[Closed] Maxxis Crossmark - What do you reckon?

rear tyre

immenent danger

i somehow doubt it - you can get away with ANY tire on the rear. seriously.

Cracking tyres for what they're designed for-which suprisingly isn't mud, hence the lack of grip when it gets a bit gloopy!

I've just put one on the rear. Not had a chance to use it in the wet yet, but I can see that it would be a bit slidey in summer showers. Its got less traction generally than the Aspen I just removed, but it does roll faster too.

i somehow doubt it - you can get away with ANY tire on the rear. seriously.

Utter crap.

I'm running one on the rear & it's great on the dry trails. Not ridden in the wet/muddy conditions as I've got really mud tyres for that.

great summer tyres
great 3 season rear tyre imo, i like sommat a bit knobblier on the front

could do better in the mud, but surely you can see that from the tread pattern

but yes, you will die, die to death on your arse.

only tire ive ever cut a sidewall on .... 2 cm gash in it .... less than 100k old ....

did not like .....

not to mention i thought it would be comparible to my small block 8s in the mud ..... its not - it blocks up quick and isnt even barable in the mud unlike the SB8 ....

All the reviews I read before buying a set were pretty positive. no mention of imminent death in any eitehr!

Didn't like it on the front, ended up with a bit of a spill whilst using it, so that tainted my view. but perfectly OK on the rear.

I prefer something with more 'bite' on the front, ie HR, advantage etc.

All the reviews I read before buying a set were pretty positive. no mention of imminent death in any eitehr!

I think the last issue of ST said that the 2.1 should come with a voucher for dental treatment!
Bikeradar review not too positive either.
I'm enjoying the speed so far and hope it will act as a talisman to ward off the rain this summer.

Bought an Advantage 2.1 to go with it on the front, but it actually has less volume than the Crossmark, which is a bit weird. Seems like a pretty good combo though.

Still got a set of Ignitors if it gets a bit claggy, might buy a set of proper mud tyres for Hit The North, after the carnage of the first one 🙂

thanks spoke bloke - i seem to do fine with semislicks in the rain and even occasionally a 32mm touring tyre, but what do i know....

Used advantage front and crossmark rear for a while now and really like it in dry conditions. I ripped the sidewall on the crossmark and that would be my only complaint.

Great tyre though imo.

Ok tyre but a little skittish. Had one on the rear of my xc hardtail. Fast rolling, but has poor braking grip and spins/slips alot when putting power down (in dry!).
If you ride dry hardpack with no loose marbles then they would be a very good tyre.

The ones that need a dentists voucher are the hard compound 70a ones rather than the 2.1 size i think.

I had some 2.1 70a because they were cheap and fast. Lethal with any condensation on roots or damp. Got some 2.25 60a on the back now and seem loads better.

Used to do the whole tyre swapping thing a few years ago but since ive fitted a crossmark on the back and a Monorail on the front in 2008 ive not had them off (well once, to add more sealant as it dried out). Bike has seen many events, 24hr's, Transwales (the wet one), Touring, Trailcentres etc. and never had an issue till i cut the front at the Exp24hr last month. They are both getting bald now and the sides are looking pretty threadbare but still they roll like deamons and give me enough control to throw the bike down any descent whatever the weather. Sure a 2.5" supertacky DH tyre is grippier but if your used to slicks its not often you need as much grip as you think. Ok slick muddy hills maybe, but i bet most times you can find a grippy line if you need it (i have and im cr@p!)

Running 2.25 LUST on my Zesty....a great tyre IMO. It's been fantastic on the dry local trails although things get abit interesting in the mud but i found it to break away very predictably, making for drifty fun around corners! Braking grip can be an issue on anything steep or loose as it can lock-up easily.

On firm, rocky surfaces or trail centres it accelerates like nothing else i've tried. However, i wouldn't recommend it if using on your only bike. I have a choice of 2 bikes to use and tend to use the other bike if local trails are abit damp. 2.25 is abit draggier than the 2.1 but the extra volume makes it a good deal tougher.

ripped sidewall and aware of Chucky comment above BUT never crashed on it yet but when I do I will know to blame it rather than my absence of skills.
It worked quite well on the front even when I had put it on the wrong way round 😳

Should add that i run it on the rear only...no way would it make a good front tyre IMO. I have 2.35 Ignitor for the front.

STW use the Crossmark as their Control tyre when performing tests, don't they?

Ace rear tyre, surprisingly grippy in most conditions but its not a mud tyre and doesn't claim to be. That said it does perform surprisingly well in the wet and is predictable. It won't cope with wet roots but I would think it would do as well as anything else on wet rock.

STW use the Crossmark as their Control tyre when performing tests, don't they?

used a 2.1 62a (60a?) on the rear for 10 under the Ben this year - which was very wet and rooty. It wouldn't have been my choice if I'd predicted the conditions, but to be honest it was pretty good - with a bit of selective power application technique!

