The CrossMark is the dramatic evolution of the cross country racing tire. The nearly continuous center ridge flies on hardpack, yet has enough spacing to grab wet roots and rocks. The slightly raised ridge of side knobs offers cornering precision never before seen on a tire this fast.
Submitted by
ppfeifer
a Racer
from Northern VA Date Reviewed: November 4, 2009
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$45.00
Purchased At:
THe Bike Lane
Strengths:
Long tread life. Low rolling resistance. High volume
Weaknesses:
Limited traction
Similar Products Used:
Maxxis Ardent, Maxxis Ignitor, Specialized Fast Trak, Conti Mountain King, Bontrager ACX Jones, and Michelin AT
Bike Setup:
GF Ferrous (run SS and with gears). Ardent front and Bontrager ACX rear
Bottom Line:
I've run the Crossmark as a front (not recommended) and a rear (much better) tire. IMO, this is a good tire for racing (or commuting). It's very fast and will last forever. Loose soil is the Crossmark's Achilles' heel. Because of the tire's fast rolling center tread, it tends to spin out. Consequently, this tire has forced me to pick better lines and balance my weight over the rear tire while climbing. Also, this tire is VERY pressure sensitive and works WAY better tubeless. If you are looking for a long lasting race tire you will likely be very happy with the Crossmark. If you want an all weather, all-mountain, climb anything tire then try something else.
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Submitted by
jaghouse
a Cross Country Rider
from Iowa Date Reviewed: July 21, 2009
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Strengths:
Super low rolling resistance
Longevity
Weaknesses:
Mud/sand traction
Bike Setup:
Turner Sultan TNT
Bottom Line:
I have used these tires for a year now and they have been very solid all around for the hard pack dirt trails I ride. Braking and climbing traction on the rear could be a bit better so I am going to try a Geax Saguaro next but I will be keeping the Crossmark on the front. The front hardly has any wear which has me thinking this tire will last at least 2 years.
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Submitted by
AK47
a Cross Country Rider
from Folsom, CA Date Reviewed: June 17, 2009
Favorite Trail:
South Yuba
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Price Paid:
$30.00
Purchased At:
Ebay
Strengths:
Grip, low rolling resistance, cornering traction, climbing traction
Weaknesses:
None
Bike Setup:
Salsa Dos Niner
Bottom Line:
I have only run the Crossmark as a rear tire. For that application, it has worked very well. It rolls fast, corners great and climbs way better than you think it would. I have only used these in dry summer conditions, but it's suprising how well it grips even during hard, out of the saddle climbs. I don't know about running it front and rear. I like the Ignitor front/Crossmark rear combo.
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Submitted by
Roby
a Cross Country Rider
from MT HOOD,OR USA Date Reviewed: February 9, 2009
Favorite Trail:
surveyors ridge
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Price Paid:
$35.00
Purchased At:
LBS
Strengths:
large volume ,fast rolling tread design,light
Weaknesses:
pack up in the mud
Similar Products Used:
kenda karma,wtb nanoraptor and motoraptor
Bike Setup:
voodoo azian ,reba race xt drivetrain stans ztr wheels chris king hubs
Bottom Line:
I have good luck with these tires running them tubeless with stans, large volume casing and almost as light as my kenda karma 1.9 , no flats good traction ,I will buys these agian
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Submitted by
Ryder1
a Cross Country Rider
from Phoenix, Arizona Date Reviewed: December 9, 2008
Favorite Trail:
National, Hawes, Desert Classic
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Purchased At:
speedgoat.com
Strengths:
Rolls really fast, lightweight, good rear climbing traction, cushy for its size/weight, strong enough. The near-continuous center knobs not only make it roll fast, but smooth too.
Weaknesses:
Can suddenly bottom out or pinch flat on a hardtail/rigid if you're not paying attention. Never tried it up front, but I'd guess it would wash out in the turns too easily, especially in loose terrain.
I wrote this review because I was surprised at the luke-warm reviews. For a fast rear tire, this tire satisfies me 100%. After 1+ years of running it tubed and loving it, I now have two rides tubeless and love it even more because I can run it at lower psi with confidence that I won't pinch flat. I run it with an Ignitor up front for a fast trail tire combo. I tried a Nanoraptor in the back, but I didn't find one thing I liked better than the Crossmark. Ignitor in back was ok, but felt slower than the Crossmark and there was no distinct advantage that I could tell.
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Submitted by
Lurch98
a Cross Country Rider
from Montgomery, AL Date Reviewed: October 8, 2008
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Price Paid:
$35.00
Purchased At:
EBay
Strengths:
Fast! Light.
Weaknesses:
Front traction, climbing traction.
Bike Setup:
Gunnar Ruffian
Bottom Line:
I want to love these tires! They roll fast, and they're light. They scare me in front when i push the corners on loose over hardpack trails. I had to take it off and replace it with something more confidence inspiring.
In the rear, they are awesome, minus roots and loose climbs. I found myself spinning out and having to pay serious attention to my weight balance. I'm going to try some Saguros in the rear to see if I like them better.
Overall, fun race tire! Great if you want to roll fast and have more skills then I do. I'm going to play with some nobier tires, but I will be keeping these in my garage just in case.
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Submitted by
tigerwah
a Racer
from Denver Date Reviewed: September 27, 2008
Favorite Trail:
Buffalo Creek
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Price Paid:
$30.00
Purchased At:
Jensen
Strengths:
Fairly light under 600 grams. Rolls fast. Wears well. Cheap!
Weaknesses:
None really for me.
Similar Products Used:
Panaracer Rampage, Kenda Karma, WTB Exiwolf, Bontrager Jones and others...
