New Mavic Open Pro

[Brucey]

Oh. Sounds clever. But also expensive! If they end up being a hundred quid, they may not make a dent in the market.

I don’t think these rims are for me even if they’re much cheaper, but I’ve always respected Mavic’s engineering know-how and general competence. Let’s see.

Indeed only time will tell how well they work.

Regarding cost, both the machining of the spoke bed and the exalith treatment are likely to be expensive. But if they work well and last well, I think they could be a good choice. There is clearly a market for expensive 'performance' wheelsets, even though factory wheels are the equivalent of an 'off the peg suit' vs one that is properly tailored to suit the individual, like a handbuilt wheelset should be.

Right now one of the best choices for a good, strong, lightweight rim is the H+Son archetype; they sell for about £60 (shortly to be nearer £70), and many of the people that use them now used to use Mavic, but don't any more. It is quite clear that Mavic have not been investing effort in their rims for some years, (in fact they seem to have been concentrating on anything but...) so have slipped back relative to the competition. However there is another school of thought which says that Mavic have altered their production methods such that the same model rim bought now would not be as good as the same model rim bought a few years ago. Making rim brake rims with ever-thinner baking surfaces is just mental, and I think they may not age the 6000 series material in the same way any more, which makes the rims softer and weaker.

Local to me the record is destroying a (recent manufacture) Open Pro in about a month; I'm not quite sure how he did it, but the bloke that did that said 'never again' and I can't blame him.

cheers

[UpWrong]

19mm internal width are they after the 29'er market or something. I just don't understand that. Surely most riders would be looking to run 25 or 28mm tyres with these.

[Samuel D]

Two trends of recent years are to use wider tyres than before on the road – sometimes upwards of 30 mm – and to run nominally narrow tyres on wider rims than before.

I am doubtful of some of the claimed merits of these trends – and maybe Mavic was too – but the fact remains that Mavic missed the boat entirely on them and is only now making amends. (You could replace “Mavic” with “Shimano” in that sentence and it would still make sense.)

[robc02]

I am doubtful of some of the claimed merits of these trends –

Me too. Conventionally, a 19mm internal width rim was good for tyres 28mm upwards. Given that a lot of tyres come up narrow - well, on traditionally "correct" rim widths they do, and that most performance tyres are not available in widths over 28mm (25mm in some cases), then these rims seem to be suitable for a small proportion of the performance tyre market.

Maybe Mavic are expecting more light, wide tyres to become available, or for more people to embrace the current trend for narrow tyres on wide rims. (I hope its the former!)

[JohnW]

Right then - apart from any other consideration, if 36 hole is not going to be available, then the Open Pro will no longer be for me.

I shall start another thread on recommendations and opinions for a replacement.

[PH]

Right then - apart from any other consideration, if 36 hole is not going to be available, then the Open Pro will no longer be for me.
I shall start another thread on recommendations and opinions for a replacement.

I'd wait and see what Mavic does with the existing OP.
It seems to me this is a completely different rim when they must be aware there's still a market for current model. If for no other reason that many peoples bikes might not accommodate the trend for wider tyres. Maybe the open sport will also get an update?
I doubt there's any hurry, there must be plenty in stock, maybe they'll get discounted and you can grab a few cheap.

[the snail]

I'd wait and see what Mavic does with the existing OP.
It seems to me this is a completely different rim when they must be aware there's still a market for current model. If for no other reason that many peoples bikes might not accommodate the trend for wider tyres. Maybe the open sport will also get an update?
I doubt there's any hurry, there must be plenty in stock, maybe they'll get discounted and you can grab a few cheap.

Looks like the new rims replace all the current versions, so it'll have to be NOS if you want 36h. How does the change in inner rim width affect tyre choice - presumably they'll still take 23mm?

[PH]

I'd wait and see what Mavic does with the existing OP.
It seems to me this is a completely different rim when they must be aware there's still a market for current model. If for no other reason that many peoples bikes might not accommodate the trend for wider tyres. Maybe the open sport will also get an update?
I doubt there's any hurry, there must be plenty in stock, maybe they'll get discounted and you can grab a few cheap.

Looks like the new rims replace all the current versions, so it'll have to be NOS if you want 36h.

I can see why Mavic would use the OP name for the new rim, but that doesn't mean the current version won't get rebadged as something else, this is just speculation, bit I think Mavic have done similar in the past.

How does the change in inner rim width affect tyre choice - presumably they'll still take 23mm?

We'll see what Mavic say, but 19mm is usually considered the width for 28mm+
LINK - scroll down to Width Considerations
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html

[Samuel D]

Nowadays many people run 23 mm tyres on rims of 19 mm internal width (usually resulting in the tyre having a real width closer to 25 mm). I am not sure if anything technically changed to accommodate this trend.

The new Open Pro, being wider than the old one, should be laterally stronger – maybe to the extent that the 32-spoke model is as stiff and strong as the old 36-spoke model. Vertically, I suppose not, but you never know.

In any case, it’s nice that Mavic hasn’t abandoned the high-end alloy rim market.

[Keezx]

For me the wider rims for 23 or 25 mm tyres is THE most important development of the last 5 years in the roadbike world.
It has made riding my bikes with clincher tyres much more pleasant while I am usually a hardcore ignorer of NEW/BETTER trends.
Electronics/wireless shifting?
10&11 speed?
1x11 drivetrains?
Deep rims?
Carbon frames of 800 grams?

I don't give a damn about them, but please let me keep my 18C and 19C rims for 23 and 25 mm tyres (which measure 25-27 mm on those rims.
Mavic has seen the light....
Unfortunately , these new Open Pro rims are way to expensive to be interesting.
A simple, cheap rim like DT Swiss R460 does the same job for 20% of the price.
Who gives a damn about black brake tracks? Not me....

[Samuel D]

Unfortunately , these new Open Pro rims are way to expensive to be interesting.

So how much are the Mavics? No-one else seems to know.

[Keezx]

I've seen prizes in de range of 160-180 Dollar somewhere.
Part of that is certainly due to the Exalith coating on the brake tracks.

[Samuel D]

Ouch. And bicycles have two wheels.

Hopefully that’s the Exalith price.

[JohnW]

..............The new Open Pro, being wider than the old one, should be laterally stronger – maybe to the extent that the 32-spoke model is as stiff and strong as the old 36-spoke model. Vertically, I suppose not, but you never know............

My hubs are 36 hole, and on two bikes they are Campag Record, large flange screw-on rear. I gotta have 36 hole.

[Keezx]

H+ Son TB14 is a flat rim ("classic"look) with 17 mm inner width available in 36H.
Not super cheap, but reported as good quality.
Might be perfect for your purposes.