Not so good out of the saddle in loose/dry - needs a smmoth application of power.

But what I would say is that there is probably a bit of placebo effect involved too - if you think a tyre is going to be sh1t then you (the royal "you" btw) will make it sh1t.....so if you already have doubts about performance the tyre may well get the blame for "lack of confidence in tyre induced pilot error" and prove to be sh1t!

EDIT:

IMHO

Used one all winter and now summer, surprisingly good in mud I found, was the mansize 29er version though

Works really well in mud given it's fast credentials. Run one on the rear in everything but snow/ice. 62a run tubeless.

I run a highroller on the front and a cross mark on the rear. Works well, and very predictable in mud.

i seem to do fine with semislicks in the rain and even occasionally a 32mm touring tyre, but what do i know....

Well, I obviously have no idea where you ride, but around the south cotswolds you'd last the trip out of your gate before falling flat on your arse with semi slicks. If you can ride them, fair play. I can't.

I heart crossmarks for going fast.

Faster than they are grippy, but not disproportionally so, if that makes sense?

I've just put these back on my hardtail and for the hardpack/minor roads that I tend to ride a lot, there are none better in my opinion.

Bikeradar said Maxxis Crossmark is dangerous on wet trails

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/components/tyres/mountain/product/crossmark-tyre-32380

Maxxis Ignitor is best all year round tyre.

From memory, one of the hire shops at Afan uses Crossmarks on their hire bikes - they aren't too bad on wet rocks, especially those that are a bit 'grippy'. Still seems like an odd choice of tyres to me, but they seemed to work pretty well in wet conditions there.

They do need a different cornering technique to tyres with bigger sidelugs (i.e. Advantage, High Roller etc), but think its something you can get used to over time. They're certainly very fast XC tyres, but maybe not the best aggressive riding tyre IMHO.

But it does vary according to where you ride - I'd say Crossmarks are best suited to places with hardpack, with little loose stuff, or on areas with solid, 'grippy' type rocks. Not much good in the really loose stuff, or loamy soils etc.

2.25 aDvantage front and 2.25 crossmark back works a treat for me!
Now that I have stopped myself Reading tyre reviews;)

I run a 2.1 Crossmark on the rear at the moment with a 2.1 ADvantage (my favourite front tyre by miles,)up front. I've not ridden a great variety of terrain with the Crossmark yet as it's quite new, mainly Cannock and the Wyre, but it's suprisingly capable and the extra speed is easy to notice. I bought it originally for a bit less rolling resistance on the SS, but now I'm using my Stiffee again I've put it on there and it holds up well enough to a bit more aggro than I gave the SS. Nicely controlled braking is the order of the day though, as it locks up and skids quite easily.
Wouldn't want it on in soft mud, but I've got a Medusa for that.

Been using 2.1 cross marks on the rear of 2 bikes for some time now,run them hard & they fly on that thin tread down the centre of the tyre & grip well when you lean it over.Great for trail centers,hard pack,dry stuff,not that bad in the mud either tbh.But what I have found is you have to mess with the air pressure for different terrains.For Cannock & the like at around 45psi they fly with good grip(in the dry).For rocky/rooty stuff & mud they are an absolute nightmare at this pressure,but drop them down to around 30,they'll grip really well & still roll good too.They weren't very good at this weekends Rough Ride though because they just sank into the grass & dragged like hell.... 😥

I put these on my spesh front and rear when they first came out, I was given them to test by a friend who was sponsored to ride maxxis tyres.
I hated them! they rolled over,lost grip on the front,I had no confidence in them at all.

Then, I rode a yeti on a demo day.I commented how good the tyres were and upon inspection found them to be Crossmarks!!
However, the front was being run (ran?) back to front.
I put them back on my bike the "wrong" way round and they're still on now.
I've had them round dalby in the wet and bone dry,the lakes,whinlatter,Gisburn,Ilkley moor,Baildon moor,Ogden moor and I've raced them in the Calderdale mountain bike marathon,which is good mix of terrain.
They aren't the best tyre in the mud but they do cope and as long as you spin them quick they clear fairly well.
I've not punctured them yet either.
I see them as I see my cyclocross tyres,they dont work well everywhere, but they're fast and 90% of the time thy're great.

the only place I change them is Llandegla in the wet.For some reason those little chipping stones that poke through the surface of the track make them slide like a hot knife through butter and it's "iffy" to say the least!!

Apart from that I love them.

Theres so many factors that differ when people make judgements on tyres - rider weight, surface used on, pressures used, type/style of riding, riders skill level and finaly, personal preference.

All these variables combine to make any 'what tyre' thread almost irrelevant.

In my opinion :p

That said, my flatmate has crossmarks front and back for mostly XC/trail center riding and he loves them.

[i]Bikeradar said Maxxis Crossmark is dangerous on wet trails

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they need a jedi skills session i recon

lol@ rocketdog 🙂