Manufacture D'Articles Vélopediques Idoux et Chanel. The acronym that probably springs to your mind is WTF, but actually, this is where the MAVIC brand name was born.
In 1889, Charles Idoux and Lucien Chanel created the brand in Lyon, France, and began bleeding 'Le Sang Jaune' (the yellow blood). Plenty of interesting things happened for the brand over the following 128 years, but what we are interested in the infamous Deemax wheelset. 2017 sees the launch of all new Deemax DH and Pro wheelsets, the latter being aimed at the 'enduro' market but still carrying the same name due to the similarity of severity of these gravity-based disciplines.
When I was growing up, the unmistakable yellow Deemax wheels were the drool-worthy wheel of dreams, adorning classic rigs under riders like Nicolas Vouilloz, Anne Caroline Chausson, Shaun Palmer and another thirty world title winning champions. The winningest downhill wheel ever? Twenty years since NV10 took them to victory, in June 2017, Troy Brosnan adorned the namesake with Andorran gold.
After years of testing in the current headquarters in Annecy, France, and on racetracks around the world, the Deemax is back and looking better than ever. Split into almost identical twins, riders now have the choice between the Deemax DH and Deemax Pro. The former is still a downhill racing thoroughbred, and the latter changes focus slightly to enduro racing.
Deemax DH Details• 28mm internal rim width
• 20mm x 110mm front hub spacing
• 12mm x 150/157 rear hub spacing
• 27.5"
• ISDM 4 rim machining
• 28 front / 32 rear steel spokes
• UST sealed rim design
• ASTM Cat 5: Gravity Riding certified
• Weight: 1950 grams (
claimed)
• MSRP: €899 / $899 USD
•
www.mavic.com Is stiffer better? Or is compliance king? Mavic says they have put a lot of effort into keeping the Deemax wheels laterally stiff but vertically compliant, to help aid with comfort and trail chatter, as well as helping to ward off punctures. This is done by using alloy rims, choosing spoke lacing and shape, and reducing spoke count. The DH wheelset uses 28 steel, straight pull, double butted spokes front and rear. Standard DH hub spacings are possible with included adapters, and an XD freehub driver is available when ordering.
The rims continue to be alloy and use Mavic's IDSM4 rim machining techniques to remove material from the spoke-side of the rim where it's not needed. At 28mm, these might be Mavic's widest rims to date, but currently, they don't feel the need to go super wide. Mavic think that the current crop of wide rims are purely a trend, suggesting this width should be able to work well with tires widths up to 76mm/3.0".
Mavic created the
UST Tubeless interface and still believe in it today. The earliest example of tubeless was in Deemax prototypes from 1995. Universal System Tubeless refers a complete package that should allow easy inflation, sealant-free use and help to prevent burping.
Deemax Pro Details• 28mm front / 25mm rear internal rim width
• Boost or non-boost hubs
• 27.5"
• ISDM4 rim machining
• 24 front and rear Zicral alloy spokes
• UST sealed rim design
• ASTM Cat 4: enduro and trail certified
• Weight: 1700 grams (
claimed)
• MSRP: €999 / $1099 USD
•
www.mavic.com The Pro wheelset comes with a Boost or non-boost hub set with spacers included covering all the options. Like to ride wagon wheels? Well, 29" isn't available yet. The main difference compared to the DH wheelset are the hollow, alloy Zicral spokes. This choice is to save weight over the steel spokes, and numbers are reduced to 24 at the front and 28 rear. Along with the offset rim design (also found in the DH) to try to help balance spoke tension, the steeper side of the spokes on each wheel is also laced radially (without crossing) to reduce tension on this side and split the tension balance even more.
The interfaces at either end of the spokes are designed to maximize contact and surface area, which should result in fewer failures. Keep some spares nearby, though, as finding these proprietary spokes could be tough in an emergency.
After a tour of Mavic's R+D facilities, it's clear to see why these wheels that were spotted last year have only just come to market – testing, testing, and more testing. Inside, there are around thirty machines torturing wheels and tires in various manners. Many machines Mavic built themselves, even down to a machine that tests bearing life, just to double-check that a change in supplier or even between different batches that everything is up to standard.
We spent a few runs each on both wheelsets on the trails surrounding Annecy and Mavic's headquarters, but thanks to some biblical rain storms, we found ourselves on top of impossibly slippery trails, so we couldn't gauge an accurate feel for the wheels. They didn't break after the first run, which is more than can be said for some wheelsets I have ridden this year. We have a pair of Deemax DH wheels to test for the remainder of this summer. Let's see if the legend lives on.
