I ask this because today I spoke to a fellow who has a used set for sale.When I asked him how old they were he said about 15 years. 15 years! can that be right??

I think they came out in 2000. Maybe they are Mavic Heliums (red hub) or something like that.

I ask this because today I spoke to a fellow who has a used set for sale.When I asked him how old they were he said about 15 years. 15 years! can that be right??

Mavic says they came out in 1999: http://www.mavic.com/road/company/history.aspx. I had a set of the old Ksyrium SSC wheels from 2001 -- the last year before they started shaving rim away in between the spokes on the SL -- rock solid wheels.

I ask this because today I spoke to a fellow who has a used set for sale.When I asked him how old they were he said about 15 years. 15 years! can that be right??

Heliums were the MAVIC pre-built wheels in 1998. This seller is either very confused about the concept of time, or the concept of what a Ksyrium wheel is. Probably the former, because the wheel would say Ksyrium on them. For people who feel that "a couple of" means anything from 2 to 15, 15 years is the same as 5 years.

Late 1999 were the first ones I recall seeing when some of my teammates bought them. I bought a set of Cosmic Equipes that year for $250 from a buddy that had switched over to Ksyriums...

For people who feel that "a couple of" means anything from 2 to 15, 15 years is the same as 5 years.

Maybe he thinks they *look* like they are 15 years old... not a good feature.