I received a Cosmic Carbone Ultimatum (Mavic high-end wheelset) from a customer.
The model name includes "Tubular," but currently or historically,
there is no clincher version of the Ultimatum
(the UST tubeless model was planned but didn't materialize).
Mavic basically includes rim format in the model name regardless of
whether tubular and clincher versions are sold together,
so this is just part of that convention.
Exceptions include Comet Road (tubular only), R-SYS SLR (WO only),
and Aksium (WO only).
Also, except for the R-SYS SLR with narrow 15mm internal width rims that continue unchanged,
and the budget Aksium line,
all clincher rims are now UST tubeless spec.
Trivia that doesn't really matter, but Campagnolo's USB
stands for Ultra Smooth Bearing, so
calling it "USB bearing" becomes "Ultra Smooth Bearing bearing."
Mavic's UST stands for Universal Standard Tubeless, so
calling it "UST tubeless" becomes "Universal Standard Tubeless tubeless"—
though Mavic's official materials do call it that.
This Ultimatum is a Tour de France 2019 Special Edition,
with special cosmetic finishing on the rim sidewalls.
↑Alpe d'Huez
↑Mavic's founding year
↑Col de Porte (Port Pass), Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe
The name Col de Porte rang a bell, so I looked it up. The rim features
the 2,215m pass in the Pyrenees, but separately there's Col de Porte d'Aspe,
a 1,069m Category 2 climb—the pass where Fabio Casartelli died in his fatal accident.
↑"Contre-la-montre" means time trial.
The official Tour de France logo appears here,
and licensing fees are required to use it.
This Ultimatum is 40,000 yen more expensive than the regular model at list price,
so users end up paying for that.
Starting with the rear wheel.
Actually, with this wheel, aside from hub bearing adjustment,
there's really only runout truing and centering to inspect.
The rim had shifted toward the freewheel side.
Only on the rear wheel, the non-freewheel side radially-laced spokes have nipples,
allowing some adjustment for runout and centering.
I once plotted to swap these nipples to aluminum on my own Ultimatum,
but the spoke threads were 13mm pitch, so that didn't work.
Also, the Cosmic Carbone Ultimatum UST I mentioned earlier
has tangentially-laced carbon spokes on both sides with no adjustment possible.
I have a dedicated spoke rotation lock tool just in case.
I centered it. There was also lateral runout that I corrected.
Actually, there was also radial runout I wouldn't tolerate on an adjustable general-purpose wheel,
but it's impossible to correct with nipple adjustment on one side only, so I left it.
It's less than the tire deformation at the contact patch, so you won't notice it while riding.
This rim is believed to be ENVE-made.
When Mavic acquired ENVE back then, it was probably to in-source carbon rims,
but the older Ultimatum rims were made by Corima.
Due to jig constraints for attaching carbon spokes to the rim,
both Ultimatum wheels have reverse-flange drilling like the old Corima.
Next, the front wheel.
You won't gain anything from knowing this, but
I'll just check the center offset.
↑When measuring the hub flange width on the bearing adjustment side (nominally left) with the center gauge...
↑On the opposite side, there's this much clearance.
The rim has shifted to the right.
I've inspected Cosmic Carbone Ultimatums many times before without writing it up,
and there's plenty I'd like to write about, but I rarely have time to investigate thoroughly—
until finally this wheel gave me the answer.
↑This is the current regular-model Ultimatum.
The rear rim has been offset since the first generation, but
with the switch to wider rims, that became even more pronounced.
This is a different Ultimatum,
the first model of the wide-rim generation.
Everything except rim cosmetics is the same as the current model.
I've seen images of the jig inside Mavic for seating carbon spokes on rims—
based on that, it seems impossible to make an Ultimatum
with an Instant Drive 360 rear hub, so
unless they overhaul the equipment, they can only make them with FTS-L freebody.
↑Front wheel
↑Rear wheel freewheel side
So, what I wanted to write about is this:
The carbon spokes on the Ultimatum differ in size front to rear.
I've noticed this for ages, but since I gave away the front wheel of my original Ultimatum
to a customer, I only had the rear wheel and never got a chance to investigate.
Starting with the rear wheel.
The width is exactly 5mm
(looks like 4.9mm from the angle, but it's actually 5mm),
and the thickness is 1.8mm.
Not built with different sizes side to side—both freewheel and non-freewheel sides are identical.
The front wheel is 4mm wide,
with a thickness of 1.4mm.
