The Mavic CrossMax SLR is easily the finest cross country race wheel the world has ever seen. Improved for 2011 with Mavic's patented ISM3D technology (machining of lower bridge and sidewalls), the Crossmax SLR Disc reduces inertia to its maximum. This pr
I purchased this 29er wheelset in Aug 2012 shortly after it was released and made available in Canada. I have been riding bikes all my life, but just started XC racing last year in May and had no real experience with serious riding or what parts/equipment are best. I purchased a 2012 Giant XTC comp 29er a year ago and after switching the brakes, drivetrain, bar, stem, seat post, and seat to drop weight I wanted to go tubeless and shed more weight. I spent about a month and researched wheelsets that would be light but strong enough for a 200lb rider. I spoke with several people, bike shops, and read reviews including this website and I have to say I am glad I dismissed the reviews on this site as they all seem to be reviewing older wheelsets and not the new 2012 redesigned SLR's.
I love this wheelset and compared to the Giant wheels I had it dropped the weight on my bike by 2 lbs.
Submitted by
sun81tzu
a Cross Country Rider
from Maastricht, the Netherlands
Date Reviewed: March 25, 2012
Strengths: None
Weaknesses: After 2 years of riding my rim is broken and my hubs have been broken several times. Do not make the same mistake as i did DO NOT BUY MAVIC WHEELS THEY ARE CRAP!
Submitted by
cascade1
a Cross Country Rider
from Ellicott City, MD, USA
Date Reviewed: January 5, 2012
Strengths: none
Weaknesses: weak rims - weak, weak, weak!
Bottom Line:
purchased Mavic Crossmax SLR wheelset at LBS on 11/25/11. Ordered Maxxis High Roller UST tires online. Set up wheelset tubeless ~ 35 psi. I'm about 190 lbs. On 5th or 6th ride on 12/24/11, dented the rear rim on a rather benign downhill. Had to put in a tube and headed for home. About 15 minutes later, folded the front rim going slightly uphill in another relatively benign section. Returned wheelset to LBS for them to contact Mavic for repair/replacement. Mavic refuses to honor warranty because I was "actually riding at the time of damage". They want $450 to return to the factory for repair with no promise of how long it will take. Screw that - no telling how long these flimsy pieces of crap will hold up next time. Better to be out $800 than $1250. Boycott Mavic - everything you read about the arrogant, insensitive customer service is true. Go with DT Swiss, Easton, Shimano - anything but Mavic. Wish I would have read the reviews before a believed the LBS that these were "bombproof" wheels that will long outlast my bike.
Bike Setup: 2010 Stumpjumper Elite, Shimano XTR, Fox 32 RLC fork
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
CoolTouch
a Racer
from Sunny California
Date Reviewed: September 24, 2011
Strengths: Looks, weight
Weaknesses: maintenance, cost
Bottom Line:
Bought these when I built my bike from the ground up. I wanted something that looked unique and were light. Only thing close was crank bros cobalts. Front rim has stayed true and never had a problem. Rear rim has required to be trued on occasion and the freewheel assembly MUST be replaced about every 8 months. Very poor design - plastic rubbing on metal. Eventually I broke the rear rim and replaced with another 2011 SLR...had to be trued after 3 months. These are good rims, but they are for people who are sponsored and will get a new set every season. If you get a set, you WILL need to change the freewheel assembly ($50)
Bike Setup: Blur LTc, All mountain, All carbon, RIDE 100+ MILES A WEEK IN SANTA MONICA HILLS
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
eurwayne
a Weekend Warrior
from Dallas, TX, USA
Date Reviewed: April 13, 2011
Strengths: Look nice & fairly light.
Weaknesses: Rear rim cracks (now on the third rim) and Mavic makes up reasons why they will not warranty the rim. (too much air pressure, used Stan's...blah, blah, blah.) And they are too expensive!
Bottom Line:
The rims are light, but very weak. I have a metallurgist friend who has examined the rim and his diagnosis is that the rim is too thin and the alloy is not strong enough to handle high milage riding. DON'T BUY unless you plan on replacing the rear rim every season. It costs roughly $130 each time you replace the rim and Mavic ALWAYS manufactures a reason to disallow the warranty. Maybe they should stand behind their products...or make products which last.
