Thanks for tuning in
today we're going to be reviewing the
Xentis Mark3 SL road cycling
wheels.
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If there's one upgrade every cycle is
lust after it's the carbon fiber wheel
upgrade.
Carbon fiber wheels are lighter, faster
and more aerodynamic
than traditional aluminum wheels. What we
have here today is probably one of the
most unique wheels on the market
the Xentis Mark3 SL which is their
super light variation of the Mark 3s.
Here we have the original packaging has
the Xentis logo on there and a nice
padded wheel
bag on the inside. I'll go ahead and take
it out of the box and go over these
specs.
Retail price on this is about 3900 euro
and that includes VAT.
Converted to USD is just around 3900
as well.
It's a monocoque carbon fiber
construction and handmade in Austria with
a 622x18 rim
profile. Tubeless ready with 3k carbon
fiber
and a matte UV finish. It has an
integrated magnet right into the spoke
so you don't need to attach anything to
it
and it has a 42 millimeter deep profile
with 26 millimeter wide exterior
dimensions.
So really great looking wheel set you
get the front and rear
and very distinct style and with a nice
smooth
inner rim that really makes tubeless
installation easy.
Now in terms of what comes in the box
you see you get this nice
padded wheel back and it's a double
wheel bag with a center divider that
prevents the wheels from damaging each
other. They also have nice protection on
the edges.
You also get a little pocket on the
inside and inside that bag you'll find
the manual
a little cassette spacer as well as that
rim tape
if you wanted to install tubes so really
simple package with everything you need
right out of the box.
So now let's take a second to look at
the weight of the wheel set here i have
my professional scale
and my potting plant that's already been
tarred out to be zero.
If we take the front wheel that comes in
at
768 grams. Now the SL is supposed to be
about 300 grams lighter than the
standard Mark 3 wheel set and
if we put the front wheel that's 676
grams so pretty
impressive for the combination given the
deeper
diameter and aerodynamic design.
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So now let's take a closer look at the
wheelset. What makes these so unique
compared to
Zipp or ENVE wheels on the market is that
these are a monocoque carbon fiber
design
so you don't have standard spokes. You
actually have full carbon fiber spokes
and you can see they're all built as a
single unit and hand made.
It's a really robust design these are
actually so strong that
Xentis actually offers a gravel
variation so you can even take these
off-road
with the gravel version. This is a 3k
carbon finish so you can see really
beautiful texture to it
it's not really flashy at all it's a
matte UV coating
so it's a little bit of a dull
appearance instead of glossy.
Very minimal branding you can see the
Mark3 SL here on the corner,
Xentis in blue here but otherwise
it's unadorned.
There's no mistake in this wheel set
for any other wheel on the market
as it's a very unique design. These
spokes are aerodynamic
they have aerodynamic profiles and you
can see these little
dimples here to trip the airflow
so nice rounded leading edge and a sharp
trailing edge
as you would expect on an airplane. The
spokes themselves are kind of curved as
well so it's not a straight curve
but it actually curves inward and that
gives you the appearance of speed even
as it's standing still
so it definitely stands out. The hubs
are nice and bulky
you can see these fairings cover
everything up so it's nice and
a really clean design this is the
Shimano freehub and these are actually
Xentis
XH004 hubs and as you can see
they use CeramicSpeed bearings for
the additional performance. These are
through axle as well
so really modern design and these
are disc brake but they also
offer rim brake so definitely plenty
options to choose from.
If we look at the front wheel a very
similar design
same subtle branding you also have these
nice little insets on the rim
and that helps with some of the
aerodynamics
but really beautiful wheel set overall
and even though it's expensive it'll
definitely stand out.
Now let's get the Xentis set up and
because these are a high performance
wheel set we want to match them with a
high performance set of tires so we're
going to go ahead and put the Eagle F1
SuperSport tires on here. These are
one of Goodyear's highest performance
variations of their F1 tires
and they should perform well on
these Xentis. These are 700x28
so i'll go ahead and take these out and
we're going to get the
front wheel set up and ready to go. Now
you gotta remember with the
Xentis's deeper dish design you will need
at least a 60 millimeter long valve.
So you can see super soft tire that's
one of the big benefits of going high
performance
they're really soft and pliable so a lot
easier to install.
So as you can see fully inflated the
Goodyear tires look pretty sleek too
so it's all black so they blend in
with the
Xentis wheel design. Here you can see the
Xentis's installed on our Specialized
Roubaix. It's a good looking combination
especially with the black frame and
black wheels
it's also worth pointing out that the
ceramic bearings in the hubs make them
very smooth
you can see the front wheel rotates
almost without friction. The rear hub
also has a great sound to it it's loud
enough
to be heard but not obnoxious like some
wheels.
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Here you can see the Xentis on the road
as you can see the five spoke design
gives it a very distinct look.
You get that almost fan like effect as
these spokes and the Xentis logos rotate
around.
They blur together it's a very
distinct and unique look
that stands out compared to the standard
spoked wheels.
Now we mounted these with our 700 by 28
Goodyear tires
so it's a really nice combination of
comfort and speed.
These wheels are fast you know the
same you can't buy speed, well with these
you can
we found that we were often a few miles
an hour above our average
and had really good acceleration while
still maintaining higher speeds
because of the aerodynamic profile. You
get that advantage and at 1400 grams you
can also climb with these
so you don't really need a set of
aerodynamic wheels and a set of climbing
wheels.
These are very versatile can be used as
both and also despite the aerodynamic
profile.
They're also controllable so even
if you're in crosswind situations
you won't be thrown around you do
feel it more than a standard
thin spoke climbing wheel but it's still
very controllable.
Also it's hard to capture the
sound on a GoPro but these wheels have
that classic whomp-whomp
sound that you get with carbon fiber
wheels so it's very intimidating as you
pass people and it gives you that
speed sound that's distinct with
carbon fiber wheels.
Now let's go over the pros and cons for
the Xentis Mark3 SLs.
What we like about them is that
they're quite lightweight at 1400 grams.
It's really hard to get this kind of
aerodynamics.
They also have that unique and
aerodynamic five spoke design that
really makes them stand out from all the
other wheels on the market
so if you really want something bespoke
the Xentis are really a good choice.
They also have a Monocoque carbon fiber
construction which means they don't have
the typical issues that carbon fiber
spoke wheels have
and have a more robust design that's
more durable.
Some of the cons for the wheels is the
fact that they're quite expensive
being handmade in Austria you're going
to have to spend quite a bit on these
wheels compared to some open mold
options on the market. They also have a
limited dealer network in the us
so it's not a wheel you're going to be
able to see by walking to your local
bike shop. Finally the inner width is
a little bit narrow especially with the
current trend toward wider and wider
wheels.
Taking everything into account we'd give
the wheels a 9.0 out of 10.
These are really fast and beautiful
wheels so if you're looking for a carbon
fiber wheel fat upgrade
and have the budget for it the Xentis
Mark3 SLs
are hard to beat. Thanks for watching
this review don't forget to like and
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is The Sweet Cyclist reminding you to
enjoy the ride!
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