Today I talked with Bill of the Mavic Technical Service and Repair department, and I asked him to review the spoke replacement instructions for the Mavic R-Sys carbon-spoked road race wheel set. The reason I called Bill at Mavic was to address some questions by Wheelgirl.com visitor, David, who emailed the shop to order a new Mavic R-Sys spoke kit.
David wrote that he had replaced an R-Sys carbon spoke, replaced the red ring, and then tensioned and trued his wheel. According to David, the force that the spoke collets exerted on the red retention ring during the truing process, however, irreparably damaged the red ring.
Bill of Mavic stressed that you replace the spoke, true the wheel, then replace the red ring. Replacing the red ring is one of the last things that you do in the spoke replacement process. (The instructions on the site reflect Bill's latest comments.) However, Bill didn't know why the red ring on David's wheel set had suffered damage. In Bill's experience, improperly replacing the red ring and then truing the wheel had led to cracked and damaged spokes, not red retention ring damage.
Bill did say when the R-Sys wheels first came out, it was part of his job to try to simulate bike mechanic service and repair errors in order to educate those who would be working on the new product. Bill said he managed to break spokes and strip a spoke wrench through improper procedures, but he was only able to damage a red ring by applying a heavy and direct (think shocking) blow to the rim but not by improperly truing the wheel with the ring in place.
This is the first year for the Mavic R-Sys wheel set and its particularly new TraComp technology. So, if you have any questions, Wheelgirl bike shop is a Mavic bicycle wheel dealer, and we are happy to help answer any questions you may have about purchasing, repairing, or servicing Mavic R-Sys wheels.
(If you have a Mavic R-Sys tip, make sure to post it.)
Photos by Wheelgirl at the 2007 Interbike in Vegas
