Mavic launches the Cosmic Ultimate as “lightest wheelset in its category”

Mavic has launched Cosmic Ultimate, announcing this to be the lightest wheelset in its category (45mm deep) with a total weight of 1,255g. There is no question that this wheelset is a premium, beautifully handcrafted option, hence a £3,575 price tag.

Mavic says that each Cosmic Ultimate 45 takes eight hours of work at the production line, which is understandable considering the rim alone is handbuilt from 71 pieces of carbon in a monobloc construction.

According to Mavic, these wheels have the ideal balance of low inertia – which means they require little energy to move – and lateral stiffness (flex), meaning that they are designed to accelerate fast whether you're climbing or hammering on the flat. 

The way Mavic has strategically layered up the five types of carbon, balancing strength and weight, creates an airtight rim that the brand claims is “the most user-friendly tubeless mounting on the market”, saving you from having to tape your rims. 

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The rims are 45mm deep and feature Dual 2014 T6 hubs with carbon hub bodies and oversized bearings for longevity.

The hubs are laced to the rims with 10 one-piece, elliptical R2R no-stretch carbon spokes. The R2R stands for rim-to-rim, which means that each of these spokes runs from one side of the rim to another - so it looks like 20 spokes both front and rear. R2R is technology that Mavic already uses. CNC and heat-treated aluminum inserts are used to connect the spokes to the rim.

Mavic says "the bonded spokes [can resist] up to 6000N traction meaning only two spokes could lift up a car"... you know, if you wanted to do that.

The internal width of the rims is 19mm, which Mavic says matches 25mm tyres perfectly. They measure 28m externally and are airfoil (NACA, National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) shaped and designed to provide extra stability in crosswinds. Although the rim shape itself is wind tunnel developed, Mavic doesn't refer to any wind tunnel tests they would have conducted when it says that these wheels are "designed to break the wind barrier". It hasn't given any wind tunnel figures comparing the Cosmic Ultimate's performance with that of key rivals, for example.

Mavic says it has designed the wheelset specifically around durable disc-brake hubs and tested the wheelset's performance extensively in hundreds of tests to ensure the performance and quality. And in case any quality issues happened to arise, these wheels come with Mavic's lifetime warranty. 

The Cosmic Ultimate wheelset is available for disc brakes only and retails for £3,575.

All being well, we're sending our man Jamie Williams to visit Mavic in Annecy, France, in the next few weeks for a full rundown of the story behind the Cosmic Ultimates, so stay tuned for his video.

• www.mavic.com