nietsmas

i have a set of mavic ksyrium es wheels and am trying to make them all black instead of having the single red spoke and the red hub. does anyone know if mavic makes the hub in black? i realize that the red color is in recognition of the helium set from way back in the day, but i honestly would just rather have it red.

or am i just better off selling them and finding the older style ksyrium ssc or the new SL special edition?

UT_Dude

Sell and buy. Much cheaper/easier.

VT to CA

If you really need the stealth look, I'd go for the SL Premiums... those blacked-out SSC's are pretty damn old at this point- all the ones on eBay claiming "only 500 miles!" look beat...

Before you go through the hassle though, see if you can't dress up other parts of your bike (on the cheap) to make the touch of red work. I was going for a blue, white, and black thing on my bike. But a touch of red on the saddle, cranks, fork, and the bars... the ES's actually matched those, and it ended up looking pretty dope in my opinion... a "main colors" theme with small bits of an opposite color (evenly distributed) can be really nice looking.

nietsmas

the only issue with the sell and buy is that the new SL's are going for a lot more than the ES's are brand new...

here's my current setup (now with actual white bar tape instead of the off-white cork):

wanders

Looks good as it is. The red spoke and hub accentuate the red on the fork. Aaaagh, I can't believe I said that. Still - ride the piss out it.

VT to CA

Hmmm... I'm not so sure an all-black wheelset would look too hot on that setup... I'd definitely recommend adding some red parts to better integrate the ES's before I'd get stealthed out wheels.

A red seatpost clamp and some red chainring bolts might bring it all together... a red CK headset might be too much, or maybe it'd work...

Or you could make red a primary color in the setup... do the red clamp, CR bolts, and headset- but also tires, bar tape, and saddle...

FrankBattle 

I don't get it .. what's wrong with it as is? You do know you paid extra for the 1 red spoke, yes?

vic32amg

honestly i think it looks perfect as is. if you want all black get some reynolds and peel the stickers.

Homebrew01

How about this ? It's a lot cheaper.

stevesurf

Nice Moots build; white is right. Keep the ES's color and add a Dinotte taillight for the extra [functional] red...

UT_Dude

Man, you have me beat in the Silver dept, which is hard to do...



Your bike looks sweet, though. I say leave them.

Sirrobinofcoxly

Buying new wheels to get rid of a red spoke seems a little crazy to me. Sounds like you need some LEW wheels. They are all black.

vic32amg

I actually like the look of the ES wheels. since everyone is going to jump in I figure i can show mine.

Coyote2

[QUOTE=nietsmas;5826657]i have a set of mavic ksyrium es wheels and am trying to make them all black instead of having the single red spoke and the red hub. does anyone know if mavic makes the hub in black? i realize that the red color is in recognition of the helium set from way back in the day, but i honestly would just rather have it red.

or am i just better off selling them and finding the older style ksyrium ssc or the new SL special edition?[/QUOTE]


I think you need to examine your priorities. If you were a rider, you wouldn't care about the red hub and spoke. If you're not a rider, why spend that kind of money on wheels?

Speedee

I'm a "rider", and I care how my bike looks. Imagine that...

sfrider 

If you ride a little faster nobody will notice one spoke is red.

Dubbayoo

Should he re-examine his priorities or yours? If he enjoys riding a bike he's a rider...whether he meets your definition of one matters to no one but you. If you've spent more than 15 minutes on BF you know vanity is not only common but it probably drives 50% of the upgrades in the road world.

I'd worry more about killing those loud French decals than the red spoke/hub, even if they were on my bike which is black with blue accents.

botto 

patentcad

But the one red spoke that matches the red hubs is by far the coolest thing about those wheels.

nietsmas

thanks everyone for all the input. you've convinced me to stay with the existing wheelset.

i guess i just have my bike fund burning a hole in my pocket and i honestly don't have much else to obsess about. i've been thinking about buying a powermeter, but i have a feeling that since i don't really race, it would be kind of a waste of money.

i always ride hard and try to be as fast as i can and be the best cyclist that i can, but without racing, i think it would be hard to motivate myself to actually follow a training schedule.

VT to CA

I race and I frigging hate powermeters. I use one, but if I didn't race I'd never go near one. Talk about sucking the joy out of a ride... you're always thinking about the data it's collecting at any given moment, and that really kills the whole zen pedaling thing for me. Maybe others can just not think about it, but it bugs the hell out of me.

I use it as sparingly as possible- about half my training rides. I use a Power Tap, so I just swap out the rear wheel... I never race with it- tried that once, and I was so distracted I swapped it out after the first stage.

mark89unc

Dude, your bike looks great as is.............don't lose the bling from the wheels. Add a touch of red somewhere on the bike and enjoy the ride! Keep those ES's

Smorgasbord42

You've got a nice looking bike there. Peel the stickers and learn to love the red:

nietsmas

my only reasoning for a powermeter was that i like the data available to me. i use an Edge 305 and i love being able to upload my ride data to motionbased to see all the data. its nice being able to compare certain rides to others.

since this thread is about aesthetics, my only concern about a powertap is that i couldn't have my fancy bladed spokes like the ksyriums. i'd love an SRM, but it would probably just be a huge overkill for me.

vic32amg

I recently got rid of my PT and went back to Garmin 305 for the 3rd time. The Pt was a bigger distraction and I over-trained. not good. actually got slower. I would recomend it in the perfect scenario - no family, team, coach, cycling is your #1 etc.. but I'm married , baby on the way, no coach, wifes pregnant eating style doesn't benefit me. Also cycling peaks is deep and to really learn it takes patience to a new level. I would say its hard to coach yourself.

I would avoid a PM unless you are 100% dedicated to it. but really you can get fast using a garmin. and the numbers don't distract you too much..