I'm so glad we ditched Mavic from our workshop years ago. What's the point in stocking thousand of dollars of useless Mavic parts? From wheels to wheels the parts aren't the same! And most of the time you have zero retro-compatibility. And I'm not even talking about the fact they stop supporting their products after 5 years. Yeah that's right, no more official support and parts in very limited number after 5 years.
I don't know what happened to Mavic ... They used to be ahead of the competition and quite innovative.
But hey bro, the kind of support showed by Mavic at races and events ain't cheap at all. Customers are paying for it, rather they want it or not. Too much PR is always too much!
And then came the first generation of Crossmax and Helium. They were looking the business remember? And not too much mumbo jumbo, just less hours spent on wheels in the workshop. I was okay with it until my mechanical engineering degree days. A friend did his internship at Mavic and from that day I knew what was the logic behind their wheels.
Less spokes -and of the straight type- equals saving time when you're lacing the wheels. Almost everything they have done so far was to make sure a machine could replace a skilled wheel builder. And after that they took the job from Jean Louis and they gave it to Bogdan somewhere in Easter Europe. All good Mavic, well done on improving the overall quality of your products ... Remember the very first Crossmax XL lmao ?
Today having Mavic's parts consists in buying a 1500 or 2000€ file, filled with spokes of many sorts. I shit you not guys!
I can relate and I remember. Hell, I remember the original Crossmax with steel spokes and ceramic rimsides. From back in the day when V-brakes and Magura HS-33 where all the rage. Half the kids here wont even remember regular rimbrakes. Let alone that Shimano made them in every mtb series, even XTR.
These days I still build wheels from time to time, for myself or for family/friends, but they are always laced with regular J bend steel spokes, preferably made by DT Swiss.
Mavic lost me as a customer way back.
No one blame Bodgan, like @chaserider said, 'Bogdan' is just a corporate thing in English language. Get over it bro
Bogdan, Stefan, Yanush (Yan, Yanek), Zbignev, Henyek, Vitold, Antek,
*First inflatable tire on a bicycle : Michelin
*First mass produce and successful tubeless system for mtb : Mavic, Michelin and Hutchinson.
*Best DH tires ever: Michelin and their DH16, DH24 and DH32 -Maxxis did nothing else than copying-
*First modern derailleur: designed and made by some french lad, he later sold it to Campagnolo
*First electric drive-train : Mavic with its Zap groupset in the early 90s
*First mass produce carbon frame: Look, TVT and Time.
*First wireless electric drive-train : Mavic again with its MEKTRONIC groupset
*First alloy rim: Mavic in the late 20s or early 30s
*First ever modern bicycle chain: Cedis. Cedis was later bought by Huret, then Huret was bought by Sachs, then Sachs was bought by ... Sram. Yet, our chains are copying the original Cedis design.
*First pressfit bottom bracket: Alex Singer cycles in the late 60s early 70s. We owe hundred of things to Alex Singer cycles. Their pressfit bb design was so damn good it worked for 20+ years with the same bearings ...
*Modern clip-less pedals: Look made it happen with their road pedals in the mid 80s. Keep in mind the Look system was licensed to ... Shimano. SPD system is nothing else than a Look system made smaller
And the list goes on and on. France where are your engineers with their very french ideas? Mavic had a british guy leading their R&D department for years in the 2000s.
Now you can laugh at the people saying that brand X or Y is copying Maxxis.
DHF is hardly matched since 2001. Especially these days with 3C Maxxgrip. No one is shitting on my favorite tyre by saying Michelin did it before. If you want to match DHF you have to compromise something. It is the benchmark and highly probably the most versatile tyre out there.
The new ss is awesome for the dry weather too!(the two weeks in July in the U.K.)
Just stick with what works best for you... minions!
When the High Roller came out it was a huge step up from those Michelins and about half the price. Then they released the Super Tacky version and have dominated ever since. Michelin haven't even tried since.
Like I said, Michelin doesn't give too much crap about cycling anymore. They're not making enough money out of it. Even the production is now outsourced in Thailand :/. But they have made some nice effort in the last years, some young chap took the head of their Cycling R&D department and they haven't stop to improve ever since.
But when it comes to thread patterns, Michelin figured out way before the competition. After a good cut the DH24 was a mint tire! But the DH16 and DH32 still have two of the all time best thread pattern for gravity purpose. I was lucky enough to live and ride in the mountains of the south of France, where you can find everything in terms of terrain. The Gazzalodis were rubbish on natural, rough and rocky terrain in dry conditions. Overall the DH32 was our top choice.