Bike Setup:
Niner emd
Bottom Line:
A great all around tire and race tire. So far the best tire I've found for 29ers. It probably depends on your riding style whether you'll like these or not. I consider myself a finesse rider. For my style these are perfect. What I want from a tire is light weight, decent traction, low rolling resistance, and durability. These offer the best of everything I want. If you're expecting super traction or huge volume these aren't for you. I've ridden and raced these all year and they've held up well. They were also easy to convert to tubeless which took a little more weight off of them. I ran them at 30psi (I'm 160lbs) for both riding and racing without one flat the entire year. Bottom line these are great tires just understand what you are getting.
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Submitted by
afortna
a Weekend Warrior
from boulder, co Date Reviewed: September 3, 2008
Favorite Trail:
hall ranch
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$27.00
Purchased At:
jensonusa
Strengths:
rolls well on hardpack
Weaknesses:
very poor in loose conditions, lower than expected volume
Similar Products Used:
kenda karma, panaracer rampage, kenda nevegal
Bike Setup:
raleigh xxix rigid ss 29er w/ thomson seatpost, crank bros mallets, easton ea70 cockpit, salsa flip offs for blang
Bottom Line:
meh ... not a horrible tire but not a good tire either.
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Submitted by
photodog
a Racer
from SLO, CA Date Reviewed: July 15, 2008
Favorite Trail:
my trail
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$35.00
Purchased At:
cambria
Strengths:
rolls well...does everything (except sand and rocks) fairly well
Weaknesses:
Horrible in the conditions I ride most: rocks, sand, loose over hard, babyheads
Similar Products Used:
I've used tons of tires over the years
Bike Setup:
This bike is a GF Paragon G2
Bottom Line:
Basically, this is an OK racing tire. It's reasonably light and rolls fast. Outside of racing on the right trail or if you have buff trails with lots of traction, this tire doesn't really do anything all that well.
On a scale of 1-5:
Rolling: 4
buff, good traction trails: 4
rocks: 2
gravel: 1
wet roots: 1 don't get many of these but when I did they were like riding on ice
loose over hard: 1
sand: -100, the worst tire in sand I've ever used other than my road bike skinnies!
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Submitted by
dlmlaw
a Cross Country Rider
from North Conway, NH Date Reviewed: June 22, 2008
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$30.00
Purchased At:
www.bikeman.com
Strengths:
Weight and low rolling resistance
Weaknesses:
loses traction, cornering is sketchy
Similar Products Used:
Maxxis Ignitor
Bike Setup:
Dos Niner with Mavic Cr29max wheelset
Bottom Line:
Bought these when I built up my new Dos Niner. Was hoping for a fast rolling tore, which they are, but was ecpecting better traction. Riding trails with any debris on them can really lead to a loss of traction and control. Furhter when cornering at speed I would get quite a bit of washout. THis realy hurt my confidence in them as it made me much more cautious than I would like or expect from them. Even on hardpack they tended to slide a bit.
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Submitted by
Thomas Kirkpatrick
a Racer
from Ft Worth TX Date Reviewed: March 30, 2008
Favorite Trail:
telegraph
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$40.00
Purchased At:
lbs
Strengths:
Fast rolling works in most conditions
Weaknesses:
washes out slightly on very dry hardpack
Similar Products Used:
too many too list
Bike Setup:
intense spider 29er
Bottom Line:
Great race tire. Hooks up well on rocks and loose terrain as well as most conditions. The only chink in the armor is very dry hardpack where I have had a little wash out on the front. I am using this with a Crow rear tire. I would say this a pure race tire and the wash out is forgiveable because the rolling resistance is non existant. Four chilis because of the washout.
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Submitted by
Dirt Roadie
a Cross Country Rider
from Durango CO Date Reviewed: January 27, 2008
Favorite Trail:
White Rim
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Price Paid:
$30.00
Purchased At:
Jensonusa.com
Strengths:
Rolls very well, corners well, very good traction in most dry conditions, fat, yet LIGHT! Seems to wear well. Reasonably priced.
Weaknesses:
None that I have found for my riding
Similar Products Used:
Ignitor, Karma, Small Block 8
Bike Setup:
Dos Niner
Bottom Line:
I like these a lot! The ramped knobs and center blocks let them roll very smoothly yet still provide more climbing traction than they have a right to (even when oriented by the directional arrows). The casing and rubber compund appear to be identical to the Maxxis Ignitor 29er but the tread configuration seems to be an improvement and they are lighter. They seem supple but tough enough and so far are wearing well (again, better than the Ignitors). I have not had any unusual problems. I have ridden them locally (Southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico) on long rides on our often rocky trails and above treeline, as well as in Moab. They provide a nice compromise between weight (VERY light at ~595g) and casing width (fat enough to handle fairly low pressures) which is as fat or fatter than any other 2.1. In other words these are (in my experience) fatter than any lighter tire and lighter than any fatter tire. The tread pattern has a more rounded profile (more closely matches the roundness of the casing) than the Ignitor (which has deeper tread at the edges than at the center), feels more responsive (has a nice lively "road bike" feel) and seems to corner better (I don't like the squirrely feeling of the Ignitor cornering on hardpack - its seems to get squirmy when on the too-tall outer knobs.) In the mostly dry and sometimes rocky conditions that I ride, the Crossmark does nearly everything better than the Ignitor. And while they aren't bad, you might not want these if your riding includes heavy doses of of sand or mud. Conclusion: the Crossmark is a terrific all rounder for XC and trail type riding and I have not found it to be lacking in any department. Put them on, then forget about them and ride!
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