History

A Duralumin dished rim, with a sort of 'tube' arrangement called eyelets carried the stress of the spokes on the lower and upper walls of the rim.

An Italian, Mario Longhi, perfected the same technique at precisely the same time and registered his patent on January 5, 1934–two hours before Mavic!

The Italian allowed Mavic to exploit the procedure under license until 1947.

Module E, a tire rim with hooks, enters the cycling history book.

The first rim with double 'hook' bridge to seat a high-pressure tire developed by Michelin: the Elan.

With this patented concept, Mavic started developing a new generation of rims for tires that rapidly benefited from all of Mavic's technological innovations. In the cycle-racing world the use of tubular tires gradually declines in favor of tires.

For some time company thinking had been turning toward wheels as complete creations rather than assemblies. TTM 560 hub derived from the famous 550 Service Courses. Just about then some young sensation-seeking Californians knocked over traditional cycling and launched the BMX (Bicycle Motocross) and the Mountain Bike. Mavic swiftly realized that these off-the-beaten-track disciplines that were not just passing fancies. The Company adopted them.
 
The first Mavic wheel to be marketed:
the TTM 504 for BMX with 20-inch TTM 4 rims and TTM 560 hub derived from the famous 550 Service Courses.

A new sport and new products, this time rims for mountain bikes.  First cross-country rims: the Rando M4 and M5 – “hard coat” treated.

In France in October, Mavic provide the assistance at the 2nd Roc D’Azur, a mountain bike festival on the South Riviera.”

Mountain bike assistance during the Paris-Gao-Dakar. In the following years Mavic assisted cyclists in the Mountain Bike World Cup, and in triathlon competitions.

Mavic developed an electrically-controlled derailleur that was tried out by the Once and RMO teams in the Tour de France. A new French revolution!

The following year Mavic launched the ZMS (Zap Mavic System), the first micro-processor driven rear derailleur. Two strategically-placed buttons on the handlebar to change gear-up or down-then with a feather-light touch the microprocessor in the handlebar sends the information to the electromagnets in the derailleur, all in real time. 

The wheel as a "global system" With this approach and more work on aerodynamics the Cosmic wheel came into being, and was marketed in two versions: the aluminium Cosmic and the Cosmic Carbone.

Sixteen stainless steel streamlined spokes at front wheels, crossed on the back wheels. They had different numbers, shapes and positions depending on the version. Trough research and patenting, Mavic innovated in spoke heads and shafts, their positioning and their attachment to the rim and the hub, thus constantly improving wheel behavior.

Helium wheel, red rims and hubs.

First ultra light complete wheelset, thought specificaly for mountain stages.

Next Mavic got the tire world's big two-Michelin and Hutchinson-round a table to talk about an objective: Tubeless.

Result: the Crossmax UST Tubeless.
On the profile of the rim, a channel receives the tire's beads during fitting. During inflating, the beads press against the groove walls then climb up and lock into place behind the raised ridges of the rim. Being able to ride with lower pressures and without blowouts caused by pinching considerably improves tire grip and road-holding in bends.

Mavic presents the Mektronic, the first wireless electronic transmission groupo.

Birth of Mektronic - another step forward in electronic derailleurs. No more wires; transmission was now by digitally-coded radio waves. Many control points were built into the hand-grips and a multi-function onboard computer attached to the handlebar shows speed, distance covered, elapsed time, sprocket positions, etc.

Mavic innovation is presented in the form of the cycle computer Wintech, which in its launch year, was awarded the first prize for innovation in USA.

Its unique feature: the sensor is housed inside the quick-release lever of the front wheel and the digitally coded data is wirelessly transmitted and unaffected by interference.

A range of road pedals sees the light of day.

This range of Mavic pedals follows on from the innovative 646 LMS of 1990, and comprises of three models dedicated to the road. On these models the focus is on energy transfer, the fluidity of bearings, and cleat resistance. The highlight of the range is the Race SL Ti with a titanium axle bringing the weight down to just 110 grammes.