Give a go the the Onza's Aquila. We are not selling much DHF and DHR these days because of the Aquila.
Oh well.. Cheap, delicious, healthy. Pick any two.
R u accusing Mavic for Proprietary wheels!!! Ha,.. why the rest of the world that are making wheels what are they doing???? I have a couple of brands of ready-made wheels and I am stuck with the company in all cases. In some cases (like my crank brothers!!!I) things are even worse and shitty expensive. No one forced me to buy ready-made wheels, my choice. Mavic offers a number of rims if you do not like ready wheels and there are million of hubs available. Here we are discussing wheels however. I do not know what is the case down under but in EU companies are obliged by law to keep spare parts and support products for 10 years (not 5 that you mentioned). And I do not get that "no official support", what..? they do not talk to you?
Mavic is a great company with excellent wheels still ahead of the competition. If there are issues? yes there are, but like every other company does. If you do not want to sell Mavic you loose.
It looks like you don't know much about the cycling trade universe my boy. Since day one and their first egg beaters every one in the industry knows you have to stay away from CB as much as possible. Well you know I also hold a EU passport and speak fluent french. Meaning I know what I'm talking about when it comes to Mavic. Lmao at your 10 years EU law, maybe in your field of expertise but not in the cycling industry, and especially not with Mavic. I still have a french Mavic B2B account, as I need it for my cycling tour operator company in Europe. And oh well, I contacted them 2 weeks ago about a 6 years old pair of Mavic Crossmax ... well the answer was we're sorry we can't do the job even if your customer pays. Why? Because they no longer have parts for it.
In Oz, Groupe Sportif deals with Mavic -and some other brands-. That's why we never had the MP3 warranty. They do what they can with what they have. At least we are not expecting much from Mavic since we all know it's rubbish. We can afford expensive stuff here, so we go carbon as much as we can when it comes to hoops.
But yeah agree to disagree, we just have different opinions. At that time I raced as -a slow- amateur in the south of France, myself and the locals made similar choice with tires .
As long as we share the same opinion about Mavic it's alright mate !
An EU passport and the French language doesn't make anyone expert in bicycle wheels or EU legislation.
Apparently you are angry with MAVIC, not with their wheels!
Regarding my questionable expertise, probably not as "loud" as yours, but, have a look since when I am following PB. I might know a thing ... or two!
Glad you can afford expensive stuff over there, let the rest to enjoy value propositions.
*outsourcing the production -their made in France products were just way stronger and better-
*removing the human factor out of wheel building as much as possible when we know a machine can't do what a person can when it comes to tensioning a wheel
*questionable choice when it comes to hub design and lacing pattern
But hey, thanks to people like you Mavic is not out of business yet. Blessed are the ignorant :p.
It is cool how they managed to leave the tire bed intact though. If you don't need rim tape, that'd be one less thing to worry about.
It's funny how much work they put into making the wheels light, just to make up for the inherent weight of the rim bed being solid, just because they want to justify having made it a requirement of the UST standard. Meanwhile, WTB adopted the good part of UST (the bead seat) & ignore the rim bed part, & make much better products.
Heck, even the narrowness of these rims is in part to keep weight down.
bang on. 100% agree.
had crossmax enduros and found the exact same problems. well the few time they actually stayed together long enough to be ridden. couldn't ride hard because of that rear. had to whack the pressure up so high to stop the tire roll and protect the rim. it was harsh, no grip or feel or floppy, useless and wreaked. theres was no happy ground.
Ran crossmax XL on the trail bike and same thing, not one issue with them. Still alive and kicking on the GF's trail bike.
I've been super happy with them and don't get all the hate.
The newer generation Dee-Max had the ITS-4 freewheel already. OK. Pretty decent and stiff wheelset until the flanges on the hubs were failing/breaking off. Never more.
I will say too that using the expression "return of the king" in this context is quite an insult to Tolkien's lord of the rings. If mavic was one character in the movie serie, it would be gollum.
EDIT ah the pro's fit a non dh bike? I still want them in yellow though, not black with stickers.
Means "making bicycle stuff" for non XIX century french
...PCC.X?
Any rear spare rear hub parts for my 2013 Mavic Crossmax St 26" wheels....?
Thanks.
Never ! ^^
More compatibility, cheaper and stronger.
Mavic still seems to think that they should be able to rent seek due to UST, & then seems to be surprised when everyone ignores them instead.