Weight without skewers 1,580g / Supplied with skewers and wheel bags
Contact: www.chickencycles.co.uk

For 2007, Mavic completely redesigned its XC race wheels from the ground up. The hubs and spoke lacing were modified to increase the space between the hub flanges, improving lateral stiffness while increasing radial compliance. On the rear hub, there was no way to move the drive-side flange further outboard, because of the cassette, so Mavic opted for a radial spoke lacing on the drive side of the rear wheel — shifting all of the spokes outboard, increasing the mean centre flag spacing while reducing spoke length.
To improve the durability of the FTS-X freehub, Mavic switched to a harder pawl material and the axle end cap that holds the freehub in place now comes with thread lock as standard. With 18 notches in the freehub body, Mavic shares the slowest freehub engagement speed with Ritchey and it’s noticeable when you’re swapping from XTR.
To reduce rotating weight, Mavic opted for a rim with a 17mm internal width. The new UST rim is obviously compatible with tubeless tyres and the addition of a removable valve core makes it easier to use regular tyres with sealant.
At 86g a set, the Ti skewers supplied with the SLR wheels are on average 35g lighter than the ones you get with XTR and Easton, and, along with the padded wheel bags, account for the price difference between the Crossmax SLR and the less expensive SL.
In back-to-back testing, on the same bike with the same tyres, tubes and tyre pressures, the Crossmax SLR Disc wheels offered a noticeably more forgiving ride than the others. They were also slightly less rigid laterally than some of the other wheels here, so heavier riders may find them flexy.
The Crossmax SLR Discs are by far the most factory race wheelset money can buy and with all the improvements, you shouldn’t need a support truck following you around to keep them running. That said, we recommend that you have the spokes tensioned after a couple of rides, especially on the rear wheel, because the non-drive side spokes can unhook from the hub if they aren’t tight enough.

MBR RATING: 8/10