Mavic

Cosmic Carbone 40 C Carbon Road Wheelset - Clincher

Mavic’s no stranger to forging ahead with combinations of materials — the long-running Cosmic Carbone series is dedicated to this. They’re some of the best in the world at bending aluminum to their will, so why stray? The Cosmic Carbone 40C Carbon Road Wheelset is perhaps the most advanced integration of the two materials in the bike industry, and it's one of Mavic’s more carbon-heavy versions of the venerable Carbone.

There’s a skeleton in the rims, made from aluminum, called the Rim Bed Insert. It’s essentially an ultra-lightweight aluminum rim, but without a lot of the additional reinforcements you’d typically see on an all-aluminum rim. From there the carbon fiber is bonded to it for stiffness and aerodynamics, leaving the alloy bed to do the heavy lifting of air pressure resistance and consistent brake feel. You’ll still need to use carbon-specific pads with these wheels, but you won’t get that pulsing feeling, and they’ll dissipate heat much better than a typical carbon wheel.