Mavic Crossmax XL Pro Limited Wheel Test
Monday, April 25, 2016 at 7:45PM
Editor in Mavic Crossmax XL Pro Limited, Mavic Crossmax XL test, Mavic Review

 

Mavic has been around since the late 1800's. They first began getting into cycling making spare parts for bikes. Their first major bicycle breakthrough came in the early 1930's when they created the first metal bicycle wheel and tested it at The Tour. This was the beginning for Mavic and the wins at major road racing events help them create cutting edge technologies while proving their effectiveness out on the track.

 

Today Mavic makes wheels, pedals, apparel, tires, helmets and shoes. One big advantage to making tires and wheels is having the ability to sell them as a kit. This is exactly what Mavic does with many of their wheels. We received our Mavic Crossmax XL Pro Limited Wheels and XD driver shortly after placing the order. We opened the box and found the tires already mounted. They where not inflated so we where not sure if they would seal up properly. As it turns out using the air compressor and adding 40PSI of air to the tires was all we needed to do. They made the loud pop and we spun them around a bunch before mounting them onto our Evil Insurgent.

 

"Riding up the mountains and ripping back down, for racing or just for fun, all-mountain is the essence of mountain biking. In those conditions you need to have full trust in your equipment. Crossmax XL Pro Ltd WTS is there to ensure the perfect match between the bike and the ground no matter how steep or how technical it is.

This wheelset was built with toughness and dynamics in mind, a 23mm wide internal rim (27mm external) has been specially made to be more impact resistant and features ISM (Inter Spoke Milling) machining to reduce weight and inertia. This wheelset is more playful, easier to handle, and helps save energy both going up and slowing down. 24 lightweight alloy spokes (Zicral) front and rear ensure stiffness and strength. The rear wheel must transfer all your energy to the ground and features radial lacing on the drive side (Isopulse) which also helps improve lateral stiffness by moving the spokes further outwards.
With different functions, front and rear wheels also need different tyres to be able to reach the high level of performance that Enduro racing/riding requires. An aggressive profile with large and high knobs, excellent mud clearing capacities, and a soft compound (SCC - Super Contact Compound) for unrivalled grip describe the front specific Crossmax Charge XL, and to transfer all of your energy into speed, Crossmax Quest XL takes care of the rear. A shallower profile, smaller with more knobs and a new dual compound (X-mix) provide fast rolling performance, traction and confident cornering. Both tyres use a dual ply casing (Guard 2) to offer maximum durability at a competitive weight.

To make the most of the tubeless benefits (UST wheel, UST Tubeless Ready tyres), Crossmax XL Pro Ltd come with two bottles of sealant and all accessories required. Delivered in 15x100/12x142 axle configuration, they’re available with either a HG or XD driver body, 27,5 only."

Installation was a snap and they offer a wide variety of adapter to make the rear hub fit 135-142mm spaced hubs. The finish on the wheels is very good. I have seen and photographed many wheels over the course of my career and Mavic makes some of the best mass produced wheels around. Their spoke tension is tight, they color schemes legit and rarely will you spot a Mavic with a factory blemish. It almost seems as if some companies have monkeys running their QC center. Typically our wheels are custom made with Gravey doing the wheel builds. So our expectations are through the roof.

 

Features

Weight

Rims

Hubs

Spokes

Tire

Includes

Ian W

When spinning The Mavic Crossmax XL Pro Limited Wheels they spin freely and have good engagement. Once we got them onto the bike we did some parking lot laps to get an idea of how stiff the wheels may be. Leaning the bike over hard and twisting around in the air with it the Mavic Crossmax XL wheels seem to be stiff. I weigh 215lbs and we ride pretty rocky terrain in the area so wheel flex is something that is noticed pretty quick.

 

Climbing with the Mavic Crossmax XL Pro Limited Wheels is easy to do. They accelerate well and the hub provides enough engagement to allow the clearing of technical climbs. Mavic did a good job keeping the weight down they are just under 1500 grams for the pair without tires. This weight is pretty impressive our custom built carbon wheels we tested last year weigh 1800 grams. The lower weight of the Mavic Crossmax XL Pro Limited Wheels will help your bike accelerate, decelerate, and make the suspension more active.

 

We where a bit worried about the spokes or lack there of. It turned out to be a non issue. Although they use less spokes than a conventional 32 spoke wheel, Mavic uses 24 Zicral spokes front and rear, with Isopulse lacing on rear to help keep the wheels stiff, light and strong. Mavic calls their lacing method ISOPULSE claiming it offers Optimum energy transfer. The spokes are laced radially on the drive side and crossed 2 on the non drive side to maximize drive side dish, thus providing a better spoke tension balance between left and right flanges.

Conclusion

 

The Mavic Crossmax XL Pro LTD wheels proved to be a lightweight and durable wheel option. We rode the wheels for almost 5 months with no issues at all. They held spoke tension and only got one noticeable dent in them over that period of time. The complete wheel set including tires for $1000 isn't cheap but it is compared to most carbon options.

 

Overall we would have no problem suggesting the Mavic Crossmax XL Pro LTD Wheels to a friend. They spin fast, stay true, appear strong and are lightweight. Basically everything the Enduro rider is after when they are looking for wheels. There was one thing we would like to see down to the wheels. Having a 23mm internal rim width is for sure on the more narrow side. Mavic is looking at wider options but are concerned about the current tires on the market not working well with a wider rim. Good thing they can make their own tires since this wheel with a 37-30mm internal width would be awesome!

 

If you get the chance check these wheels out. Mavic has been around forever and during that time they have learned plenty about making quality wheels. Just pick up a set of Mavic Crossmax XL Pro LTD Wheels and see for yourself. Is Mavic going to make a plastic option anytime soon? Sounds like currently they believe the cost difference is not worth the small weight savings and stiffness associated with a carbon rim.

 

Looking at our grade card on The Mavic Crossmax XL Pro you will see we docked it on rim, hub and stiffness. These are all things that could be improves the first is the internal rim width adding 5-7mm on the rim could be a benefit. Hub engagement is a personal thing we have been riding hubs with 200+ points for a number of years now. Most will be satisfied with how quick the Mavic Hubs actually are. Stiffness is sometimes hard to gauge. We recently tested 40mm wide carbon hoops laced with heavy spokes. Those wheels where stiff maybe too stiff. The Crossmax XL felt very stiff over rough terrain and while shopping through tight turns. They just where not the stiffest we have ridden.

 

 

 

Article originally appeared on Downhillnews (http://www.downhillnews.com/).
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