than the one i had. it's a great wheel to ride as long as it doesn't break. regardless of that, this was the last pair of Mavic wheels i bought (and i have bought a couple of them before, and all of them held up well). if there's enough choice, i try to avoid rewarding bad customer service.

if you also have problems with Mavic rims, please leave a comment, and if you are lucky enough to have Mavic helping you out, please let us know how you did it!

Comments

[Louis]

Mine has done exactly the same and I have done probably 2000km on these wheels. Same issue with warranty. They don't want to know about it. My entire bike fleet (road, single speed and 2 mountain bikes)all have Mavic wheels but due to this one brush off I will not support Mavic again.

[dret]

good to know i am not the only one, thanks for the comment! i guess mavic can simply afford this, given how many wheels they produce and on how many bikes they are spec'd as original wheels. the R-SYS recall ( http://www.mavic.com/road/news/news.762.aspx ) was handled very differently, but then again that was a much more severe case, with a design problem that affected all of those wheels in potentially dangerous ways. my guess is that there must have been a faulty batch of rims in the ksyrium production line. those rims now age much faster than they're supposed to, but still not fast enough to fail within the warranty period. bad timing for us customers.

[Jim]

I experienced a similar failure to a rear shimano clincher Mavic SSC SL after about 3000 miles. I noticed wobbling / trueness issues and discovered a longitudinal crack in the rim bridging two spokes. Based on the previous experience of others, I didn't waste any time with the jackass sales reps; I just threw it away and bought some Easton wheels. I take every opportunity possible to share this nonsense with everyone I know. I suggest you do the same. BEST OF LUCK !

[Subbu Allamaraju]

Wow.That is a serious crack. One of my friends rides on Mavic, and his only complaint was instability with cross winds.

[dret]

@subbu: and this is how almost all spoke holes looked. i just went for my first ride with the rebuilt wheel, and they really are nice wheels, light and stiff. but they are only nice as long as they don't fall apart...

[Michael]

Hey guys..... well my wheels lasted a lot longer and did some more kms than some of the posts, but also, my rear wheel has just failed catastrophically. Basically the metal seperated right near the top of the rim. Basically my wheel looks like it has a carry handle with the amount of metal that seperated.

I have pretty much not even worried about replacement, after talking to a few people about Mavic wheels, so will be looking to replace with a new wheel set.

[dret]

@Michael: thanks for the comment! depending on how long you rode the wheels and in which conditions, at some point in time every lightweight wheel will have problems. most often this happens because of the brakes shaving off too much of the sidewalls. at some age, this is acceptable wear and tear, i would say. how many miles did you have, and was it often wet when you were riding?

[chris]

Just took my rear wheel in for the second time.. 10/09 was last trip to Mavic. I am thinking of another wheelset, as this rebuild will not look like my frontwheel. Have lateral cracks around 6 of the spoke nipples...Sonds like Mavic is avoiding dealing with a problem with these....

[Kevin]

I have a set of Mavic Ksyrium Equipe which I purchased almost three years ago, lucky for me I bought the MP3 warranty on the rims. I am riding on rear rim #6 and I noticed today after a 100K ride it has cracks starting to form, this rim only has about 2000 miles on it. Upon examination of the front rim today it also has a crack. The warranty has replaced the rims each time but I average about six months per rim, not a very good track record. I am certain I will not purchase Mavic rims in the future!

[David Wheel]

I have been riding on mine and havnt had a problem yet! you must be doing some serisou riding to do that!

[Andrew]

My rear Ksyrium ES just failed today, rim split apart at a spoke nipple. The wheel had 13,000 miles on it. I weighed 215 when I bought the wheel and currently weigh 175. Much of my riding was on Southern Sierra mountain roads and they are not very forgiving. I was very happy with how true the wheels were for most of their life, actually right up to the catastrophic failure. I wish I could recant some of my bragging on my bombproof wheels. Dave at SpeedDream built a set of wheels for my Mtn. bike that have been killer. I think I'll contact him for a recommendation before committing to a $350 rebuild of a wheel I now feel fortunate to have gotten 13M miles out of. I would also like something that is not so unpredictable on Mtn descents with gusting crosswinds. Bottom line, I lost 40 lbs riding that wheel and I didn't spend one minute in a gym or forgo a single IPA. I still have to consider it a decent $500 investment.

