RogueMechanic Explains Mavic Spokes
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- Опубликовано: 7 фев 2025
- Do you have Mavic wheels? Do you want to know more about Mavic spokes? In this video, RogueMechanic explains the ins and outs of the different types of spokes that Mavic uses and has used in their wheels. This is helpful for both professional bike mechanics who don't deal with Mavic wheels that often and the home bicycle mechanic. There is also some useful information for the consumer that wants to know more about the spoke technology that Mavic has.
You've been my savior on too many occasions. I wished Mavic cared this much about their customers. But their product is solid, I love my Ksyriums.
Lol! I'm glad that I was able to help. :) I've learned that Mavic isn't completely oblivious when it comes to customer service. I think that they are focused more on making solid wheels than anything else and they are very proud of their wheels and where they are made. If they upped their game in the area of customer service, they would be a unicorn of a company! Thanks for your comment!
A lot of great information. I ordered some spokes from you and the service was excellent. Thank you for helping us keep our Mavic wheels rolling.
Thank you for your order and for your kind words. I believe that there are more 15+ year old Mavic's still rolling than any other brand that hasn't been rebuild at least once.
Excellent video John. I think I'm one of those people still riding around on a set of 1st gen. ksyrium wheels and several sets later too. (and with no truing or problems I might add) Great wheels. Thanks for the info on preventative maintenance also.
Thank you so much for your kind words! I agree that those are great wheels. Really hard to beat all around. I don't have my legs under me just yet regarding putting a video together and truth be told, I am really out of my comfort zone being in front of a camera. Hopefully both aspects will improve soon. Thanks again! -John
Thank You for the in depth, just a general bike nerd here, and was always (still a little bit) mystified by all of Mavic's proprietary stuff...It's like R&D Gone wild over there, gotta give them credit for experimenting.(though I still dont want the hassle and will remain on s.s. and brass for now🙂) Thanks again!
Thank you for your kind words and your honest opinions. I've learned that Mavic's use of proprietary stuff, especially spokes and rims, is a change for the better, not just to be different. Specifically, improvements to the durability and more generally the ride quality of the wheels. Thanks again! :)
I have some mavic aksium wheels , any idea if I may use other brands of spokes besides the mavic ones ? Love the video !
Hello Andrei, Thank you for your kind words! Yes, I suppose that you can use other brands of spokes for your Aksium wheels as long as they are the close to the similar length since those wheels use bladed and/or round stainless steel spokes. Sometimes using other brands in the only way to get Mavic wheels back on the road when the Mavic spokes are not available. Thank you for writing! -John
Thank you from SkyLoLo, good job splaining
Thank you!
No cosmic carbone sl spokes?
Fantastic video, but I'm also a mechanic, and I'm at odds as to why anyone makes the sentient choice to purchase Mavic wheels with the M7 captive nipples. I've not worked with any other Mavic wheels. I can tall you a few things that you missed, or things you should consider. Recently a customer brought in a set of Ksyrium Elite wheels with cracked M7 nipples. During complete disassembly and inspection and despite the wheels still being very true, the braking surface was at T-min. 70% of the nipples were cracked longitudinally. 90%of the nipples were seized to the spokes, and 4 nipple halves had to be drilled out of the rim and the fragments removed. One of the most alarming aspects of a longitudinally split nipples, is that you will struggle to affix the nipple wrench because due to the split, the nipple gets larger and corrosion salts pack inside the crack. In my opinion, there's no logical reason to ever use loctite on the nipples, there is plenty of nipple thread engagement to capture and hold the threads and Mavic uses a polyamide ring internally to prevent spoke back out. Mavic supplies the M7 nipples with a locking compound applied to the nipple threads,. The corrosion mechanism is galvanic in nature. These spokes are made of 3 dissimilar metals. Stainless spokes, aluminum captive nipples, and a brass insert to hole the spoke. Having two dissimilar metals is bad enough, and I agree that any bicycle needs regular maintenance in the areas that dissimilar metals interface, but Mavic in all their wisdom provided the M7 spokes system with a triple threat. While disassembling this set of wheels I was greeted by clouds of aluminum oxide dust as I removed each component. Also, alarmingly, there was a massive amount of corrosion at the air hole. If you inspect a new Elite rim, you'll see that the rim is painted, and not anodized. Look closely at the nipple holes and you'll see the over-spray. Thusly, it is only a few microns of paint that stand as protection between that valuable aluminum and the environment. My recommendation to anyone with the wheels using the M7 interface is to use an industrial grade anti-seize compound, and every couple of years the rims should be disassembled and reassembled to clean and reapply the anti-seize. These compounds contain a blend of high-quality grease and lubricating solids such as copper, graphite, aluminum, calcium oxide etc. or a combination of these which are suspended in the grease. This compound should be packed into the nipple/spoke interface and it should also be used on the nipple threads. Anytime the wheels aren't true, check for nipple back out and adjust as necessary.. If you live in a coastal area you should probably have maintenance done more often, if you live in an area where salt is used to control freezing, do more maintenance. If you live in a desert or a very low humidity area, you'll have a bit less maintenance. The take away here, is that if you're going to spend a large sums money on a proprietary system from any manufacturer, you should be able to fully understand the downside before ever considering the upside. Other reference information concerning galvanic corrosion noting material nobility can go a long way to understanding the pitfalls of corrosion, and there are loads of information online to complete self study on the subject of galvanic corrosion. I've looked at various Mavic maintenance documents and I can't find any recommendations for maintenance to arrest corrosion. At the end of the day, the customer paid for two new rims, 38 spokes and labor. After the bill tally up I dare say he might have been better off buying a new set. I could have saved him on the labor had I not tried to save parts. So to all those that plan on replacing the rims, save yourself time and frustration, just take the front hub apart and bend the spokes out and cut all the spokes on the back wheel. The only thing worth saving are the hubs, and you should at least replace the bearings on those.
