How do I Change to Mavic Wheels?

Your wheel-set can be replaced with a newer and stronger set as long as it is a fairly modern system. All you need to know is the size of your existing wheels, the number of gears that you have in your cassette, and the type of brake system that your bike uses. Mavic makes a variety of high-quality wheels at many price points for both mountain bikes and road bikes.

Things You'll Need

  • Tire lever
  • Air pump
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Instructions

    • 1

      Find your wheel size, which will be the same as the size of your tire. If you have a road bike, the wheel size is usually 700c, although older road bikes have 27-inch wheels, which Mavic does not make. Check your wheel size by looking for a series of raised numbers, such as 23 x 700c, on the tire sidewall. The first number is the tire width, and the second number is your wheel size.

    • 2

      Count the number of cogs that you have on your cassette, or in the cluster of gears on your rear wheel. You should have between eight and 10 rear cogs, and you will need to make sure that your new wheel-set takes the same number of gears.

    • 3

      Check your brake system. Almost all road bikes have caliper brakes, which brake on the side-wall of the wheel. Mountain bikes, however, sometimes have a disc brake system, for which you will need a special hub. Disc brake rotors come in several diameters and have two different bolt patterns for attaching the rotor to the hub, which will not be sold with the wheel-set. If you have a disc brake wheel, you should bring it into the shop with you when you buy new wheels, to make sure that your existing rotor can be transferred from your old wheel to your new one without any problems.

    • 4

      Let the air out of your tires. This will making them easy to take off and put on the new wheels.

    • 5

      Remove the tires, tubes and disc brake rotors, if you have them, from your old wheel-set and install them on your new wheel-set. You may need to use a tire lever to unseat the tire bead from the rim and reseat it on the new wheel.

    • 6

      Install your new wheels. Make sure that the brake system hits the rim or the disc rotor evenly and doesn't rub as the wheel spins. Reinflate the tires to the proper air pressure, which is marked on the tire side-wall next to the tire size.