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Years of wheel systems development enable us to bring expertise to all levels. All the components are engineered together to ensure maximum reliability and the feel of a true wheel system. Simple and reliable: Crossone.
Features:
FTS-X – Force Transfer System X: A further improved FTS freewheel system to meet the demand of intensive MTB riding as closely as possible to make the freewheel mechanism even more hard wearing.
Weight:
- Pair 26″: 1885g
- Front 26″: 850g
- Rear 26″: 1035g
- Pair 650b/27,5″: 1995g
- Front 650b/27,5″: 905g
- Rear 650b/27,5″: 1090g
- Pair 29″: 2085g
- Front 29″: 950g
- Rear 29″: 1135g
Rims:
- Material: S6000 Aluminium
- Joint: pinned
- Drilling: traditional
- Profile: Disc brake specific
- Valve hole diameter: 8.5mm with pop off reducer
Tyre:
- Tubetype
- Internal width: 19mm
- ETRTO size 26″: 559x19C
- ETRTO size 650b/27.5″: 584x19C
- ETRTO size 29″: 622x19C
- Recommended tyre sizes: 1.5 to 2.3
Mavic Crossone Review:
Mavic introduced their Crossone MTB wheelset a while back, and I was able to test them out on trail, as well as at an event. As expected, they performed exceptionally at both.
The first thing you’ll notice about the wheels is their low weight. In fact, they’re among the lightest 20″ wheels on the market. Most likely, that’s due to the carbon braking surface on both wheels. If you do some downhill riding, this is the feature you’ve been waiting for. You might expect your braking to be a little less effective due to the material, but it’s a myth that carbon brakes are too squish to stop you. Actually, it’s just the opposite; carbon rims are so strong and stiff that they can stop you quite a bit faster than aluminum ones (without flexing and stopping you later). They’re really good for breaking power.
Even with strong braking, they don’t feel unweighted at all. Part of that is because of the proper spoke count and size (the outer ones are quite small), but also because of the relatively low spoke tension (ratios can be found in the specs below). After riding a pair of carbon wheels I can’t go back to aluminum at all. I’ll admit, at first I was a little worried about having to rebuild them, but I’ve been riding this wheel set for about a year and it hasn’t been any more work to maintain them than any other wheel.
I also find the smoother braking to result in a less jarring ride. It took a little getting used to the firmer feel after riding my previous aluminum wheels, but once you adapt, it feels like something is missing when you ride the others. The carbon braking also makes a very loud “SCREECH” sound when riding backwards in the saddle.
The other really well done feature is their axle system. The wheel is run on 2 bearings with an alloy bushing in between. It’s the same system used in high-end MTB Suspension forks. This system is designed for a small amount of play (free and loose laterally), and stiffens the wheel to help it track better. Over rough stuff, particularly in the front, this system is really sweet and has proven it’s worth many, many times.
The Crossone wheels use relatively short spokes, and don’t use any heavy-duty parts (like brass nipples). They’re not the strongest, but are quite light because of that. They’re designed to be desirable for racing and fast XC riding.
Tops, Bottoms And Thoughts:
Mavic’s Crossone wheels are light, sexy carbon wheels. They’re also available in both MTB and Road sizes in both 26″ and 650b (27.5″). If you want a light wheel set that has carbon braking and is still relatively strong, it’s hard to go wrong with these.
Mavic Crossone 26/650b Test Ride:
On paper the Mavic Crossone wheelset appears to be a cost effective and practical choice for the off road cyclist. The carbon braking surface appears at first to be a good thing, however a quick search on the inter-web will raise an eyebrow or two in regards to carbon braking surfaces. It was with much skepticism that I arrived at the local bike park. With a set of carbon wheels I expected them to be rather fragile, but in reality this is not the case. Mavic says the carbon wheels have proven to be amongst the most reliable carbon wheels on the market.
A brief run down of my local bike park. The top one is the original dirt jump track ‘The Drift’. This is normally accessed by the pump track. The pump track ‘Oscar’s Kingdom’ offers access to both tracks.
One day out on the trail and a couple of jumps later the process of mental acceptance of these wheels had begun. The first thing I found is that the Crossone wheels have a very stiff feel, which should lend themselves well to a rail or dirt jump.
The more I rode them the more pleased I became. Being both light and strong these wheels feel great in corners, and they hold speed very well. When braking I could feel the difference between the carbon braking surface and metal (I have a set of ZTR Flow wheels as well as some Shimano XT’s on my other bike), they brake very much as advertised.
The build of the Mavic’s is very good, aside from the freewheel pads being a little on the small side, and I believe that is more down to big feet than anything else! The skewer is aluminium, this means they are sharp and light, however I stripped the nut on the first ride! That said the skewer is replaceable, I stripped another and replaced it with a better quality Mavic one. Apart from the hose clamp on the Maxxis tubeless tyre I have not done anything to the wheels or had anything go wrong.
As a set of training wheels, these are at the lighter end of the scale. I feel they do hold up very well, they don’t seem to be flexing or twisting under hard pedaling.
