If speed, control, and ride quality matter to you, but your budget is more sub-compact than luxury sedan, read on. Mavic brings their UST Tubeless compatible rim design to the Cosmic Elite Wheel design to offer advantages for entry-level triathletes and road racers seeking the aero advantage of the NACA compliant 30mm profile aluminum rim. The Mavic Cosmic Elite UST Front Wheel is built with familiar and tested Mavic technology to deliver a wholly affordable, high mileage wheel and tire system. The 20 spoke front wheel weighs in at 815 grams, and spins up to speed quickly, while delivering a smooth, sleek ride over the pavement of your next sprint distance or industrial park criterium.

The rim features Mavic's lightweight, but resilient S6000 aluminum with the SUP welded and milled joint that makes the UB machined brake track perfect for smooth, consistent braking control. The drilling is traditional for Mavic's ABS nipples. The UST Tubeless Ready rim bed carries that 30mm profile, in a 24mm external width, 17mm internal. UST is a true standard, and mastered by Mavic. The short bed and rounded hook hold UST Tubeless tires in a perfect seal, allowing you to run 700x25-32 tires at 110psi max, but in reality, you will run lower pressures to create better grip and feel, while preventing all but the most serious pinch flats. Sealant can certainly be used, but if you are using UST rims and UST tires, you'll be shocked at how well the system seals.

The front hub is machined from the aluminum, for standard 100mm dropouts and a quick release skewer. The bearings are Mavic's proven QRM sealed cartridge design, which roll smoothly, with little friction, hold up for ages, and are replaceable. The axle is steel, for added stiffness and reliability. The flanges are set-up with Mavic's floating spoke retention for straight pull spokes. While you can't see the interface due to the aero shrouds and shape of the front hub flange design, picture a hard impact on the rim that pushes down the spokes, which if they don't give in some way, can result in rim damage. By allowing the spokes to slide a little, Mavic does all they can do to prevent this. The spokes themselves are black, bladed steel. The 20 spokes are laced radial on both sides, for a dead sure wheel when you are laying down speed in the corners.

Mavic provides their 260 gram, 127 TPI Yksion Pro UST tire in a 700x25. It can be run with a tube or as tubeless. This single compound tire features 11 Storm rubber ( via Hutchinson), which has very low rolling resistance, and easy, fast speed. The best performance of the tire is when run tubeless, and just 30 grams of sealant serves to seal the deal and close out small punctures. Despite the stringent requirements of the UST system, the Yksion Pro UST Tire also installs much more easily than most road tubeless tires due to the more flexible Kevlar bead. A directional tread sits within the rubber, siping away water from the center and ensuring grip in the corners, wet or dry.

For the money, the performance and technology of the Mavic Cosmic Elite UST Front Wheel truly can't be beat. Pair it with the rear version for a full, speed-driven wheelset at 1770 grams, without breaking the bank.