[Ricky]

Wow.That is a serious crack. One of my friends rides on Mavic, and his only complaint was instability with cross winds. http://www.hotfilemediafire.com

[bruce oleszczuk]

bought es in sept 07, sent back under warranty in aug 09 with cracks. just noticed crack in sept 10. waiting to see how mavic will respond. about 5000 miles on replacement from 09. i must admit, i am disappointed

[alex]

I have had a similar ksyrium wheelset for around 10,000 miles and have had to replace the rim once (no cracks, but a pretty significant dent). I've also had what I think is a a pretty common problem with noise from the freehub body, which I now service myself every couple thousand miles.

As far as I can tell, Mavic's disposition regarding any of these problems is that ksyriums are racing wheels, and any of these issues are due to normal wear.

For a polemical view on this last point, see Peter White's wheel rant:

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/Wheels.asp

[NIgel]

I have gone through 2 back wheels, I'm 85kg They look so nice and I think it was the bling that took me in. I ride on zipp 404 clinchers now and I love them so much. So stiff don't have the crosswind problem and over 35k u can feel the difference cutting through the wind. Mavic is normally good but they just cut out too much alloy when searching for lightness. I'd go for fulcrums next time guys racing zero's

[Wayne Henderson]

I have Mavic Ksyrium Equipes, 1 year old approx 6000 miles and half the drive side nipple beds have lateral cracks!!!

Thought Mavic were sound, strong wheels... obviously not true!!!

[Jack]

My rear Ksyrium ES just failed (or I just noticed it had failed) in the same manner as shown in the picture. It probably has 3500 miles on it. I would guess that it is caused by shocks from hitting potholes. I try to avoid them of course but they are a constant annoyance. I'm not thrilled to be out the cost of a rebuild or replacement. Food for thought when I buy my next wheelset.

Jack

[Lester, Adult Tricycle]

Owned a pair of mavic wheels, didn’t even make it through a season.will never buy another pair the rear hubs can’t take any abuse.Cassettes tear into free hub making it very difficult to remove cassette.

[Alan Fleisig]

My ES rear rim split at spoke nipple with about 9000 miles/15000 km, about 3 seasons. The wheels were great until then. I feel like I got my money's worth. On the other hand, I'm replacing them with the new Elites, whose rims are slightly heavier.

[Jeff]

I have a set of 2010 Ksyrium Elites that developed hairline longitudinal cracks on the rear wheel rim at 8 spokes. The wheel had 2700 miles on it. Prior to that I loved the wheels. The good part is the Mavic rep was at the bike shop a day after I dropped off the wheel and it is being factory rebuilt under warranty, no questions asked. The bad part is that next week will be the 8th week they have had the wheel. Luckily I have back-up wheels to ride on, Ksyrium Equipe. BTW, my weight varies between 210-215 lbs.

Most of my mountain and road bikes have Mavic wheels and up until now no problems. While waiting I have purchased a set of Mavic SLs and they should be in this week.

[Bruce Durnan]

My 2009 R-sys had the same crack. The rebuild cost over $400 because you have to replace the carbon spokes. I was just at my LBS and he had 5 Mavic wheels all around 2-3 years old that had cracks. Clearly there is something wrong but Mavic is not coming clean.

[Tom]

My Mavic also failed after about 4000 miles. Bought another brand; bike shop said Mavic does not support its product even though new they were $600.

[NW]

Just had my rear SLs crack across an eyelet. Had them for about 10,000 miles. Choice between $300 to fix (and prob replace again in 2 years) or get some LBS-built wheels for $1000 that I know will come with great customer service and last a lot longer. I'm choosing the new LBS wheelset. No more Mavic for me. Ever.

