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Mavic Aksium (09) | $269.77
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Mavic Aksium Wheelset

BikeRadar verdict

45 out of 5 stars

"Strong all-round performance from a well-proven design"

By Mat Brett, Cycling Plus

Mavic's entry-level wheelset comes with silky smooth cartridge bearings – although the sealing isn’t the best – while the hub flanges are neatly slotted to accommodate the ends of the straight-pull spokes. 

You get 20 of the bladed variety in each wheel, radially laced at the front and on the non-drive side at the rear, two-cross on the drive side.

The anodised aluminium rims are 21mm deep, pinned at the joint, with machined sidewalls for an even braking surface. Reinforcement around the nipple holes adds to their resilience and a wear indicator groove tells you when you need new ones. 

Although the spoke tension on our set was perfect to begin with, it was soon only good and then just fair. They stayed among the most true of all on test, though. 

The Aksiums aren’t super lightweight but they’re reasonably quick and though we got a minimal amount of brake rub when we set the blocks up close and leaned the bike over, it hardly detracts from a good performance.

Manufacturers description

The best of Mavic on this light and responsive wheelset. A weight reduction of 140g for better road performance and efficiency.

User Reviews

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  • User review of Mavic Aksium (09)

    ...excellent wheels for the money...

    0.3
  • User review of Mavic Aksium (09)

    As said before... great for the price point! Very dependable.

    0.3
  • User review of Mavic Aksium (09)

    They look the part. The weights quoted will put the weight freaks off - on the road they perform very sprightly and do not feel heavy in the slightest. The spoke tension is pretty good with no pinging from the off. The lateral flex is about the same as a well build 32hole 3x pair and the bearings are smoother than cup&cone style hubs. Seals could be better so not so good for winter crud and the anodising/paint on the hubs flakes after a while with corrosion from underneath but thats from Scottish salty winter roads. These things are excellent value for money. They come with a very light alloy lockring but change the skewers cos they are heavy. Pump some grease into the freehub and your laughing for under £100 !!!!.

    0.3
  • User review of Mavic Aksium (09)

    2009 Mavic Aksium Shimano Wheelset

    £144.99 @ Chainreaction Feb 09

    Can you find a better set of wheels at this price?

    I don't think so! Excellent build quality and great ride for such a low priced set of wheels easily feel like a pair at around the £250 mark. The only down side would be the rather plain and slightly heavy QR skewers that come as standard. If you need a cheap set of robust, good-looking,reasonably light and cheap wheels then look no further.

    0.3
  • User review of Mavic Aksium (09)

    2009 Mavic Aksium Shimano Wheelset

    £144.99 @ Chainreaction Feb 09

    Can you find a better set of wheels at this price?

    I don't think so! Excellent build quality and great ride for such a low priced set of wheels easily feel like a pair at around the £250 mark. The only down side would be the rather plain and slightly heavy QR skewers that come as standard. If you need a cheap set of robust, good-looking,reasonably light and cheap wheels then look no further.

    0.3
  • User review of Mavic Aksium (09)

    Not so sure about robust.

    The spoke flange on the rear hub of my 2008 model sheared off under hilly pressure leaving me with a bike I had to carry as the wheel buckled so much.

    The (foc) replacement wheel lasted longer until another rider rode into the back of me - result, one badly buckled wheel beyond accurate truing. I'm fairly certain an old fashioned two or three cross wheel would have withstood the impact.

    Aero spokes - okay until they start going round through ninety degrees by their own accord.

    0.3
  • User review of Mavic Aksium (09)

    If the 2009 is as good as the 2007 I rode with then I'll be upgrading to these sometime on the new bike

    I found with the 2007 ones I'd bought that the wheels stayed 100% true despite potholes and the like (southamptons roads are terrible) but the spoke tension will loosen a little over time, so remember to adjust that.

    0.3
  • User review of Mavic Aksium (09)

    Same as above, spoke flange sheared off under hilly pressure, 3 weeks for Merlin Cycles to replace and that came from Mavic in France, fitted it tonight and it has a buckle in it. Stay clear of the later model wheels.

    0.3
  • User review of Mavic Aksium (09)

    great value for money,ive had no problems

    0.3
  • User review of Mavic Aksium (09)

    After a year & 4000+ miles i decided to ditch the Alex DA22 rims and go with a pair of Mavic Aksium (black) The bike looks 10x better with these on ;o)

    Final straw with the Alex rims came when i had the rear trued...again, then 2days later i broke a spoke so i thought **** it Mavic time LoL

    Its not been all doom & gloom for the Alex rims, the front has stayed virtually spot on since the initial mishap of it trying to loosen several spokes whilst i was riding. The back on the other hand has been trued several times and has developed a high spot but i could never feel it whilst riding so i was never to bothered.

    Onto the Mavics...

    Well they aint perfect! but what is nowadays???!!! both wheels were slightly out from the word go. Ive put around 500miles on them in 2months, the front had this annoying pinging / creaking when ever i got out the saddle but the old oil trick solved this for so many miles but then it came back again.

    I started to notice the wheel going further out of true but thought i try and get 1000miles out the front but sadly i Had to have the front trued today as it must of been out by a good 3-4mm which was honestly P****** me off! funny thing is none of the spokes were actually loose unlike what the Alex rims would do, hopefully now its been trued it'll be like the Alex front and give me a 4-5k of trouble free riding but ive got **** luck with stuff so im not gonna hold my breath LoL

    The back on the other hand hasn't got any worse than when i bought it unlike the Alex rear which would go out of true if it saw a hole 200m away LoL

    0.3

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Specification

Name:
Aksium (09)
Built by:
Mavic
Price:
$269.77

Description:
£150 pair (silver) £160 pair (black)
Available Colours:
Black, Silver
Material:
Aluminium
Spokes Lacing:
Radial (Front) Crossed (Rear)
Brake Compatibility:
Any
Front Spoke Count:
20
Front Wheel Weight:
887 g
Rear Spoke Count:
20
Rear Wheel Weight:
1028 g
Rim Size/Diameter:
21 mm

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