Mavic Crossmax XL 29er… Opinions please?

Currently looking for an upgrade wheelset to stick on my new 29er HT. Requirements are…

-23mm or wider internal width
-Tubeless ready
-Work with various axle standards for future compatibility (not too worried about boost though)
-XD Driver compatibility
-Sub 1750g weight for the pair
-Sub £400

Currently got LB rims on DT 240’s on my full sus, don’t wanna spend that much again. The Crossmax’s seem to get rave reviews amongst the Enduro set for being stiff, light and very robust. They’re also on offer at CRC at the moment and nearly meet all the criteria above.

So… Opinions from those who’ve ridden them?

Anybody?

I’ve only had a brief go on the 650b version and of course the trail came alive…

A mate has them on a T130 with Pikes and the front end felt awesome, tracked really well, the braking felt really solid too but some of that may have come down to the fork. Being Mavic running them tubeless is a doddle! If I was looking for wheels of that type I’d have them in a flash and the only reason I’ve not get them is that their as bit chunky for my riding – they’re big strong buggers with more stiffness than a paper boy in the Spearmint Rhino.

How do you get them sub £400? Looks like £450

Cheers, have had various Mavic UST rims over the years and yeah, they’re the easiest system to run tubeless by some margin so that always appeals.

Stiff is good for me, I don’t like flexy wheels. Going to carbon rims on the full sus was a revelation, so these should do nicely for the hardtail.

How do you get them sub £400? Looks like £450

Not quite sub £400, but British Cycling membership means you can get 10% off 1 purchase per month from CRC. Takes it to £405.

I have a couple of sets of Crossmax XL’s on the go at the moment, and I’ve been very pleased with them. The older of the two pairs are now about 18months old and have probably been ridden a couple of times a week off-road on Dark Peak trails (also trips to the Alps & Scotland). No problem with spokes, but the rear wheel was replaced under warranty because of worn bearings – er….probably best to learn from my mistake and read the instructions about adjusting the bearing preload collar beforehand…..cough!

Performance wise, I’ve felt a noticeable improvement in handling and ride quality on all the bikes I’ve used them on.
I bought the first set on the recommendation of a bike mag journo who I met in the Alps a couple of years ago. At the time I was running Roval Traverse 29 carbon wheels on my long travel bike; these are stiff in the vertical plane, but less so laterally. I really like riding steep technical alpine descents that demand good slow speed handling skills, and on this sort of terrain, the difference between the lateral stiffness of the Crossmaxes and Rovals was like night and day. Combined with a Pike 29, they’re very confidence inspiring.

I gave the wheels a good test this Autumn on some very ‘end of season’ rough DH tracks in Italy, including a couple of runs down a 7.9km, 1350m black. The wheels were on my 140mm trail bike, so given the terrain and bike, I was riding fairly conservatively (I was the only idiot on a trail bike!) However, I got cocky on one of the (allegedly) easier red runs and went charging into an extremely rough section carrying way too much speed and ended up on the rough line – the tyres repeatedly bottomed out on the rims, spokes were twanging and the suspension was maxed out. Really expected to have broken something, so I pulled over to check the bike – thought I’d at least dinged the rims, but they were absolutely fine, and spokes were all OK and still going strong……tyres were a bit rough though! :))

I would say the Crossmaxes have a slightly more forgiving ride than the carbon Rovals, but the lacing on the rear wheel and fast pick up on the hub makes them feel perkier on hard acceleration efforts.

Given the tales of woe on this forum about various Mavic wheels and hubs, I took the precaution of ordering a few spare spokes from an online shop that specialises in Mavic wheels (about £2 to £3 per spoke FWIR), and experience has taught me to use the proper Mavic oil when servicing the freehub. I guess I service the freehub about as often as I do my DT Swiss hubs, and the freehubs have been fine.

Anyway, HTH.

P.S. If you fancy a matching Mavic front tyre, I can recommend the Charge 29 – sort of a much improved version of a HRII

Cheers for the feedback, they sound ideal. Will probably try them in my full sus bike too at some point (and my LB carbon wheels in the HT) to compare and contrast given what you’ve found.

I have them on my enduro 29er, repalced the crappy wide rimmed rovals that came with it.

light stiff, and the narrower rim means they dont get dinged by rocks.

I’m a guide in the maritime alps and they have done a season of heavy use without any hassle, they look a bit tatty but are still true and no broken spokes.

mboy, i´m using them too and really rate them. Light, stiff and really easy to run tubeless. No problems at all with them. I´m running the XL´s mostly for playing and the offseason with some guiding duties thrown in and they haven´t missed a beat in 2 years.

I really rate mine

Only thing ive noticed at the back is a small amount of play in the free hub. Means that if i try and movee the rear rim i can see me disk moving slightly against the pads. Only be about 1mm. Dont want to tighten completely or it will eat the bearings.

Anyone else had this?

Bike shop said that there is always a small amount of give in the mavic rear hubs?

