This topic has probably been covered but I could not find a similar post by searching. I am considering these two wheelsets to upgrade to. Bontrager race x lites or Mavic ksyrium sl. I can obtain either set for the same price so that is not an issue. I weigh 170 on the heavy side and will be racing and training on one wheelset. The x lites are lighter wheels and looking at the numbers seem to be the ones to go with but hardly anyone who does'nt have a trek has them. This makes me wonder why everyone seems to be buying the mavics instead of the bontragers. Any opinions you have will be greatly appreciated.

I have ridden both extensively and got new x lites this year. Had bad luck with broken spokes on the K SL's (the zircal/ aluminum is more brittle and susceptable to breaking that steel in my opintion. I have only broken 3 spokes in a decade as a cyclist, 2 were within 2 months on the drive side rear of a 2004 K SL last summer. No fun DNFing because of a broken wheel.

The K's feel faster though, because their stiffer. But I think really you are just feeling road vibration and bouncing around more. Just my 0.02$ based on experience, other people love the K's. In my opinion the K's have more of "bling" factor too, which is probably why everyone rides them.

FYI, I am 170 lbs and am not easy on equipment.

I had the same decision last Christmas and I chose the X Lites. I chose them for a couple of different factors. Ease of spoke replacement, durability, ride feel and LBS.

When I rode both, I liked the feel of the X Lites over the K's. K's were a little harsher since they are stiffer. I am not a sprinter(hardly).

Ride them both and choose the set that puts a smile on your face. You can't go wrong with either one.

I have over 2K miles on a pair of Race Lites and about 1500 miles on my X Lites. No problems. I'm 220 and haven't damaged them yet. :)

ScubaD

K SLs....

They are stiffer and have better freehub mechanisms.

merckx56, do you have a pair of the K's and if so, have you ever had any problem with the spokes on the rear wheel. I will be needing a set of wheels that is stiff as I do tend to be a little harsh on the crank during a sprint but if the spokes are more fragile on the K's then it seems the Bonti's will be the way to go. Also, what do you all think about the effect a crosswind will have on the two wheelsets? The K's have wider spokes so it seems that they would be more affected by the crosswind than the Bonti's. Thanks for the input so far guys, hopefully many more will post there opinion of the two wheelsets because I am sure this is a popular comparison among cyclists who are begining to race.

merckx56, do you have a pair of the K's and if so, have you ever had any problem with the spokes on the rear wheel. I will be needing a set of wheels that is stiff as I do tend to be a little harsh on the crank during a sprint but if the spokes are more fragile on the K's then it seems the Bonti's will be the way to go. Also, what do you all think about the effect a crosswind will have on the two wheelsets? The K's have wider spokes so it seems that they would be more affected by the crosswind than the Bonti's. Thanks for the input so far guys, hopefully many more will post there opinion of the two wheelsets because I am sure this is a popular comparison among cyclists who are begining to race.

I have two sets of SLs and one set of 1st generation Ksyriums. I've never had an issue with any of them. I did just change the freehub on my "training" SLs. It took literally five minutes and they are perfect again.
I bought some X Lites and found them not to be stiff enough and they seemed not to respond as well as the Ks. They were quickly sold.
I've never felt a crosswind problem on the Ks, or even my Carbones, for that matter. The only wheels I've noticed crosswinds while riding were FSA 400s....and they suck.

to be fair I should say that I did previoiusly have a set of the black sl's, which i am pretty sure had aluminum spokes, and I never had any trouble with those, put lots of miles on them, both racing and training.

It could be the set of the 2004 (silver) ones I had last year were just lemons. Maybe a bad batch of spoke metal or a poor tension job from the factory? But I won't race on them again due to my bad luck. Plenty of my teammates had the same wheels on the same bike and like them. I also currently have a set of Ksyrium Elites, which have the steel spokes. They are really strong and I ride them for cyclocross. They feel less stiff, more comfortable than the SL's

One thing I would like to re-emphasize though is that in my opinion stiffer does not equal faster. It may feel faster but isn't necessarily. You just bounce around more. Similar to the well- documented conclusion that pumping your tires up to 180 psi doesn't make you faster than 120 psi, but it feels faster. And that doesn't even take handling into account. The K may give you the "corner on rails" feeling, but try riding them in a crit in the rain. They bounce and skid way more than I like.

Keith Bontrager has a good discussion of "stiffness" on his website - of course he's a bit biased!