After years of development,
Mavic, today, introduced a revolutionary
mountain bike wheel system. With one technological breakthrough, Mavic’s CrossMaxSizer
fitment system allows a rider to buy just one wheelset that can be adapted to
fit all the mountain bikes they might own, whether they use 26”, 650b, or 29er
wheels. The new wheelset is yet unnamed.
The new
modular wheel system is built on a 26-inch Crossmax ST mountain bike wheel for
the base structure. Testing revealed that this fundamental wheel system is
strong and stiff enough to readily adapt to multiple sizes. “It’s remarkably
clever, if I may say so myself,” Mavic PR person Zack Vestal said via press
release. “We devised a system by which the rim outer diameter can actually be
increased or decreased at the user’s discretion.
“On the one hand, we are
getting a little sick of all these different size standards,” Vestal said. “I
mean, can’t we decide on just one size for all the mountain bike wheels? But on
the other hand, we wanted to offer something really different and satisfy these
guys who can’t make up their bloody minds.”
With CrossMaxSizer
technology, the mod-wheel converts from 26 inches to 650b, and from
650b to 29er.To increase the bead seat diameter for 650b usage, a snap-on
expander ring fits into the UST tire bed and tightens into place with recessed
setscrews. Just like the original tire bed, the CrossMaxSizer expander ring is
fully UST compliant, with an airtight tire bed and 19mm inner width.
The Mod-wheel easily
fits 29er bikes and tires with the addition of a second CrossMaxSizer expander
ring, mounted on top of the first expander ring. “We found a light, flexible
composite for the expander rings, so they really don’t add much weight,” offered
Mavic MTB product tester Joaquin D. Trayle. “Plus, as you add CrossMaxSizer rings
to achieve the 29er tire size, you’re adding rim depth. So there’s a nice aero
benefit, too.”
The first schematic of the CrossMaxSizer
Mavic experimented with a
removable insert to fit directly into the rim extrusion, but the extendable
spokes and spacing presented an engineering challenge. It was a solid first
step idea, similar in concept to what Keith Bontrager was doing in the early
1980s: cutting down and re-pinning 700c MA-40 road rims to make 26-inchers. But
in the end, Vestal said, “trying to up-size for larger wheels, it was too
complicated to be practical.”
At this time, Mavic has not
announced a solution to fit the “yarder,” a 36-inch tire size popularized by a
few builders at the North American Handbuilt Show. “At that size, we’d have to
use the C29ssmax as our base structure, and we need to do more testing on this,”
said Vestal.
On the other hand, Mavic is
actively investigating the 24-inch wheel size. “Going forward, we think that
‘small’ might be the new ‘big,’” said Vestal. “I mean, how much more can we
gain with going bigger all the time? We think 24s and maybe even the 20-inch
wheel are the next frontiers in trail riding.”
Then there are the wheels-
handbuilt here in Palisade by the BikeMaster himself late at night after
work. He is a slave to detail demanding the absolute right spoke for
the job at hand and choosing each nipple for the perfection of it
anodization. Be assured, you cannot buy these bad boys at your online
discounter.
