Product news: Mavic Cosmic Ultimate – these three words evoke real emotions in many cycling enthusiasts. No wonder, because the French manufacturer's high-end wheels have shaped professional cycling for many years and have been the object of desire for many amateur, hobby and recreational athletes. In order to build on the successes of earlier days, Mavic has invested a lot in recent years and focused on its own strengths. With this know-how in the background and real manual work at the company headquarters in Annecy, they are proud to be able to present the brand new Mavic Cosmic Ultimate 45 Disc, which they say is the "best wheelset of all time".
The "best wheelset of all time" is not that easy to build, that was also clear to a traditional manufacturer like Mavic. Nevertheless, during the entire development process, the company had no less than this demand on the product and itself. In order to achieve this, the latest research in the field of composite materials was combined with technical know-how. A look at the numbers reveals how intensive this process is. More than 3 years of development went into the conception of the Mavic Cosmic Ultimate 45 Disc. Various tests were carried out before entering the market, which are impressive on paper alone. 409 impact tests and 470 traction tests were carried out on the attachment of the spoke. There were a total of 66 prototypes and 8 different designs. This has been compared in 35 lab tests to get the best result. On the one hand, they were allowed to age in the climate chamber and tested again and again. High-energy impact tests for safety and reliability were also carried out, frontal endurance tests at 7000 km at 70 km/h with a load, lateral durability test at 300 km at 44 km/h with a load, static braking test at 100.000 hub rotations, dynamic braking test at 750 braking operations from 40 to 0 km/h with more than 100 kg load.
Through this process, new impressions were constantly collected, which were ultimately passed on to production. Here each wheel is designed and hand built in the Mavic workshops in France. This not only requires about 8 hours of attention, but also 71 carbon parts, which have to be positioned and assembled accordingly in order to get a perfect result in the end. This process is carried out by 10 specially trained professionals.
At the end there is a monoblock construction, which is supposed to combine the advantages of tubeless technology in its lightest form with the power of disc brakes with an incredible driving experience. For this purpose, the carbon of the rim and spokes is glued like an airplane wing, which means enormous resilience. According to Mavic's testing lab, the bonded spokes can withstand up to 6000N of traction, which would mean you could lift a normal car with just two spokes. Added to this is the special Rim-2-Rim spoke technology (R2R), which offers a constant homogeneous tension for perfect balance and represents the strongest possible connection from one rim side to the other.
At just 1255 grams, the new Mavic Cosmic Ultimate 45 Disc should enable the ideal balance of low inertia and lateral stiffness, which should ensure instant acceleration. Whether climbing or sprinting on the flat. Once you're up to speed, you benefit from the good aerodynamic properties of the Ultimates, which should convince with a NACA profile developed in the wind tunnel, patented preformed elliptical spokes and flat high-flange hubs. The new Cosmic Ultimate impeller is rounded off with a visually appealing and lightweight laser engraving on the outer UD² carbon layer.
Mavic Cosmic Ultimate 45 Disc – details at a glance
- Material: 100% carbon fibers with UD² layer
- Rim height: 45mm
- No tape tubeless profile
- Inner rim width: 19 mm
- R2R carbon spoke technology
- Instant Drive 360 Freewheel Technology
- Weight: 1255 grams (575/680)