Shimano R501 wheelset I think it had. They seemed ok, nothing special, clearly added to keep the build cost down.
I was feeling like I'd been putting on weight, so I needed to ride the bike. I was climbing the walls.
I decided a short lunchtime loop would do. I know a nice loop on quiet roads, about a 4 mile circuit, I'll do that a few times till I hit 20ish miles I thought.
So off I went. Nothing unusual. I was quite enjoying myself, I clearly had no fitness and little in the way of expectation. I rode a segment 30 seconds slower than I'd ridden it previously. This was just a ride, ride.
2nd climb of the ride and PING and the rear wheel starts to rub. Bloody spoke gone. Great. About a 3 mile walk from home at this point.
I started to walk, cleats on my road shoes need replacing so I don't care enough to take them off. I feel like i'm in for a 45 minute walk. I'm walking in an old country estate at the back of my house, it's beautiful but this is my lunch break, I'd better call the boss and let him know.
Ok so this is lovely but I don't really need to be out here all day... I'd been walking for about 10 minutes then some hero in a Land Rover with a flat bed on the back stops and offers me a lift, what a ledge.
Bike fits like a glove in the back next to his fishing gear, he only lives on my estate, what a result, rides a bit too, apparently. Faith in humanity well and truly restored.
I've had a spoke fixed on a set of budget wheels before, 3 days later the spoke next to the broken spoke then broke. So I wasn't in the mood for fixing this.
So to the new wheels. I've had a few sets in the past, on my last bike alone I went through 4 sets. 2 sets where replaced through accidents (not my fault) so paid for by others, I'm not made of money. So a good set of Aksium Elites does me just fine. Always able to find them at a decent price.
Apparently all Mavic 2019 wheelsets are UST, so tubeless. I don't mean tubeless ready, I mean tubeless, and that's how they come, set up, ready for the sealent and the air and away you go. All previous sets I've purchased have been tubeless ready and come with tubes. It's what I know.
So a tubeless wheelset
Which comes with the sealant and everything you need to go tubeless.
I have to admit, I panicked. I am ashamed at that. I panicked to such an extent at this new wonderous technology (that apparently isn't new anymore and is the future and stuff), I put them straight back in the box, sealed them up and sent them back from whence they came.
What a D**k. I then ordered a 2018 set of the same wheels which came with inner tubes and RELAX.......I thought I'd made the right decision. I have the tubed version on the bike, I'm fine with that, it's what I know works and that's cool. Can't help feeling like I missed a trick though.
One mate said 'you should embrace it, LBS can set them up for you, get on with it'. Another instantly took the piss 'you mug, you had the future in your hands and you f**king panicked like a little girl and settled back into your old ways'.
'What's the one thing you worry about the most when you cycle, that's right, punctures, guess what tubeless wheelsets reduce, that's right punctures'.
You can run them at lower pressures (don't care), The sealent obviously seals any small nicks the tyre may receive, which I get is a great thing. I'm not that sure they add any additional benefit, if anything its marginal. I also like the knowledge that a punctured tube is a relatively easy fix at the road side. You could argue with the tubeless system, you'd be hard put to get a puncture in the first place, if you did it would be significant. Putting a tube on a tubeless rim, is a pppppaaaaiiiinnnnn. (so i'm told)
I am disappointed I didn't test them though. Part of me wishes I'd have kept them. Next time.
If I go through wheelsets at my current rate, I'll be riding tubeless within 2 years anyway. That's how I make my peace with it.
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