Other than that bloody brilliant

Oli

Well I ordered some and they arrived (only 3 days late to actually ride them this weekend gone, many thanks Parcel Farce!)…

Anybody find that the front and rear axle converters push in/out too easily? I have to transport my bike inside my car with the front wheel out, I’m scared I’ll turn up to a trail one day and the 15mm axle converters have fallen out on my driveway! Anybody used a little silicone sealant or the like to help keep them in? I’m not too fussed if it makes them a bugger to get out, I only plan on needing the 15mm axle kit anyway…

Oh and anyone got any input on the Quest tyres? Read the online reviews that they tear up a bit on hard pack and on lengthy descents, neither of which is going to cause me a problem sadly. So what do they fare like in typical UK conditions? Their 2.35″ width looks more like a 2.2″ from many brands, and they look and feel suspiciously like they’re made by Hutchinson (which is probably why they come up narrow). Worth giving them a try or just flog em now?

Oh and anyone got any input on the Quest tyres?

Wasn’t a fan, seemed to struggle on cambers or any wet hard surfaces (roots, rocks etc) swapped them for Conti Black Chilli’s after just a few rides, much better.

Any yes, they are made by Hutchinson, although quite a few of their other models are made by CST/Maxxis.

Bow glue, I just picked up a set of the dos in 650b flavour, I always like to have some spare spokes just in case, can you let me know where you bought a yours from in ones or twos. Are they laced with the same spoke length (lazy question as I realise I could research this).

I crashed badly with a set of dt swiss and had to replace several spokes, three lengths in the front wheel alone. Nightmare getting them repaired whilst on holiday with the bike.

Kirky72, here you go:

http://247cycleshop.com/epages/726cf202-99f3-48ca-823d-63e916b367ab.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/726cf202-99f3-48ca-823d-63e916b367ab/Categories/%22Mavic%20mountain%20bike%20wheel%20spokes%20for%2026%2C%20650b%2027.5%20and%2029er%22

As far as the axle adapters falling out – I also transport my bike inside the car, so the front wheel is removed a lot, but have never had a problem with either 15 or 20mm adapters coming loose. (I wonder if you’ve got a faulty set of adapters?)

I don’t run the Crossmax XL’s but they’ve been on my wish list for quite a while for all the reasons mentioned above – light, stiff, strong..

Be good to know how you get on with them.

I’ve got the 650B versions and really like them. I had Race Face Turbines before which were OK but I knackered the rear rim. When I installed the XLs I kept over-steering as the wheels are significantly stiffer than the RF ones. I guess if you want to run 9 inch tyres, or whatever this weeks fashion is, then they probably won’t be ideal buy anything up to 2.5″ and I can’t see a problem.

I had the quest tyres, lasted 4 days on the back (in the maritime alps) also very weak sidewalls. These tyres wouldnt last the TP, even though they are the sponsor

I quite like the tyres. I read the reviews on the wheels and tyres before buying and just figured I’d be replacing them after a few weeks. Plenty of long descents on the North Shore / Vancouver and the rear is only starting to look like it’s seen better days after a few months. Maybe if I was skidding / roosting berms day in / day out then I’d wreck them but most of the riding here is steep so you don’t want to be locking wheels up.

£399 today in both sizes at CRC black fridays

£399 today in both sizes at CRC black fridays

Well that’s me ordering another set and sending these I’ve got here back then! 😆

qr/20mm + if you run sram, you’ll need a new freehub £57

I just tried to fitting a seam pg1050 cassette with a expander sprocket. No matter what the combination levaing the 15 or 17t off I can’t get the expander plus any 9 sprockets to fit on the free hub, there’s just not enough room for the last one to lock on.

Anybody else experienced this problem, just switching cassette and expander from dt swiss hub wheels to the crossmax xl.

I did notice the yellow sticker on the freehub seemed to show a diagram saying not to use cassettes which have seperate sprockets.

Is there a wide range 10 speed one piece cassette on the market yet?

So an XT is out of the question? My wheels arrived today with an XT cassette, I’ll take a look later.

Just checked and 11-36 fits OK but admit they are not completely separate. So is your cassette sockets completly separate? That label does seem to back up what you’ve said.

I think the 21 to 36 are joined on the alloy spider, then each one is separated by a spacer or the sprocket as it’s own spacer, then then there’s the expander sprocket. Whatever I do there’s not enough of the splines protruding to lock on the last sprocket.

I may have to get the praxis wide range cassette, a bit pricey though at 90£

I may have to get the praxis wide range cassette, a bit pricey though at 90£

It’s a damned site better solution than an 11-36 with an expander in use though, all the gear spacing are even and shift nicely, where I found no matter what I did with an XT cassette and expander it never shifted properly across the block.

I’ve upgraded to 11spd now on my bike and on the GF’s, and got a spare Praxis 11-40 cassette kicking about now as a result. Email is in my profile if you want to save a few quid on one.

An XT cassette with an expander is no problem and shifts fine. Is a seam an SRAM?
Which expander have you got? Hope have specific ones for either shimano or SRAM. Can you remove any spacers?
If you want aa 650b quest tyre for cheap let me know? That’s not going to end up on the front of my build 🙂

It’s an sram specific hive expander working with sram 1050 cassette, taken off one wheel won’t go on this hub, it’s like it’s 2 or 3mm shorter.

Mboy I’ve dropped you an email re the praxis.