The new edition of the Cosmic Carbone Ultimate 45 Disc is set to be the starting signal for a new beginning for the French company. The traditional manufacturer, which has existed since 1889, wants to completely reorganise itself following a change of ownership - the brand has also belonged to the French Bourrelier Group since 2020. At the time, the takeover was intended to reorganise the ailing brand and regain technological leadership in bicycle wheels. This also included a gradual relocation of production back to Europe and the modernisation of the production sites in Annecy and Saint-Trivier.
New edition of the Mavic Cosmic Carbone Ultimate as the new flagship model
As the first result of these endeavours, Mavic is now presenting a new flagship in its road bike portfolio: The Cosmic Carbone Ultimate 45 Disc is the result of the French company's concentrated carbon expertise. Its predecessor, launched in 2006, was already a technical masterpiece: carbon rims, hubs and spokes were laminated together; the extremely light and aerodynamically good construction was the only serious competition to the luxurious lightweight wheels made in Germany. To this day, the Cosmic model unchanged and was only offered as a tubular tyre rim. The successors reintroduce this design principle from a modern perspective.
Extreme manufacturing effort
The new Cosmic Carbone 45 Disc comes with a modern 19 millimetre wide tubeless rim bed and of course for disc brakes and thru axles. The 45 millimetre high aero rim is a typical all-rounder and a good compromise between good aerodynamics and low weight. At first glance, the wheel assembly is similar to that of the previous Cosmic Ultimate: Rims and hubs are connected with firmly laminated carbon spokes. Two opposing spokes always form a coherent fibre strand. The spokes are held in the rim by aluminium inserts; the carbon coated aluminium hub body sits in milled grooves in the hub flange. The wheel is mainly handmade in France, and only ten employees have the expertise to manufacture the wheels. It takes around eight hours to assemble the 71 individual parts.
The production steps in detail:
Mavic Cosmic Carbone Ultimate as an absolute lightweight
At least when it comes to weight, the effort pays off: at 579 grams and 680 grams for the front and rear wheels, respectively, the Mavic Cosmic Carbone Ultimate 45 wheels match the weight of the previously unrivalled Lightweight Obermayer wheels to a tee. The wheels are correspondingly light-footed, they accelerate extremely well and are a force to be reckoned with, especially on the climbs. The French company can also look back with satisfaction on the result of the TOUR wind tunnel test. With 219 watts in the TOUR setup - measured at 45 km/h in a complete bike with our pedalling leg dummy - this is on a par with the best classic steel-spoke wheels with a comparable rim height. More about the Aerodynamics measurements at TOUR can be found here.
No fear of heavy drivers
Our TOUR test shows: The stiffness values of 58 N/mm at the front and 47 N/mm at the rear are also at a top level, although Lightweight is even more stable here with exorbitantly high stiffness values. Even comparatively heavy riders can cope well with such values. The engineers certainly seem to have a high level of self-confidence in the design: The Mavic Cosmic Carbone Ultimate wheels are approved for riders weighing up to 120 kilograms, and the wheels also come with a lifetime guarantee. However, should something happen, the wheels can only be repaired to a limited extent due to their design. However, Mavic promises accommodating crash replacement regulations.
Price of the Mavic Cosmic wheels: Expensive, but fair
That leaves the price for the luxury roundels: at 3900 euros for the set, it is definitely steep. However, considering the performance and in comparison to the competition, they are fairly priced: The Lightweight Obermayer Evo, which are technically the only ones on a par, cost a breathtaking 6500 euros. High-quality, classically spoked road bike wheels with steel spokes cost at least 1000 euros less, but are around 200 grams heavier. The new Mavic Cosmic Carbone Ultimate 45 should be available in stores immediately.
Jens Klötzer
Editor
