It’s easy to make an assumption on the performance of a wheel based on stats alone. 1,185 grams for the pair, 40mm deep 12K woven carbon fiber rim, 20 full carbon spokes front and rear with Mavic’s Rim to Rim technology for a lighter, stiffer and stronger construction. QRM+ sealed bearings housed in a full carbon front and aluminum read hub. If the technical specifications and number of pro riders aboard the Cosmic Carbone Ultimate’s are anything to go by then it’s evident that you’re on for a fast ride.

But (and there’s always a but) statistics are one thing, the open road is something all together different. Unknown riding conditions can throw up all sorts of surprises which is why I wanted to give this Ultimate wheel its namesake test.

It doesn’t get much bigger than the Race Across the Alps, 535km, 13,000 metres of climbing, every iconic mountain you would ever wish to ride in a week wrapped up into a day. Of course, being at the end of June it’s always going to be fine weather right? Wrong. Let’s make this a proper test. Grimy roads and lashing rain to try and penetrate the bearing seals, brake dirt and grit on the pads as they’re dragged against the carbon rim down another sodden alpine descent. Bang! Oops, there’s another pothole I didn’t see during the dark hours of the night.

I’d fitted the wheels with Continental Competition 22mm tubulars as they provide good traction and puncture resistance in both wet and dry conditions, whilst stopping power and braking modulation came from SwissStop carbon specific pads. To say that I was shocked at the performance of each was a serious understatement. Spending the best part of 20 hours in the rain, including a 5km section of gravel on the Umbrail pass without puncturing was a revelation. Of course, there is always an element of luck here but inspecting the tyres after the race revealed both to be in fine condition (and they’re still going strong today). It was the first time that I had used SwissStop pads before and in comparison to the performance of the former carbon specific pads that I was using I’m surprised that I’m still alive after effectively learning to ride with little to no braking power. Without doubt, the power that the SwissStop pad offers is double that of what I was used to and much more in line with what you would expect from an aluminium braking surface despite the Ultimate’s being full carbon. Although I had spare, just incase I wore through a set during the event, the front pads had over 50% of their rubber intact, which after obscene amounts of heavy braking in the wet was impressive to say the least.

Naturally, I was a little tired after such a huge day (and night) to give the Ultimate’s a sponge down and inspection straight after the race. I waited until I got home the following day, giving all that road sludge another few hours to do its worst, to see what damage I had done. With a warm bucket of soapy water I set about trying to bring these wheels back up to their former glory. The dirt drained away and to my pleasure both looked as good as they had done when I set out for such an adventure. No scoring on the braking surface, hub bearings still like new, straight as an arrow when I spun them between the calipers.

So, does the Cosmic Carbone Ultimate really live up to its name? From my experience the answer is a confident yes. Light enough to be a climbers wheel, aero on the flats and strong enough to hit the unseen at speed. The only question that I now have going around my mind, and considering they came through totally unscathed in what I thought was a seriously hardcore ride, is did I get anywhere near the limit of their capability? Looking at them, probably not. They seem to sit there in my bike saying “huh, is that all you’ve got”. Well I guess I’ll have to try a bit harder next time. Be warned!