[Scott Miller]

I have a set of 2010 K SL rims. The rear just cracked across an eyelet as well. 6,000 miles. Looking to rebuild at LBS. I think it can be done for around $160.

[Davitt Cunningham]

So I am not the only one out there!I was 25 miles from home and my rear Mavic R-Sys wheel detonated on me. I thought it was just a catastrophic loosening of the spokes but when I took a closer look the spoke eyelet area was completely cracked. It took me a long time to find a sweet spot when tightening the wheel whereas the tire did not rub on either the seat stay or chain stay. I hobbled home to find this website. I've had these for maybe 16 months and relatively low miles. This is my last set of pre-built Mavic wheels. Mavic Sucks. Aren't they French? Haha...!

[disca]

I have the same problem. Mavic you should stop using chinese aluminum. I am a material scientist and this is what happens when companys get greedy.

[Phil Thornton]

Glad I found this site. I have a pair of Ksyriums ES that I had put more than 10K miles on but just noticed cracks around several spokes on the back wheel. Did like the wheels when they were safe but from all other comments here, it seems I need to look for a different wheel manufacturer next time. I weigh 175-180, had the wheels for 5 years.

[JDSmith]

Just called Seattle service center. Rude service rep told me that the wheels had reached the end of their service life and they no longer would replace the rims for my Anniversary Edition Mavics. Will never buy a Mavic product again!

[Greg]

yes had the rear rim crack the same as the picture, I had bent the original, got damaged in a noncycling mishap. 3 months and 3 rims were sent to my friend who is a dealer. This rim lasted about a year and started "feeling" funny found the crack, my friend said forget it buy a different set, so I did, done with the priority mavic stuff. How do they stay in business?

[D]

2000 miles and looks like spokes are pulling through on Mavic ES rear as described above and splintering between spokes on rear rim. 218 lbs
Just cleaning bike before sale & noticed.
Great looking wheel, naively thought that they were indestructible but Woop.......nada, surprise, ooh-faah
Glad I wasn't riding on them when they gave..........!!

[David]

Have a set of Mavic SL's 2006 bought new in 2008. I'm a 185 lb. rider, and just discovered cracks like everyone else in my rear wheel at the spoke holes. These wheels have seen light duty, no racing. Probably less than 5000 miles on them. Sounds like I'm SOL like everyone else that got suckered into buying these. Also note that I have a set of Mavic shoes that I broke one of the straps on just putting shoe covers on and I have not been able to get a replacement strap for. I think I'm done with anything MAVIC.

[Daniel Foster]

Just had a rim on my elites split at a nipple, I am 160lbs, wheels had only 5000 miles not even a year old.

[George Franklin]

My Ksyrium rear wheel has bit the dust...twice. First the hub cracked...yes cracked and one of the spokes pulled out of the flange. Paid $350 to Mavic to replace hub and rebuild. Two years later cracks develop around four of the nipples. Funny, I bought these because they were supposed to be bomb proof. Hardly.

[mark cosma]

This is my second rear wheel. Small cracks at the spoke nipple. These are not cheap wheels...if I wanted cheap I would have gone to Walmart. This has the makings of a class action. I wonder how many of us have been injured and didn't realize what happened?

[Romeo Fowler]

This the second time for me. the first time the wheel had a crack by the spoke niple after 3500mi of use. my LBS send it to mavic got it back in three weeks. after 900mi of use the wheel develop another crack this time in 2 deferent places. its still under warranty so i am going to have my LBS send it to mavic again and when i get the replacement i am going to part ways with them.

[John vW]

Folks, whilst I note that this started with cracked rims, has anyone experienced detensioning of the spokes on the front wheel -ksyrium equipe s - resulting in them releasing from the hub retainers? Three month old wheel, three released spokes, serious buckle and quick stop. Busted me up pretty badly given flat dry road at 22 km/hr

[Phil]

My rear Anniversary Edition Mavic has been sitting in my garage for 5 years. Less than 3000 miles light duty/no racing and rim cracked at the nipples. Mavic was not interested in helping me even though I offered to pay for the labor to rebuild. I will never again purchase a Mavic product of any type. When I purchase a new ride and it's spec'd out with a set of Mavic's, it won't be by the time I leave the shop!!! Also, I will never ever purchase or allow product from FSA on a bike. Had a pedal insert on my composite crank fail within warranty period and they refused to help me. Said they designed it to fail and I was out of luck. Two other friends had the same issue...

