Wheels, well, I have a few! From Classic Mavic open Pros CD 36s to deep section German 53mm Carbon tubs and a few in between, so when Alex from Mavic sent me a pair of R-Sys Premium wheels to use for The London-Paris 2010, I was over the moon! And having already owned a pair of the Ksyrium SL's for a few years, I thought I knew what to expect.
I was due to fly out to the Pyrenees for 4 days the week I received them so thought I would put them on as it would be a good road test (and its always nice having some new bling for a trip!) - Retail is nearly £1k for these Carbon spoked babies.
To run them in I rode them to the studio (approx 50 mins through Richmond Park), I can't lie, and I hated them! I asked my fellow ride captains and they all seemed to love them?
Maybe I had received a broken pair? I could not put my finger on it but they rode different. Now to explain - I have been putting in a lot of miles this year, I raced in the winter, training camp in Nice in Feb, at the moment putting in 15 hours most weeks and complete 21 hour weeks every 3 weeks. All on the same bike and wheels - so that's a lot of miles on what I have now got used too! The problem is I like my things this way and not that way and my tea needs to be just right, if you know what I mean! It's a bit late to start changing things and after all the stress of the BA flights this was not to mush of a big deal just me being fussy!
First day was a 60k warm up, rolling hills to Quilin and back, my Tarmac felt fast and my riding buddies, Paul, James and Ed reminded me this was a warm up ride! (This is now common practice on most of my rides since last month! Must be the wheels!)
On day two we rode nearly the whole of stage 14 of this year's tour, that's 140k... and up the Port de Pailheres (2001m, 15km), probably one of the harder climbs I have ridden over the years (on par with the Galibier).
But it's now these wheels are making some sense! They get me to the base of the mountain without the fatigue of my other wheels and then going up the mountain seems easier somehow. Due to the super stiff carbon spokes there is no side ways rubbing and out the saddle (I'm no Italian wild card team, south American climbing light weight) the whole bike wants me to sit back down again when I get out the saddle, but the R-Sys ARE light at 1385g, and yes I know, two big bottles and a saddle bag - does it really matter that much? Well yes, you can feel it, they're light where it counts, on the rims they spin up real quick.
Moving on to day three, it's the Etape reccy! We start from Asson, over the Col Du Soulor, then on a really fast descent. And this is why I love the carbon spokes with the aluminium rim! You can brake later and thus carry more corner speed, compared to a full carbon rim, the R-Sys hold their line and, if needed, soak up the odd pot hole or 200! Without knocking me off line.
The Tourmalet was half closed...but we sneaked around the big snow plough with the really bling wheels! It's been a long day today but the Tarmac and wheels are not letting me down, the lovely scenery helps me to keep pushing on to the summit! Then, the fun bit, back down, and if anyone has ridden the Tourmalet you will know this is a great descent at 60kmph most of the way with a few 78kmph straights to test your nerve!
120k and I still feel fine, no buzz in my hands from a long ride, just the three hour drive back to Chalabre to stay awake for now.
I arrived back in London a week before the L2P Reccy ride - 167km to Dover. I was the lead ride captain for the day, and I have been told it's at group 3 pace! That's 27kmph(ish). But a little bit faster than planned.
Yet an again nice and smooth but super stiff when you need to motor.
The final test before The L2P was the Dragon Ride! Again this is another long ride at 190k but with a few more hills than you would get on L2P, the distance and time in the saddle is 6 hours plus! I rode the first half on my own for a while, making short work of the climbs.
Then, I tagged on with a few riders, one of which, funny enough, happened to be Mark Stanley from Mavic!
What did Mark, who I had never met before, have on his bike? - you guessed it, the same wheels as me! He had the choice of any wheel from the magical yellow support van but chose the R-Sys for the same reasons I have come to love them for, super light and really comfy. They're mega fast and stiff, oh and they are bling too!
Steve Jackson