More and more manufacturers are catching on to the benefits of building wheels with a PowerTap hub at the rear and Mavic is the biggest so far to do so with the Mavic Cosmic Carbone SL PowerTap.

Sensibly, Mavic has chosen the 2.4GHz wireless PowerTap, last year’s top-of-the-range unit, as this gives the best all-round performance that’s not only proven but comes at a sensible cost.

The Mavic Cosmic Carbone has been around for years and this is the latest iteration. A standard alloy rim, it has an aerodynamic carbon fairing bonded to it. Weight has been cut by 20 grams but it’s still as tough as ever, while the aero fairing obviously reduces drag, making this wheel a heavy but durable all-rounder.

Our one niggle was with the PowerTap hub and Campagnolo 11-speed mech. When at the top of the cassette the mech ‘pings’ on the spokes — even when correctly adjusted. This is a known problem and Mavic’s solution is to rebuild the wheel with the spoke elbow on the inside of the hub. Irritating and time consuming but effective.

Verdict

If you want one wheel that will do everything, including power, the Mavic Cosmic Carbone SL PowerTap is probably the best option, but it’s still not cheap. Expect to pay £400 for the 780g front wheel and £1,365 for the 1,120g rear; the rear is of course available with a standard Mavic hub for £450 (960g).

Reviewer: Mike Hawkins