[Marc]

I have the same problem. I have had the SL wheel set for 2 years and only 4500 miles on them. I'm 185 pounds and the rim split at the nipple. Rear wheel. Getting ready to call Mavic.

[Robert Lynn]

I have had 2 sets of Kysyrium Elites fail me in 2 years. My first set failed on a 600 k brevet that I had driven 600 miles to get too.
I lost my Super Randonnuer rating due to that. Foolishly I bought another pair. These just cracked after 6000k. I'm done with Mavic Products.

[Dave C]

Mavic Kysyrium Elite rear wheel failed after two years, although probably only ridden for about a year. hairline cracks at the nipples. Thought they were great wheels, how wrong I was. I've had other wheels last years, pretty disappointed and won't be getting anymore Mavic's. Maybe we should start a sumofus campaign, to at least get the message through to Mavic that they've got major quality control issues, I'll look into it.

[Mike]

Geez! My LBS said these wheels are prone to this problem, and after reading all these posts, I am convinced. My LBS tried to get Mavic to warranty the Mavic Ksyrium Elite rear wheel and they basically told them to take a hike! My wheelset is 2 years old with 5,000 miles, bike is 2012 Orbea Orca, I weigh 180 lbs and take extremely good care of my bike.

This is clearly a design/ manufacturing problem and Mavic should have recalled every one of them. After the way Mavic treated everyone with this problem, I will NEVER buy another Mavic product! There are too many great wheelsets and companies out there and I have already ordered one!

[David Ewell]

I also have a a set of Mavic Kysyrium Es purchase 2nd hand new and put around 5-6k on them. Today on my way into work the Red rear spoke exploded out of it's seat. Though I hit a rock, but on further inspection the wheel was a ticking time boom. There are several spoke lugs showing cracking around the threaded lug. From what I've read above I'm not even going to bother calling the Mavic Reps as I have much more important things I could be doing. You produce a a high end product that fails due to Materials and or Mfg Process you need to stand behind it. Going shopping, but not Mavic's.

[James Matthews]

I have 3 sets of Mavic wheel & have 2 rear wheels with cracks My bike shop got me a new rim & it was rebuilt & is holding up for now, had another rear with cracks took it to the same shop They said they can no longer get a replacement rim. check Ebay to see how many Mavic wheels are for sale with cranks no more Mavic for me

[scott oshawnasi]

I started riding mavic elites and sl's since aprox 2004. I never had a problem till they stated shaving every last gram of material where the rim looks like it dips in between each spoke. Never again with mavic

[Mike Biggs]

I had a pair of '06 ES (special edition) wheels that I was able to put ~13,000 miles on before the rear wheel split circumferencewise around a nipple. By then it was too old to rebuild. I bought another pair (SLS) on Apr '13, and in addition to breaking 2 spokes on the front - separate events - the rear wheel split identically, in under 5,000 miles of typical road riding. Since they're no longer in warranty, I'm just going to have my LBS replace the rim. I've been riding Mavic since 2000. Time to start looking at other manufacturers.

[Ira]

I was just involved in a terrible crash last month when my Mavic Kysrium elite front wheel had 6 spokes detach from the front rim . There were no potholes and the wheels had around 2k miles on them. When I brought it to a few bike shops they were astounded this happened. When I tried to call Mavic no one got back to me. I am lucky to be alive

[dret]

from the comments that have showed up over the years, i think it's safe to say that there may be a bit of an engineering and/or manufacturing problem with the wheels, or that at least in some cases, the rim don't hold up as one would expect from premium products. what i am wondering about is whether anybody ever had any feedback from mavic, or whether the company's policy really is to never communicate with any customers directly, and handle all possible complaints and other issues through dealers.