Road Cycling - KSYRIUM SSC SL or KING/DT/MAVIC?

What do you think would be a better all around road racing wheelset?The Ksyriums or a Chris King hub with Open Pro rims?Don't say Tune or ADA because that's too much money and NO ONE sells them.

Cannot compare the two as I only have the SSC SL but I cannot imagine a wheel much better than these.

CK hubs are to die for but these Ksyriums are really fast, I mean really fast!

I ride Open Pros (on Chorus, not CK hubs) and Campy Euruses. If you go with the Open Pros, you'll have 32 round spokes and a beefier, heavier rim. The lighter weight, lower spoke count, and aero spokes of the Ksyriums (especially the SSC SLs) will give you more speed, as they're probably fairly comparable to the Euruses. All else being equal, switching from my Open Pros to Euruses on a 3 mile TT lowered my time by 30 seconds (about a 2 MPH gain in speed).

So for racing, go with the Ksyriums. They're also fairly strong, so are ok for daily riding. However, if you can afford it, buy a second wheelset for training. The Open Pros on Chorus hubs take a lot of crap from me (big guy, lots of power) and hold up well. If you have Shimano, I'm sure Ultegra hubs would be good, too. Then you could save your sweet expensive wheels for your races.

wow.... 30 seconds... that is impressive!!!

Yeah Xtrmyorick I have an Ultegra wheelset now for everyday riding.I want another set for racing and some fast club rides May-August.
Thanks for the help.

are we on candid camera? you've got to be kidding here.

ksyrium's. and don't sell the mavic hubs short.

Yeah Xtrmyorick I have an Ultegra wheelset now for everyday riding.I want another set for racing and some fast club rides May-August.
Thanks for the help.


If you're a lighter rider, you could probably even go for something like Rolfs, Bontragers, Shimano WH-7701s or other paired spoke wheels. Those things'll cut the air like nobody's business. I unfortunately can't ride them, as I'd stop-sign the living crap out of them.

I'm 5'8" and weigh under 134 pounds.I weigh 130 in the summer.

At the Ksyrium price and your weight you might also want to check out the American Classic 420 with bladed spokes. See them at glorycycles.com. I find that when you call and talk personally with Clive, the owner, he will give you another 5%+ off of his posted prices. I use AM skewers with my Ksyriums and think they are great. But I am too heavy side for AM wheels.

Depending on who you have build a set of Mavic/King wheels, I feel you are better off in the long run passing on the Ksyrium's. You can have the Mavic/Kings built to your needs, and repairs are no problem. Break or bend a spoke on the Ksyrium's and you will be sorry.

Official Disclamer... I own a set of both.