Submitted by
vaki
a Weekend Warrior
from Bangkok Thailand
Date Reviewed: February 28, 2011
Strengths: Light weight and can be riden with tube or tubeless
Weaknesses: No problems -- love my wheels
Bottom Line:
I read a lot about the noise these wheels are supposed to make but I haven't heard anything from mine. I ride about 120 to 180 km a week, weigh 85kg, all kinds of conditions, mud, rain, dust, rocks, mtns and road with no problems. I wreck occasionally as I like to push the limits -- again no problems and the wheelset is still true after two years. I like these wheels so much that I just bought a second set as a back-up ($500 on ebay) to change from 1.95 lt racing tires to 2.2 bomber off road tires. I run them tubeless and highly recommend this wheelset.
Wish I saw the previous reviews before I bought these but I didn't. Developed a loud creaking noise and couldn't tell exactly where it was coming from...checked the frame pivots, bottom bracket, headset, etc...and nothing. For the heck of it I put an older wheelset on and bye bye creaking! Went on line, including mtbr reviews and it definitely is an on going problem. Contacted Mavic but guess what...? No response what so ever! For such an "Established" company, they have HORRIBLE customer service!
So I oiled all the spoke/hub and spoke/rim interfaces and it goes away...temporarily. So I guess I have to do this every few rides or so...pretty stupid for such high end, expensive wheels. With all the background and experience a company like Mavic has you would think they would have fixed this problem by now! My advice...get something else!!
BTW, if it wasn't for the creaking and crappy customer service, I would have given the wheels 4+ chilis!
Submitted by
critterdesign
a Weekend Warrior
from Calgary, AB, Canada
Date Reviewed: August 9, 2010
Strengths: Solid, Light weight, Reliable and True
Weaknesses: None
Bottom Line:
Great wheels, I like that I don't have to over tighten them to feel like they are locked on. I have never had a problem with them being out of true. I am not the heaviest rider at 160+gear, but I havn't noticed the creaking sound others have mentioned. I definately want these wheels on all my mtn bikes from now on. However I wish they were a little more economical. If I need another set I will need to watch for a great deal.
I love Mavic wheels, When I bought my road bike I upgraded to Mavics as well although I did go with a lower end road wheel to save on costs.
Submitted by
Zachariah
a Cross Country Rider
from Palm Desert, CA USA
Date Reviewed: August 7, 2010
Strengths: ~Strong like bull
~Sub-1600g light
~Never trued in 4800 miles!
~Looks like a true race wheel
~UST certified tubeless(zero spoke holes inside rim)
~Titanium skewers only 87g/pair
Weaknesses: Minor Gripes:
~Frequent freehub service(yearly, for avid trail riders - but easy, DIY job)
~Red anodization peeling at hubs
~Expensive replacement spokes @$11/spoke!)
~High cost of ownership - but how many light XC wheels can easily last a decade?
~Seals nearly ALL non-UST tires(can ZTR Olympic do that?)
~Bladed spokes act as sails in cross winds
Bottom Line:
I have read many reviews of lightweight XC wheels...but it was the April, 2008 VeloNews article of factory Cannondale XC rider Roel Paulisson, riding the last 21 miles on a BARE RIM at a UCI World Cup event that finally sealed the deal for me. According to a Mavic race technician - the badly flared rear Crossmax SLR wheel was placed on a truing stand after Paulisson secured his UCI standing by finishing that race...only to be PERFECTLY STRAIGHT AND STILL ROUND!!!!
I told myself, "this is my NEXT wheelset!" Sure enough one day, I was struck by a car driven by a girl chatting on her cellphone, demolishing both Mavic XC717 wheels and my bike too. The first place I went after receiving the settlement was my LBS...just to buy those wheels.
Two years later and nearly 4800 miles of hard desert and forest trail riding - these wheels remain unscathed. I have taken many a fall...and they still are straight as an arrow. I started out at 180lbs and these wheels climb so well...I am now 25lbs lighter simply because they inspire so much confidence uphill and I cannot get enough of these wheels' blistering speed downhill. Sure, Stan's ZTR Olympic wheels(strongly considered them) are nearly a pound lighter - but who wants to true them every ride, deal with minimum rider weights and worry about your non-supported tire blowing off the rim?
The 2007-2008 Mavic Crossmax SLR is clearly the FINEST XC race wheel Mavic ever made. Not even their excessively-milled, problematic hubbed, 2009-2010 Crossmax SLR can compete. At a fairly robust, 1585g - my SLRs are literally BOMBPROOF. I occasionally huck small, 2ft jumps and sail down rock gardens and these wheels simply refuse to DIE.
