Mavic Crossmax SLR Wheels
This is a top level competitive cross-country racing wheel, which is disk only compatible and is seeing an increasing level of use by top MTB racers.
Recently the Mavic Crossmax SLR has benefited from another round of technological improvements, particularly a weight saving as a result of being milled in three dimensions, so that now the concept of inter-spoke milling has been extended to the side walls of the rim. Despite this, these wheels don't have any weight restrictions for riders and they still outperform many lighter MTB wheels in their handling, precision and stiffness.
In addition the trend to use more asymmetric rim design has now been extended to the front wheel of the SLR, as well as the rear, helping the response to uneven forces.
Spoke detail remains similar to previous versions, in that they are made from straight pull Zicral with 24 on both the front and back wheels, profiled, double butted and in a black anodised finish which matches the Maxtal aluminium rims. Isopulse lacing is used in the rear wheel with cross-two on the front.
You can run tubes or UST tubeless as a result of the inside rim being solid with no spoke projections.
Hubs use Mavic’s QRM plus bearings together with their FTS - X freehub body in aluminium shells and have splines that can be used with Shimano or SRAM cassettes. The front hub now has a larger axle and bearings compared to previously and is therefore tougher and somewhat stiffer. The Crossmax SLR can be converted from its 9 mm version into a 15 mm or 20 mm through axle front hub, giving it compatibility with major dropout designs, including the Cannondale Lefty.
Main specifications and features of the Crossmax SLR
Rims are in Maxtal, with SUP joints, fore-drilled, double anodised with black rims and silver interspoke milling. Internal width is 17mm asymmetrical with valve hole at 6.5mm.Hubs are QRM+ with aluminium at the front and a mix of titanium and aluminum on the rear, in red. Rear axle size is 9.5x135mm, front axle is 15x100mm. Front and rear bodies are in oversize aluminium with FTS-X, steel.
Compatibility is with both UST Tubeless and tube types, recommended sizes of 1.0 to 2.1cm, ETRTO size is 559x17C.
8/9 speed HG can be used and disc brakes can be international standard or center-lock.
Front wheel mount uses 15mm thru axle with quick release, rear wheel mount uses quick release, both with 6 bolts.
Weights come in at 1420g for a set, front at 600g, rear at 820g.
Review summary for Mavic Crossmax SLR Wheels
These wheels are generally liked for being light, strong and fast although with earlier versions, there seem to be some a few issues with reliability of the hubs requiring maintainence.As of May 2011 there are no reviews of note as yet for the new versions, although they have already been seen out and about at top level events and are expected to show a great responsiveness and acceleration as a result of the weight saved on the rim.