Both front and rear spokes have a slightly elliptical aero shape,
so the edges taper a bit thinner.
The model name includes "Tubular," but currently or historically,
there is no clincher version of the Ultimatum
(the UST tubeless model was planned but didn't materialize).
Mavic basically includes rim format in the model name regardless of
whether tubular and clincher versions are sold together,
so this is just part of that convention.
Exceptions include Comet Road (tubular only), R-SYS SLR (WO only),
and Aksium (WO only).
Also, except for the R-SYS SLR with narrow 15mm internal width rims that continue unchanged,
and the budget Aksium line,
all clincher rims are now UST tubeless spec.
Trivia that doesn't really matter, but Campagnolo's USB
stands for Ultra Smooth Bearing, so
calling it "USB bearing" becomes "Ultra Smooth Bearing bearing."
Mavic's UST stands for Universal Standard Tubeless, so
calling it "UST tubeless" becomes "Universal Standard Tubeless tubeless"—
though Mavic's official materials do call it that.
This Ultimatum is a Tour de France 2019 Special Edition,
with special cosmetic finishing on the rim sidewalls.
↑Alpe d'Huez
↑Mavic's founding year
↑Col de Porte (Port Pass), Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe
The name Col de Porte rang a bell, so I looked it up. The rim features
the 2,215m pass in the Pyrenees, but separately there's Col de Porte d'Aspe,
a 1,069m Category 2 climb—the pass where Fabio Casartelli died in his fatal accident.
↑"Contre-la-montre" means time trial.
The official Tour de France logo appears here,
and licensing fees are required to use it.
so users end up paying for that.
Starting with the rear wheel.
Actually, with this wheel, aside from hub bearing adjustment,
there's really only runout truing and centering to inspect.
The rim had shifted toward the freewheel side.
Only on the rear wheel, the non-freewheel side radially-laced spokes have nipples,
allowing some adjustment for runout and centering.
I once plotted to swap these nipples to aluminum on my own Ultimatum,
but the spoke threads were 13mm pitch, so that didn't work.
Also, the Cosmic Carbone Ultimatum UST I mentioned earlier
has tangentially-laced carbon spokes on both sides with no adjustment possible.
I have a dedicated spoke rotation lock tool just in case.
I centered it. There was also lateral runout that I corrected.
Actually, there was also radial runout I wouldn't tolerate on an adjustable general-purpose wheel,
but it's impossible to correct with nipple adjustment on one side only, so I left it.
It's less than the tire deformation at the contact patch, so you won't notice it while riding.
This rim is believed to be ENVE-made.
When Mavic acquired ENVE back then, it was probably to in-source carbon rims,
but the older Ultimatum rims were made by Corima.
Due to jig constraints for attaching carbon spokes to the rim,
both Ultimatum wheels have reverse-flange drilling like the old Corima.
Next, the front wheel.
You won't gain anything from knowing this, but
I'll just check the center offset.
↑When measuring the hub flange width on the bearing adjustment side (nominally left) with the center gauge...
↑On the opposite side, there's this much clearance.
The rim has shifted to the right.
I've inspected Cosmic Carbone Ultimatums many times before without writing it up,
and there's plenty I'd like to write about, but I rarely have time to investigate thoroughly—
until finally this wheel gave me the answer.
↑This is the current regular-model Ultimatum.
The rear rim has been offset since the first generation, but
with the switch to wider rims, that became even more pronounced.
This is a different Ultimatum,
the first model of the wide-rim generation.
Everything except rim cosmetics is the same as the current model.
I've seen images of the jig inside Mavic for seating carbon spokes on rims—
based on that, it seems impossible to make an Ultimatum
with an Instant Drive 360 rear hub, so
unless they overhaul the equipment, they can only make them with FTS-L freebody.
↑Front wheel
↑Rear wheel freewheel side
So, what I wanted to write about is this:
The carbon spokes on the Ultimatum differ in size front to rear.
I've noticed this for ages, but since I gave away the front wheel of my original Ultimatum
to a customer, I only had the rear wheel and never got a chance to investigate.
Starting with the rear wheel.
The width is exactly 5mm
(looks like 4.9mm from the angle, but it's actually 5mm),
and the thickness is 1.8mm.
Not built with different sizes side to side—both freewheel and non-freewheel sides are identical.
The front wheel is 4mm wide,
with a thickness of 1.4mm.
Both front and rear spokes have a slightly elliptical aero shape,
so the edges taper a bit thinner.