Guys, there is a fine line between compromising weight and reliability...and the 2008 Mavic Crossmax SLR stands neutrally between that line, with complete authority.
Favorite Trail: Hurkey Creek Park (24 Hours of Adrenalin course)
Duration Product Used: 2 Years
Price Paid:
$1000.00
Purchased At: Palm Desert Cyclery
Similar Products Used: Mavic XM117
Mavic XC717
Bontrager Race X Lite Disc
Roval Traversee' E5 Disc(can you say, "pinggg?")
Bike Setup: 19-pound Cannondale race hardtail.
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Submitted by
etfireman
a Cross Country Rider
from san diego
Date Reviewed: August 4, 2010
Strengths: Stiff, Light, Racey (S.L.R.?)
Weaknesses: Baseball cards in the spokes sound
Bottom Line:
OK, wanna race? Great wheelset. But WTF with the ping-ponging noises while riding? It took me a while, but I felt brilliant after figuring out that the noises are coming from the spoke end / hub interface. Then at the Tour of CA, I talked to a Mavic rep who basically said, "yeah, they're supposed to do that." Really? And after all these years I've missed out on that b'tchin' high end wheel sound... Damn! BTW, I'm not talking about the nice buzz-saw sound that your King hubset makes. Nope, it's the spokes (they're supposed to do that, you know.)
Anyway, I'm about 220# with all my gear and am not the smoothest rider... Otherwise, they've been a reliable (noisy) wheelset.
(Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! I can't use the word b'tchin' cuase it's a bad word. Naughty, naughty bad word!)
Favorite Trail: my off rode commute to work each day ;)
Duration Product Used: 2 Years
Similar Products Used: Mavic 717's, some Bontrager stuff
Bike Setup: Currently on 07 S-works Stumpy
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Submitted by
onededmonkey
a Weekend Warrior
from Calgary, Alberta Canada
Date Reviewed: June 9, 2010
Strengths: diverseity. it is built for anyone of reasonable withg and can work with new or old forks.
Weaknesses: flexibility. The thin aluminum spokes and whisker thin rims are not the best for a guy over 200lbs. The rear kept going out of true and lots and lots of creaking.
Bottom Line:
brilliant engineering, but crummy for my application. I am a weekend warrior. and I do some 24 hr races. I had to true and tension the rear rim after every 2nd ride. increasing tesnsin got rid of creaks. I eventually took each spoke out and dipped them in parafin wax to silence them. on the 10th ride, the creaking returned and i put them on E-bay and got a set fo crossmax ST's instead.
Similar Products Used: 2004 mavic crossmax XL. excellent wheels
Bike Setup: Rocky Mountain Altitude 70 set up with 8 speed
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Submitted by
56cbr600rr
a Racer
from Canton, GA USA
Date Reviewed: February 11, 2010
Strengths: Light, Blingy, the mavic warranty.
Weaknesses: Price
Bottom Line:
I bought these wheels mostly for their reputation and the MAvic mp3 warranty. I did not do much research before I bought these whereas now I would. There is surely better bang for the buck out there. However, I do love these wheels and recomend them. I ride Fast and rough conditions often. I'm over 210 suited up. These wheels are at Blankets Creek at least three times a week, have raced Dauset 12 hours, Snake Creek Gap Time Trials, Berry College, Chicopee, Bear/Pinhotti, etc. and hold up fine. I've had a couple of woops moments and they have stayed true. Had one spoke get bent when the rear derailleur got sucked in; however, Outspokin had me repaired in a matter of minutes.
Similar Products Used: Just used stock wheels prior on a 2009 Fuel EX8 and stock wheels on a 2009 Anthem jX2.
Bike Setup: 2009 Giant Anthem X2: RaceFace Next SL seatpost and riser bar, SLR Wheels, Ergon gx1 grips, Hope bar ends.
Soon: titanium stem, Sella Italia slr saddle, and a 2 x 9/10 crank set up.
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Submitted by
DavidNeiles
a Cross Country Rider
from Chattanooga
Date Reviewed: May 30, 2009
Strengths: Light weight, good looking, stiff, and strong
Weaknesses: None so far
Bottom Line:
This is a super fast, light, durable wheelset. I ride very aggresive and take these wheels through a lot of abuse. I only have had to true them up once after the first ride and no problems since. The wheels are super stiff and really do a good job of keeping you on your line. Very fast accelleration and great handling. Very sexy looking