Mavic Crossmax Enduro Wheel-Tire System
Do you ever find yourself running different tires front and rear? What about rims and spoke counts? With the Crossmax Enduro Wheel-Tire System, Mavic has set out to produce a purpose-built race wheelset with profile-matched tires. It’s not unusual to see people running a narrower, smoother tire on the back, but what’s surprising here is the narrow rear rim and lower spoke count out back.
Weighing in at 1660 grams (1710 in 650B) and having just 24 spokes up front and 20 out back, the Crossmax Enduro wheels may not appear to have a lot of girth – but they’ve been tested under the likes of Jerome Clementz (see our bike check with Jey HERE) and Anne-Caro Chausson, and Fabien Barel as seen below. Mavic’s implemented a bunch of proprietary technologies that will satisfy the inner gear nerd: externally threaded spoke nipples, bladed aluminum spokes, and externally adjustable cartridge bearings are just a few of these.
But, for the traditionalist, the Crossmax Enduro wheelset is adaptable to all standards, including essentially obsolete ones: Front axle from QR to 15mm to 20mm, and rear axle from QR to 135×12 to 142×12. We’ve got a set on the way for testing – but that didn’t stop us from drooling over Fabien’s set in the meantime…
Tire logos that match, but are apparently not supposed to be lined up with the logos on the rims. You can have the Crossmax Enduro Wheel-Tire system in any colour as long as it’s bright freaking yellow.
Up front we see an asymmetrical 21c UST rim.
Mavic’s FORE externally threaded spoke nipples keep the twisting forces away from the aluminum spokes and leaving the upper rim bridge undrilled for strength and ease of inflation tubeless.
The spokes themselves are absolutely massive, and find their way to the hub in straight pull fashion.
Externally-adjustable cartridge bearings.
Full frontal with Fabien’s bike.
The 2.4″ Crossmax Charge front tire is specifially paired with the 21c rim. It weighs in at 1000 grams, tubeless ready with a 40a compound.
Crossmax Charge 26×2.4″ profile.
More tread front than rear is usually a good thing.
The 2.3″ Crossmax Roam XL rear tire also weighs in at 1000 grams due to a slightly heavier casing.
50a rubber and smaller tread blocks make the Roam XL a faster rolling rear.
26×2.3″ Crossmax Roam XL profile.
On to the rear wheel, with less spokes and a narrower rim…
The Crossmax Enduro rear hub is even more intricate than the front.
Mavic’s IsoPulse spoke lacing maximizes drive side dish to even spoke tension.
The same adjustable bearing preload as up front.
And lots of machining to get those straight pull spokes in.
The 19c rear rim is 2mm narrower than the front.
Enough real estate to paint the spokes. Yep.
Check out Mavic’s site for a more indepth look at the technologies implemented. The Crossmax Enduro Wheel-Tire System retails for $1200 CDN for the full wheelset including tires and all the axle adapters.
Optimized front and rear wheels paired with specific tires – is this the way forward?
Comments
Rob Gretchen
10 years, 6 months ago
These aren't too dissimilar from the Crossmax SX wheels which are damn strong and have a 21mm inner rim profile. Mine have been thrashed with abandon and have never seen a truing stand in 3 years. The 19mm rear rim width is odd though, not sure what they are thinking there.
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james
10 years, 6 months ago
Morg, is it a function of your size and weight in terms of rear wheel breakage, or jumping? how much do you weight if you don't mind? always curious as to how guys break wheels and how light is too light.
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Morgan Taylor
10 years, 6 months ago
I weigh around 175 and ride large bikes. I tend to jump a lot on trail, even on lighter bikes, and land sideways. Riding a lot of demo or test bikes, there isn't always a guarantee that someone's made sure wheels are tensioned. Not enough pressure in tires can also be a problem. The bottom line is I'm not really abusive on bikes but my riding style will highlight bad/poorly tuned wheels pretty quickly.
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boomforeal
10 years, 6 months ago
narrow, light, low-spoke count rear wheel seems pretty counter intuitive given the intended use. you're not exactly easy on gear morg, i'll be interested to see how these wheels perform and hold up
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Morgan Taylor
10 years, 6 months ago
It's true, I am a destroyer of rear wheels. I expect them to be stiff at the very least, and that's a good start.
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Jerry-Rig
10 years, 6 months ago
Mavic doesn't see the benefits of wider rims? I guess they are saving weight at all costs and 20 spokes in the rear? Good thing the pros get wheel sets for free.
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Bryce
10 years, 6 months ago
Its like how the Fox 34 is aimed at enduro when you'd think that the 36 would be the better fork for it.
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