Thanks for your insight and for your kind words. Here are a few of my thoughts...in no particular order. Mavic's use of captive M7 nipples started over 20 years ago. The overall success of the design cannot be denied. Maybe folks make that decision because of the reputation of Mavic wheels being durable and good quality. IMHO, the same question can be asked about the choice to purchase wheels with “regular” stainless steel spokes with internal nipples as well as wheels built with aluminum nipples.
I have yet to experience Mavic nipples splitting longitudinally…must be an older Ksyrium Elite wheel. On a positive note, I suppose being split longitudinally makes for easier extraction (see my video about Mavic nipple removal).
Dissimilar metal corrosion is real, I get that. But for some reason it doesn’t happen to every Mavic wheel. Even though you are specifically alluding to Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheels that have stainless steel spokes with M7 nipples.
The use of anti-seize is good advise, but recommending disassembly of the wheel for application is probably a bit overboard. I suggest at least once a year, go around the wheel and turn every nipple (while holding the spoke) a quarter turn back and forth and apply a drop of some sort of penetrating lubricant between the spoke and the nipple as a preventative measure.
I live in an area where salt and brine is applied to the roadways like you wouldn’t believe and I have worked on some high milage Ksyrium SL and Elites that have little if any corrosion issues and some that do. I agree that some amount of maintenance is important.
In conclusion regarding your conclusion, the “large sums of money” that you mentioned, is that regarding the Ksyrium Elite wheels? Because those are $500-$600 wheels that were heavily spec’d as OE wheels…not necessarily expensive proprietary wheels. Even Ksyrium SL’s…sold for $800-$1100…not really crazy money considering how long they last. You would be hard pressed to find a 10-15 year old pair of Zipp’s with 20K+ miles that are still functional that haven’t been rebuilt at least once because of metal fatigue failure of the spokes, seized nipples, or both. Another point worth bringing up is even if you had the best hand built wheels 15+ years ago, built with all of the best techniques to prevent corrosion or fatigue failure the best components, they would be hanging on a hook somewhere (or had to be rebuilt) not being used because the rear hub is not compatible with 10 or 11 speed cassettes…Mavic rear hubs have been 11 speed compatible since 2001 by just removing the spacer that’s behind the cassette for 8,9, and 10 speed drivetrains. I think that Mavic wheels are not as bad as you might think.
The land the plane, my point is that every wheel design has it’s pro’s and cons. I am willing to assume that a company that has been in the wheel business for over 125 years probably know a few things about designing wheels. I’ll give them that much. I really do appreciate your point of views and you taking the time to comment on my video. Many thanks! -John
Can I change the nipple with a normal one.??
I just bought second hand rear wheel Mavic crossmax xa elite 29", missing 2 spokes, what spokes do I need or how do I measure them in order to purchase the right ones?
Hello! If you send me the serial numbers of your wheels (located on the rim near the valve hole), I should be able to determine the correct spokes. Send that info to roguemechanic (at) gmail (dot) com.
Hi I have mavic kysrium Pro and rim brake surface is dying. I'm planning to buy a carbon rim after market that match the number of holes. but my question is can I use different spoke too because I don't think current mavic spoke will work on after market rim. I just want to preserve my mavic hub in the future
Hello! Can you send me the serial number of your wheels (located on the rim near the valve hole) to roguemechanic at gmail dot com? I can use this info to determine the model year and part numbers. Thanks for your comment!
