Mavic Tires

I know not many people have used or considered Mavic tires, but I have a set of 2.35 Crossmax Quest tires that came with the wheelset.

Today was the first time I used them. They roll pretty darned well, on par with the Maxxis Ardent and close to the Ikon. The side knobs are fairly prominent. The profile is more rounded, since the inside width of the wheel is only 23mm or so.

Going up Black Star I had only 2 instances where it started to break loose and spin, and that's way less than with the Maxxis. They seemed to bite really well on the loose over hardpack conditions and I didn't feel sketchy at all coming back down.

Tread is very much like the Ardent, but I think it actually works better. We'll see how it does as it wears. I've read that they wear pretty fast. Time will tell.

Overall they seem to be worth using. When they wear out I'll know whether they're worth replacing like for like.



SPECIFICATIONS
Breaker

• Guard 2

Casing

• 2 x 66 TPI

Tread Compound

• Dual Compound : 50/40 Shore A

Versions

• Black with grey labels
• 29 x 2.35
• 27.5 x 2.4
• 26 x 2.4

 

Remind us what wheelset they came on?

 

Mavic Crossmax XL Pro wheelset. Tire & wheel together...

I should probably add that I ran the front at about 14 psi and the rear at roughly 18 psi.

 

Just curious as I was looking at this carbon wheelset on sale at Competitive Cyclist. It would only be used for XC type stuff.

https://www.competitivecyclist.com/...=Display&CMP_ID=PS_KS_REM_CUS_PV_DPA_CAR_OVE#

 

Are you running sealant in these?

 

Awfully narrow at 23mm I.D.

 

Yes. Set them up after the Motorway ninjas last weekend killed the Ardent up front. The Forekaster on the rear was just about worn out too.

Floor pump worked to air them up; easiest tubeless setup I've ever experienced. In those 5 days they lost maybe 2 psi. So far, there are no negatives.

 

Only gonna run 2.2's but after a little research I think I'll stick with something that is not proprietary.

 

That particular wheelset you cite is not proprietary; doesn't have the sealed bed. Spokes would be anything you'd want, and how often do you break spokes? Pretty much any tire can be used on the hookless rim, that's what you're using now.

The Mavic wheels I have are the "proprietary" setup, but then I think I've broken a total of one spoke in the last 6 years and that was on a low-end Trek with Bontrager wheels.

 

You're right. Straight-pull spokes was my only concern.

 

They look a lot like Bontrager XR4 Tread pattern. Not a judgement, merely an observation. I like XR4s.

 

I used those tires for a while, I liked them. I stopped using them since my Specialized bike came with Specialized tires...just kept running them.

I don't consider 23mm narrow for XC racing, that's what both of my race bikes have!

According to my LBS friend, while Mavic has a lot of proprietary parts, he hasn't had to do a lot of repairs on them and he stocks most of the parts.

My roadie has Mavic Kosmik wheels.

 

My favorite Mavic review: http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2009/06/round-and-round-wheel-in-sky-keeps-on.html

 

Ran these tires up and down the Motorway today. Plenty of gription, rear tire broke loose maybe twice on the descent, didn't spin loose once on the climb.

No ninjas caught up with me to slice tires today. I like these tires.