OK can someone tell me the difference between these wheels and which is a better choice or reconmended? And also are these wheels compatible with a 8speed bike?

Mavic Aksium
Mavic Ksyrium SL2
Mavic Ksyrium Elite 650C
Mavic Ksyrium Equipe

whats the diff besides the prices...

It was too much to list the prices of each of them but nashbar and performance bike both have good prices on these, if anyone is looking for wheels

Thx
tankman

How much do you weigh?

How do you ride and what will you be using these for primarily?

https://www.mavic.com/ewb_pages/r/route.php

oh wow drag i think that info would help...lol
im 150lbs and most of my riding is not aggressive, mainly fast flat level and long tour rides

Mavic Ksyrium SL2 - great flats, fast, stiff training wheel
Mavic Ksyrium Elite 650C - good value for the high quality.
Mavic Ksyrium Equipe - my favourite wheel of them all, light, stiff and great for climbing.

Why are you looking for 650c wheels?

The Elite 650C are smaller than usual wheels. They are either used on tiny frames (youth, women) or for Triathlon. So I am pretty sure you don't want to look at these.
The regular Elites 700c are excellent. They are more expensive than others because they are lighter.
The Mavic Line top to bottom is:
Ksyrium ES
Ksyrium SL2
Ksyrium Elite
Ksyrium Equipe
Aksium

The difference is price, weight, type of spoke material, and quality of hubs. All Mavic wheels are of excellent quality and recognized to be very strong. So your choice will depend of your type of riding (recreational (Aksium), fitness (Aksium, Equipe), performance (Equipe, Elite, SL2, ES), or racing (SL2, ES)), and your budget.

Really?

I would have thought the opposite, since these are relatively porkly at 1840g.

For climbing, wouldn't the Ksyrium SL be more appropriate at 1535g per set?

I think you may have the SL2 and Equipe confused for one another.

For a bulletproof training wheel I think the Aksiums are the best.
The spokes seize on the Elites if they are not serviced every month or to, so they will be pretty useless after 18 months to 2 years.

For your riding I reccommend the Aksiums or the Equipes. Both are cheap and will last a long time.

"Mavic Ksyrium Equipe - my favourite wheel of them all, light, stiff and great for climbing."

This is a joke right ? I think I have a bowling ball that weighs less than these wheels But, they are hella stout for a road or cyclocross training wheel.

hahas sorry I didn't even know this wheelset existed!! ...well I mixed it up with the ES. I've experienced riding with the Mavic Ksyrium ES anniversary edition and its super stiff and fast on the climbs. Super wheelset! I ride elites most of the time.

REALLY cheap, too; about $220 US

I am a clyde and I ride the Aksiums. I have about 500 miles on them so far and they have been great. When I started riding them in July I was at 302. I am now at 265 and have had no problems with them at all. I know they are on the heavy side but they seem to be bomb proof. I was a little concerned with them as far as spoke count goes but my LBS assured me they would be fine.

People kind of forget about the Mavic Cosmos. They don't have that same 'bling' look. But they are lighter than both the Aksiums and the Equipes and the rim is essentially the tried and true Open Pro which folks on here tend to support. I'm not sure if they will still be in their '07 line-up, but they were updated just a few years ago.

I what to know what "servicing" means with reguards to Mavic Ksyrium Elites. Does this mean truing or squirting WD40 on them or what. You say Sieze, how can the Elites sieze but the equipe's do not and they are a model down?

Aksiums are a really nice bang for the buck. While they're obviously heavier than the more expensive options in the Mavic line, they're very well designed wheels. It's just a personal thing that I like to ride my own hand built wheels (I need all the practice I can get), but I certainly wouldn't feel bad about riding a set of Aksiums.

I laugh at people riding Cosmic wheels as I overtake them on cheaper less performance wheels. These wheels are generally only for racing or training if you're A or elite rider, otherwise you are very funny rider who is trying to cheat themselves into reaching warpspeed

There are Cosmos - Basically an Open Pro rim with Mavic Hubs and straight pull spokes (1805 grams), which have been around forever and run about $300:
https://www.mavic.com/ewb_pages/p/pro...=2&gamme=route

...and there are a few versions of very expensive Cosmics (deep profile with carbon flanges or full carbon). I wasn't talking about the Cosmics.

Wow!

That's awesome! Congrats on the weight loss!

mavic's site is not that great

I have "secret" access to the dealer tech site.
PM if you're SERIOUS!!

The Elites have steel nipples and it's the threads that seize if they are left dry.

"left dry"
Johnny, help me out here, does this mean service them with a lube, or go through each nipple every few months and turn it. Let me know. Thanks a ton. I just installed a set of Elites on my roubaix today.
I assume if they sieze, does that mean that the wheels are shot?

Thanks. I appreciate the kind words.

I upgraded from the Mavic Aksium to the Ksyrium SL2. Night and day difference.