@@RogueMechanic Thank you I've send you the number
@@RogueMechanic sent to gmail
I've got two sets of old Mavic Heluim clincher wheels with straight pull spokes. Three are perfect and have never needed truing but one of the front wheels needs truing and every spoke turns (not winding up) while turning the nipple. I have to use a large size vice grip to hold the each spoke while turning the nipple. It's very laborious securing the spoke in the vice grips, turning a nipple, releasing the vice grips, testing the adjustment, then doing it all over again for each turn of a nipple. WHY does this happen and is this normal?
It's probably a combination of corrosion and the spoke prep and was applied to the threads of the spokes. It doesn't help that the spokes are straight pull as opposed to J-bend, which holds the spoke and prevents it from spinning. FYI, Park Tool has a tool (CSH-1) that is designed just for this use. Thanks for writing and I hope that this helps.
Really appreciate your input. I figured there was a tool out there for the situation. Thanks and I'll check it out.@@RogueMechanic
Can I take out the old spokes and put traditional ones somehow?
Hello! Traditional stainless steel spokes are not compatible with the Mavic hub flanges and the rim. You need to use the Zicral spokes that the wheel was designed to use. Thanks for writing!
Hi excellent video thank you !
Can you explain a little how to remove spoke on free wheel hub side at 3:14 ?
Thank you Lionel for your kind words! Yes, I'll try to explain...You have to remove that silver colored retaining ring with a small screw driver by lifting it out of the groove (towards the rim), This is possible because if you notice, it is split. (Be careful not to distort the ring too much because it will become more difficult to reinstall after you replace the spoke). Once the ring is removed, the head of the spoke will slide out. After the replacement spoke is installed, insert the retaining ring back into the groove (make sure that it's seated all of the way around). I hope that this helps!
@@RogueMechanic thank you ! It is so easy with your explaination !
Is this type spoke good? or hard to find and replace ?
im consider buying a set mavic crossride disc wheel.
Hello! Yes, they are good spokes. Some can be difficult to find depending on the model year of the wheel. Thanks for your comment!
Hi, I have mavic crossmax enduro 26inch wheels am struggling to find spokes for them any ideas on a supplier.
Can I remove the spokes from a wheel with a damaged rim as I have bought one , but don't know much about it .many thanks
Hi Dan, If you send me the serial number of the wheels (typically located on the rim near the valve hole) to roguemechanic at gmail dot com I should be able to ID the wheels and the correct spokes. Additionally, yes, you can used the spokes from a wheel with a damaged rim as long as you can remove them without damaging them. I hope that this info helps!
Read my reply
how much spokes weigh? i have aksium
Hello! It depends on which Aksium spokes...model year and front, DS, or NDS. The different lengths have different weights.
I have a set of Ksyrium Elite wheels 2011 I think. I've had them since new, but the rims are worn and the nipples are seized and split. The hubs are fine. Can I just replace the rims with different Mavic ones and new spokes?
Hello! Yes, you can rebuild that wheel with a replacement Mavic Ksyrium Elite front rim and the Mavic Ksyrium Elite front spokes. I think that I might have both items available. Let me know if you what more info about getting the replacement parts. Thanks!
@@RogueMechanic Thanks, very useful video. Like Stewart I have an older set of Ksyrium wheels and I want to replace the front rim. My question is, can I use the newer version of the rim with the original hub and spokes or do I need to source the older rim. Thanks.
Hi Paul! In most cases you can use a newer version front rim while keeping the existing hub and spokes. The only situation that I'm not 100% sure is with the first gen (1999-2001) Ksyrium SL wheels. So the 2010-11 Ksyrium SL front rims that I have will work as replacements for 2001+ model year Ksyrium SL front wheels. I hope that this info helps!
Hey Paul, I looked at your comment again and want to clarify. I mentioned Ksyrium SL's...If you have Ksyrium Elite wheels, let me know which model year that you have and I will confirm compatibility. Send to roguemechanic at gmail dot com.
@@RogueMechanic thanks for that. I'll email a picture of them tomorrow. Cheers
Why do some mavic wheels have a single yellow or red spoke? Are they a special edition?
The white, yellow, or red spokes are purely cosmetic, or a style element and do not signify a special edition wheelset. Thanks for your comment!
Hello, this is to show you where the air valve is!
This is exaclty the same for stickers they are stuck to help you to identify your valve. When you are racing, every second is important.
how much weight spokes of mavic aksium?
Hello! It depends on which Aksium spokes...model year and front, DS, or NDS. The different lengths have different weights.
@@RogueMechanic I have mavic aksium from 2015 steel spokes I need to know how much it weighs 1
It is 6.9g alone (each) and 8.1g with the spoke nipple.
@@RogueMechanic friend, thank you very much, I have looked for this information everywhere and I finally found it thanks to you, greetings from Chile
12:10 omg man can you please show us. you're a blassing, I just need to know how to do this
I'll put that topic on the list of videos to make. Thanks for your comment!
@@RogueMechanic you're awesome man keep going :)