Mavic's latest foray into gravel impresses: the AllRoad S wheelset is stiff, tapeless and robust

Mavic has been making rad bike wheels since I can remember. It all actually started back in 1889 in Lyon, France, by brothers Leon and Laurent. Mavic has been at the forefront of innovation throughout the brand's history, including being the first to anodize alloy rims, developing the first hooked bead and creating the UST tubeless system. It is known for pushing the envelope. 

I haven’t been on a set of Mavic wheels since the DeeMaxes that came on my 26” freeride bike back in the early 2010's. But now that Mavic is making a return to the United States, after surviving bankruptcy, I feel a hit of nostalgia thinking about those days of bright yellow rims. I was excited to see what Mavic had been cooking up since I last spun up a pair.

Construction

The Mavic Allroad S is an alloy wheelset that features: 

• 25mm IW Maxtal rims
• 24 bladed spokes
• Mavic’s Fore tapeless tubeless system
• brass nipples
• aluminium infinity Instant Drive 360 hubs
• and weighs only 1790 grams for the set.

The Allroad S comes exclusively with centerlock brake mounting and an HG freehub. The XDR, Campy or Microspline driver are all sold separately. The Allroads are unique in that you don’t need tubeless tape. The rims are threaded, and the nipples screw directly into the rim. This allows Mavic to leave the upper rim bridge in tact and saves you the headache of dealing with tubeless tape. The nipples feature a unique head, and the tool is included in the box.

What's in the box

My wheels arrived packaged with care. Each wheel comes with a tubeless valve, stickers, instruction manuals and a spoke/nipple tool — very helpful for the unique bits. 

I was bummed to see that there were no spare nipples or spokes included in the kit. Centerlock lockrings are also not included, nor are spacers for the freehub.

Setup

Setup on the Allroad is about as simple as they come. Install the included tubeless valves — or don’t if you want to run tubes. 

With the tubes installed I had no trouble setting up my tyres. I mounted some 700x42 Ultradynamic Cava’s up with about an ounce of Stan's classic.  In retrospect, I should’ve used another ounce. 

After setup, I had some issues with air seepage. I added another ounce of sealant and the issue sorted itself out. I will say that it was lovely not dealing with tubeless tape. Props to Mavic for saving us all some headaches. 

My centerlock rotors went on without issue, as did my older Sunrace cassette — I haven’t had an HG freehub in quite some time! After a quick adjustment of my rear derailleur, and both calipers, I was ready to roll. 

Ride impressions

Out of the box, the Mavic Allroads are laser straight, true and round. When you put the power down, these wheels are impressive. Stiff enough to feel light and ready to sprint, but once things start getting rough they are also remarkably compliant. Prior to this review, I spent a bunch of time on the WTB CZR rims, and I was expecting that these Mavics would be substantially stiffer. To my surprise, the Mavics felt just as good. I always just assume that carbon hoops will be better, but I forget how good alloy can be.

I generally spend my time in the saddle trying to keep up with faster friends. The Allroads are great for keeping pace. Bearings spin forever, and they are smooth. I usually enjoy a loud freehub. I find that they do a great job of alerting other trail users as I approach. The freehub on the Instant Drive 360 is quiet, while maintaining an impressive 9º engagement. 

I made a point to put the Allroads through their paces. That included plenty of miles of tarmac, gravel and a bunch of singletrack. On tarmac, these wheels are brilliant. They feel great when you really want to put the power down. On rougher roads and smoother gravel, they do a good job of absorbing the higher frequency stuff. When the bumps get bigger, there’s a very clear threshold where these wheels find the end of comfort — which is to be expected, as not a lot of people will "send it" on a gravel ride. Some bigger rubber might help in situations like these.

After a few heavy impacts on the rims along some rougher sections, I was happy to find that the Allroads shrugged off even the biggest impacts. These would be my wheels of choice if the ride was around 85% tarmac or smooth gravel and 15% chunky stuff / singletrack. 

If you’re going deeper into the unknown, I would probably go for something wider and with more spokes — something about relying on 24 spokes makes me hesitant.

Ride highlights:

• Stiff when you need them to be
• Compliant when plowing through the rough stuff
• Freehub is quiet
• Freehub engagement is great
• Reliably strong

Value & verdict

I am impressed by the Mavic Allroad S wheels. For $530 you can have a great looking set of wheels from a company with a deep cycling pedigree. They ride great, and they will be up for any challenge you throw their way. Truly defining what an Allroad wheelset means. If you’re ok with the proprietary parts, the Allroad S is a great choice. The wheels come with everything you need to get rolling, and a 2 year warranty.