IN BRIEF
Mavic is unveiling the Crossmax Ultimate, a cross-country wheelset claimed at 1,080 grams — 500 g at the front, 580 g at the rear — for a recommended retail price of €2,299. The brand claims three weight savings of 100 grams each: a new rim, carbon spokes with titanium nipples and hubs named UltraLightHubs. The rim measures 30 mm of internal width and the ID360 Ultralight freehub has 40 teeth. These wheels are not arriving untested in competition: Mavic says they raced the 2026 UCI World Cup with the Mondraker XC Factory Racing and KTM XC Factory Racing teams, with a win for Katrin Embacher in XCO U23 at Nové Město.
| Recommended retail price | 2 299 € |
| Wheelset weight | 1 080 g |
| Front wheel weight | 500 g |
| Rear wheel weight | 580 g |
| Internal rim width | 30 mm |
| Spoke lacing | 20 carbon spokes, two-cross, titanium nipples |
| Freehub | ID360 Ultralight, 40 teeth, new ULH body |
| Carbon layup | Adaptive Layup |
One thousand and eighty grams for a complete mountain bike wheelset, rims, spokes and hubs included: that is what Mavic is putting in the catalogue for its Crossmax Ultimate, announced on 23 August. At that level, weight becomes a currency, one that is spent in the accelerations and paid back on the climbs.
What the Mavic Crossmax Ultimate has shed, item by item
Mavic presents this wheel as a sum of savings rather than a redesign. On its presentation page, the manufacturer details three weight savings, each put at 100 grams: “New rim design (−100 g), new carbon spokes with titanium nipples (−100 g) and new UltraLightHubs (−100 g).”
The rim deserves a closer look, because Mavic gives a second figure there, on a different scope. By reworking the fibre layout, “Mavic engineers have reduced the rim weight by 50 grams compared with the previous generation, while retaining the stiffness and durability demanded at the highest level”, the specification sheet states. Fifty grams for a rim, one hundred grams for the item: on the page consulted on 23 August, the two values appear separately, each within its own scope. We report them as they stand.
The third lever is the spokes. Mavic fits carbon paired with titanium nipples, a combination that “saves 100 grams, improving acceleration, climbing efficiency and handling precision”. The lacing itself is tightened up: twenty spokes per wheel, two-cross, an architecture that the brand says “delivers the ideal level of compliance to keep full control right to the last lap”.
A 40-tooth freehub and 30 mm of internal width
With 30 mm of internal width, the Crossmax Ultimate takes the wide tyres that have become the norm in the World Cup without straying into trail territory.
The rear hub carries over the in-house ratchet system. “At the heart of the system is Mavic’s proven ID360 Light freehub with 40-tooth ratchets. Its ultra-fast engagement ensures direct power transfer”, the brand explains, mentioning a new freehub body named ULH. Forty engagement points is a detail judged on the acceleration, on the exit of a hairpin.
Already racing with KTM and Mondraker
Mavic explains that the wheel has “shown its full potential in the hands of the riders of the Mondraker XC Factory Racing and KTM XC Factory Racing teams”, involved in the project from the outset.
The brand highlights one result in particular: “Katrin Embacher’s win in XCO U23 as well as several Elite Top 10 results achieved by the KTM and Mondraker teams” at the 2026 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup. Mavic places the Austrian rider’s success at Nové Město and presents it as her “first World Cup win, XCO U23”.
That leaves the entry ticket: €2,299 for the pair, the price of a decent complete bike for two wheels. As of 23 August, the presentation page was online but not the product page with a purchase option, and Mavic gives no on-sale date there.
