Why choose rim brakes for your road bike

Three reasons to choose rim brakes on a road bike: weight, simple maintenance and the availability of spare parts. The Ksyrium SL Heritage aluminium road wheels bring all three together, on a 22 mm rim with a brake track. They are wheels for riders who have stayed with rim braking, and the build that opens this article dates from 2026.

While most new road bikes are sold with disc brakes, rim braking remains a reliable alternative, often less expensive, and sometimes a very fine-looking one: a pair of Ksyrium SL Heritage wheels on this titanium frame makes a superb build, and the vintage look that comes out of it is remarkably effective.

This guide goes through what the Mavic rim brake range offers and how it is built: how an aluminium rim comes together, what the Chavanod laboratories check on every model, and the limits to know before you buy. The four wheelsets still in the catalogue are compared one by one, with their rim, their weight and the bike each one suits.

Why choose rim brakes, and with which wheels:

• Weight: from 1,480 g a pair on the Ksyrium SL Heritage rim brake wheels to 1,840 g on the Aksium.
• Rim: 22 mm deep and 19 mm wide internally on the three Ksyrium, 21 mm and 17 mm on the Aksium.
• Fitting: 9x100 front axle and quick release only, in open dropouts, on all four wheelsets.
• Tyres: UST Tubeless Ready without rim tape on the three Ksyrium, inner tube on the Aksium.
• Spare parts: repairability for at least 5 years and more than 1,000 references in the catalogue.

Rim brake wheels on a new titanium frame, in 2026

Rim brake wheels are fitted to a new titanium frame, built in 2026 by a framebuilder around a rim brake setup, for a customer who wanted it that way. Almost every part had to be drawn rather than picked, starting with the titanium fork, traced for this frame and not carried over from a disc model. One cable, one caliper, two brake pads: rim braking is a system you grasp at a glance.

The choice fell on the Ksyrium SL Heritage rim brake wheels, which come in a special series finish: the Ksyrium SL Heritage wheel range takes up one of the brand's historic logos, used in the 1920s and 1930s.

On a wet rim, rim braking loses power and modulation. The brake track is a wear part too, and the warranty excludes it: the rim wears, not just the pad. Some rims carry a wear indicator: look at it whenever you inspect the pads.

Ksyrium SL Heritage rim brake wheels: 1,480 g a pair

The Ksyrium SL Heritage rim brake wheels weigh 1,480 g a pair, 645 g at the front and 835 g at the rear, on a Maxtal rim 22 mm deep with a 19 mm internal width. Fore drilling allows tubeless fitting without rim tape.

The lacing is radial at the front, 24 spokes tensioned in a straight line from hub to rim, and Isopulse at the rear: radial on the cassette side, two-cross on the opposite side. Tension is spread more evenly between the left and right flanges of the rear hub, and the dish on the cassette side is optimised.

The Infinity hub removes all contact between the spokes, so impacts and heavy loads do not set off any stray noise. QRM Auto bearings adjust themselves, with no play and no intervention. The smallest tyre you can fit is 23 mm, at 6.75 bar: that figure is a maximum pressure, not a recommendation.

Maxtal rim and Fore drilling: where the lightness comes from

The Maxtal rim of the Ksyrium SL Heritage, Ksyrium SL and Ksyrium S rim brake wheels is an aluminium alloy exclusive to Mavic, with a better strength-to-weight ratio than the classic 6106 alloy. The Aksium rim brake wheels are in Aluminium S6000, and their rim joint is pinned, while the three Ksyrium are welded with the SUP technique.

Fore drilling, introduced in 2021, leaves the upper bridge of the rim solid: no rim tape, which is 30 g less per rim on the Ksyrium SL and the Ksyrium S. All four wheelsets take a 9x100 front axle and fit open dropouts, clamped by a road bike quick release skewer.

These aluminium rims are made in our own factory in Europe, where the wheels and the hubs are also manufactured and assembled. Every model goes through the Chavanod laboratories, among them a bench that runs 750 braking cycles back to back, alternating between 0 and 70 km/h: it measures how well the wheel holds up, from the spoke beds to the bearings, and not a braking distance.

Which Mavic rim brake wheelset for which bike

Four road rim brake wheelsets are in the Mavic catalogue, from the Aksium at 1,840 g to the Ksyrium SL Heritage at 1,480 g, and the construction changes as much as the weight.

Model	Rim depth	Internal width	Pair weight	Price	What sets it apart
Ksyrium SL Heritage rim brake wheels	22 mm	19 mm	1,480 g	€699	24 spokes at the front, special series with the 1920s-1930s logo
Ksyrium SL rim brake wheels	22 mm	19 mm	1,480 g	€699	The same wheel in the standard finish, 18 spokes at the front
Ksyrium S rim brake wheels	22 mm	19 mm	1,570 g	€499	Maxtal rim and Fore drilling, all-round use
Aksium rim brake wheels	21 mm	17 mm	1,840 g	€299	Aluminium S6000, inner tube, ASTM category 1

 

The Aksium rim brake wheels run an inner tube, with rim tape in place, on a rim of 17 mm internal width that increases air volume for more comfort, and ASTM category 1 keeps them to the road: this is the wheelset for the winter bike and for everyday road riding.

Mavic wheel spare parts: 1,000 references

The spare parts for a Mavic rim brake wheel stay available for at least 5 years after the wheel's last year on sale, and far longer for bearings, freewheel bodies or certain spokes. We guarantee this repairability on more than 1,000 spare parts and references.

The road bike brake pads still in the catalogue come down to two references: the Exalith brake pads, at €29.00, serve Exalith rims that Mavic no longer produces, and only these pads suit those rims. On the three Ksyrium, the spokes are all the same length and are replaced without taking the tyre off.

You can have your wheels repaired in three ways: directly with Mavic, which organises transport, through the retailer and the Mavic Service Center, or by your own means, with the technical manuals published online to repair your Mavic wheels. Our customer service covers 25 countries, and the warranty provides for a credit if no product in the current range fits your bike, should technical standards change.

Why choose rim brakes: frame, use, parts

Choosing rim brakes still makes sense on a frame with open dropouts and a quick release, when the weight of the wheelset counts for more than braking on a wet rim and when the availability of parts decides the purchase. The frame standard decides first, the use second: the Aksium rim brake wheels in ASTM 1 with an inner tube, the Ksyrium S and Ksyrium SL wheels in ASTM 2 and tubeless, the Ksyrium SL Heritage wheels for their special series finish. The parts decide how long it all lasts: at least 5 years of repairability.

To compare them, browse our aluminium road bike wheels; our article on why change your bike wheels sets out what a new wheelset brings to the bike.