Mavic Ksyrium Pro Carbon SL C Wheelset Clincher

In the days of classic tubing and graceful shift cable arcs, Mavic's aluminum Ksyrium wheelset held court as the legendarily bombproof race wheel of choice. In the best of times, the Ksyrium wound up fast for a snappy, responsive ride, and in the worst, we've seen the mid 2000's era hoops emerge unscathed from a high speed fray with a competitor's rear derailleur that would have left almost any other wheel wobbling home minus a few spokes. The influx of carbon wheels has relegated even the most royal of alloy rims to training miles, though, and the new Mavic Ksyrium Pro Carbon SL C Clincher Wheelset is stepping onto the scene with a full carbon rim and Mavic's trademark reliability to regain its place at the pointy end of the peloton. Mavic launching a full carbon rim is a stop the presses moment for the bike industry. The company is nothing if not a stickler for safety and has long been a stubborn outlier with its aluminum bedded braking surface in its carbon wheels, citing concerns over safety and braking performance with full carbon rims. Mavic claims to have finally cracked the heat buildup and braking power puzzle with its iTgMAX rim construction, which uses a proprietary resin to resist heat buildup and reduce chances of rim failure or tire blowout. Along with Mavic's laser etched braking surface, this technology results in exceptional braking reliability across wet and dry conditions for a claimed 48% reduction in stopping distances compared to other carbon rims. We haven't been able to test this out, but Mavic revolutionized aluminum braking surfaces with its Exalith design we see no reason why they wouldn't do the same with carbon. While that heat resistance is mostly about improvements to resin, deformed rims aren't the only wheel failure woe Mavic's iTgMax technology addresses. The all important carbon layers of material in the tire bed are wholly intact. There's no cutting fibers, no Frankensteining, no creative gap filling, and no machine finishin...