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Mavic’s new R-SYS carbon spoke technology
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Mavic France placed a voluntary recall on all of its front R-SYS wheels this winter and a domestic recall followed suit two weeks later. The reason for the domestic delay was the CPSC’s approval of Mavic USA’s action plan for the recall. That plan was considered voluntary, but Mavic used verbiage and took action that made is seem more serious. Mavic stated consumers should “immediately cease use” and took the added measure of shipping R-SYS owners its Aksium model, which relies on steel spokes, until the situation can be rectified.
New R-SYS wheels will begin shipping to consumers at the end of March. Up until then Mavic will continue to place an interim replacement in the hands of consumers. Once the new wheel is ready, any old R-SYS will be replaced directly with the new R-SYS
The ultimate solution to the problem is a new R-SYS spoke technology Mavic had on hand for the first time at the Amgen Tour of California. We caught up with a few Mavic sponsored riders and its domestic marketing director, Sean Sullivan, for the official word.
“It rides way better,” said OUCH-Maxxis rider Tim Johnson, who said the previous design felt different under hard cornering pressure. “It’s solid.”
OUCH-Maxxis, Liquigas and AG2R have all had access to the new wheel at this year’s AToC.
The only difference between the old R-SYS and the new model is the carbon technology used in the spokes; the rims and the hubs remain exactly the same. Both types of spokes are made from hollow carbon, but the old version used mainly uni-directional filaments, while the new spokes have a woven outer sheath to increase their impact resistance.
“We’ve totally redesigned the spoke,” said Sullivan. “Instead of just having strictly longitudinal, uni-directional carbon fiber, we’ve put a couple layers of multi-weave carbon fiber in there as well.”
Sullivan said he would be surprised if any of the consumers will be able to tell a difference in ride quality from the recalled wheel they returned and the new replacement wheel. The professional riders are able to perceive things that other riders cannot. Silver rings just above the spoke nipple identify the new spokes.
The important thing is that the new wheel won’t have any problem holding up to side impacts or something being caught in the spokes, like the previous design.
“We’ve dramatically increased the impact resistance from the side,” said Sullivan. “The sheer resistance (is higher) and the strength, even the longitudinal strength as well.”
Sullivan also said that Mavic is using a new way of connecting the carbon spoke ends to their alloy ends. The alloy components of the spoke now extend up into the tubular carbon structure about a centimeter. Despite the changes, Sullivan said the wheel doesn’t gain any weight.
“That’s the big thing,” said Sullivan. “The weight didn’t increase, but the strength went up considerably. I mean it’s exponentially stronger. This is a big step for our TraComp technology and all of our wheels in general.”
Right now Mavic is just building front wheels with the new spokes, but it has plans to add the technology to the rear wheels as well. For now, anyway, Sullivan said Mavic has thousands of front wheels to build with the new spokes to replace what has been recalled. So, for 2009, Mavic’s R-SYS rear wheels, which only use carbon spokes on the non-drive side, will continue using the old carbon spokes.
“Our main thing is to get these (new) wheels to consumers in the field,” said Sullivan.
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