Mavic Aksium wheelset

The Mavic Aksium is the French brand's entry-level wheelset for standard QR frames. At £209 (often much cheaper online, but be quick as prices are rising thanks to the pound falling in value) and 1,840g for the pair, they represent good value for money if you need decent wheels on a budget.

• Pros: Price, trickle-down technology, 17mm bed for wider tyres, serviceability
• Cons: Weight, no rim wear indicators

For many years Mavic's Aksium has been a staple of entry-level road cycling, generally the first stop on the low-cost factory-specced wheelset upgrade path. Way back in 2010 Mat reviewed a previous incarnation – priced at £199 with a weight of 1,964g. So in the intervening nine years they've shed 124g (the weight of an iPhone 6) and risen in sticker price by £10. The UK's official inflation figures for 2010-19 put the relative modern-day value of that £199 price at £252, so the fact that the new Aksiums are both 6.3% lighter and the equivalent of £43 cheaper – a reduction of 17% on the 2010 price in today's terms – is quite something.

> Buy now: Mavic Aksium wheelset from Merlin Cycles for £169.99

Mat's only real concern was that the front went rather out of true after the fourth ride; once corrected on the roadside they then remained true. In this respect I found them to be pretty good – after quite a few gravelly miles on both my cyclo-cross bike shod with knobblies and then Scotland's finest Highland roads on a road bike, the front wheel required a small tweak to line back up: five minutes with a 3.3 spoke key and job done. Noting I only saw the wobble in a truing stand – it wasn't noticeable out riding. The rear remained true.

The build look and quality belies the budget price – Aksiums are handbuilt in Romania, the branding is relatively restrained, and the straight-pull, radially laced spoke pattern looks nice.

Rated for 120kg bike+rider, the 20-spoke count front and rear points towards keeping weight down possibly at the expense of long-term thrashability. These aren't the wheels for loaded touring or a larger rider smashing about the place, but for average weights on smoothish roads they should be fine.

For this Everyman's wheelset I fitted the Everyman's tyre choice – Continental Grand Prix 4 Seasons in 28mm. I've put in many many thousands of miles on these over the years, and when fitted to the Mavics they didn't disappoint in terms of grip or handling – everything was on track and upright. The 17mm rim bed suited them perfectly, measuring a smidge over 27mm at 75psi – Conti tyres are a bit of a turkey-shoot when it comes to measured-vs-advertised widths, and true to form the GP 4 Seasons measured a bit narrow on the Mavics. Fitting was a hassle-free affair, using thumbs only – as is right and proper for tubed tyres, where you don't want to be risking nipping the tube with a tyre lever.

After a bunch of miles with the GP 4 Seasons I set them up tubeless, fitting René Hearse Steilacooms with one layer of tape, while Hutchinson Sector 28s needed two layers to seal up nicely – the rule of thumb being, if you can easily slip the tyre on the rim uninflated, add another layer. Once up, they held air fine. They aren't branded as 'tubeless-ready', so if you do go this route, as for any tubeless setup, be sure to perform the 2 x over-max-pressure test to ensure there's no chance of the bead popping off (inflate to twice what you ride, and leave overnight). Best do this without sealant, obvs, otherwise be prepared for a big cleanup job if they let go.

With the Aksiums' indicated internal width of 17mm, measured at an actual 16.5mm, the Hutch 28s came up bang on 28mm. That 17mm means you'll likely run out of brake calliper clearance before you run out of support for a wider tyre – Mavic recommends a maximum of 32mm.

> What width tyres are best for you?

On the road the Aksiums felt fine – no evident flex sprinting out of the saddle, nor brake rub when squeezing the brakes a bit to bring the pads in. Braking using Kool-Stop salmon-coloured pads was predictable and effective, wet or dry.

The Aksiums don't come with any sort of rim wear indicator, so best keep an eye on them and follow best practice as recommended by Dave here.

There's a definite sound to the Aksiums – somewhere between the rumble of a carbon rim and the quiet whoosh of a deep aero – but that's likely unique to my particular carbon fork/alloy frame combo. The freehub is pretty much silent at riding speeds, so this isn't the pedestrian-alerting audio signature you're looking for in a commuting scenario.

The factory-installed Shimano/SRAM-compatible 11-speed freehub body is steel, meaning no concerns about cassettes eating into the splines. A Campagnolo freewheel is available from Mavic for about £40.

The unbranded skewers are effective and didn't bind up after muddy miles of use. The steel axle holds threaded bearing inserts, easily removed with a 13mm cone wrench and 17mm spanner to facilitate swapping out the readily available standard bearings (2 x 6001 for front, or 6001 + 608 for the rear). Being Mavic, there is excellent DIY documentation on its website, searchable by the serial number laser-etched into the rim.

One bonus of Mavic's design is, if you do snap a rear spoke, they are replaceable without removing the cassette. For anyone planning to ride long distances or travel with the bike this might be a good thing to factor in: not needing a chain whip/cassette remover tool.

Really, the only downside is that there are no rim wear dots or lines – you'll need to track wear yourself. Mavic recommends a maximum of 0.4mm wear (easy to measure using a pair of £5 Iwanson callipers).

All in all, for £209 list or often closer to £140 if you're fast, the Aksiums are a solid choice for decent, repairable QR wheels that will take a reasonably wide tyre and feel good doing so. They're not quite the excellent value they were – they're now a little more than the Alex ALX265 wheelset at £199.99 – but they're still pretty good.

Verdict

A great budget choice with serviceable hubs and a decent weight