Cadex has made its first move into mountain biking with the Max XC WheelSystem, a 1,248g carbon wheelset aimed at high-level cross-country racing.If Cadex isn't a name familiar to you, it's Giant's high-end components brand. Until now, it has been best known for its road and gravel wheels, alongside products such as tyres and saddles. The Max XC is officially its first mountain bike wheelset.Cadex has gone straight for the sharp end of the XC market with the Max XC. It uses carbon rims and carbon spokes bonded directly into the hub flanges, with plenty of attention paid to stiffness and power transfer.Cadex says the wheels were developed and tested with World Cup riders from the Giant Factory Off-Road Team.Carbon spokes bonded into the hubs The Max XCs carbon spokes are bonded directly into carbon hub flanges, creating what Cadex describes as a one-piece hub and spoke structure. Cadex A big point of interest with the Max XC wheels is how Cadex has joined the spokes to the hubs.The Super Aero carbon spokes are bonded directly into carbon hub flanges, creating what Cadex describes as a one-piece hub and spoke structure. The idea is to reduce flex as the wheel loads up under hard pedalling.Its Dynamic Balanced Lacing system, or DBL, uses a wider spoke-bracing angle and is designed to balance spoke tension as pedalling load increases. There are 20 spokes in the front and 24 in the rear, with lightweight titanium threads at the ends of the carbon spokes.It sounds pretty wild, although the idea of heavily integrating carbon spokes into an XC wheel isn't new.Syncros launched the Silverton SL back in 2018. Those wheels had carbon rims, spokes and hub shells moulded together into a single rigid structure and weighed a claimed 1,250g. There was a catch, though. Because the spokes formed part of that structure, you couldn't simply true them in the usual way.Cadex has gone about things differently. Its spokes are bonded into the hub flanges, but alloy nipples are hidden at the rim and each spoke can still be tensioned independently.What does transmission stiffness mean? The Max XC wheels are aftermarket parts designed to fit compatible XC bikes from any brand. Cadex Cadex has compared the Max XC wheels directly to the Roval Control World Cup in its own testing, and this is where some of the more interesting numbers appear.It says the Max XC has 5.3 per cent greater lateral stiffness, measuring 45.5N/mm compared to 43.2N/mm for the Roval.However, the Roval wheels were considerably lighter in Cadex's test, at 1,001.1g compared to 1,247.6g. Once weight is taken into account, Cadex's own figures show the Max XC has a 15.8 per cent lower lateral stiffness-to-weight ratio than the Roval.Cadex claims a much bigger advantage in what it calls transmission stiffness.Put simply, this looks at how much the hub rotates relative to the rim when torque is put through the rear wheel. As you stamp on the pedals, the hub tries to drive the rim forwards, but the spokes and wheel structure can wind up slightly under load. The less movement there is between the hub and rim, the greater the transmission stiffness.Cadex says the Max XC rear wheel has a 111.2 per cent higher transmission stiffness-to-weight ratio than the Roval Control World Cup in its testing. That's a big difference, although these are Cadex's own laboratory figures.It makes another big claim about strength. The Max XC survived a 773.5kgf compression load before failure in Cadex's test, compared to 440kgf for the Roval, according to Cadex. That's a 75.8 per cent increase.Cadex also backs the Max XC with a lifetime warranty and a five-year incident replacement programme for registered original owners.120 teeth inside the rear hub The Max XC uses a 30mm internal hookless rim, with 5mm-thick Wide Guard edges designed to better protect the rim and tyre during hard impacts. Cadex The M1-C120 rear hub uses a 120-tooth Helical-Bevel Ratchet Drive System, giving a 3-degree engagement angle. Cadex says a 10-degree helical interface between the ratchet rings helps create smoother engagement, while its Wave Spring keeps the engagement force consistent. Ceramic bearings are used front and rear.The carbon rims are 22mm deep and 30mm wide internally, with a hookless profile designed for tyres from 2.2 to 2.6in wide. These are 29in wheels with Boost hub sizing.There's also a chunky 5mm Wide Guard rim edge. Cadex says its rounded shape helps reduce sharp contact with the tyre sidewall when you hit rocks or roots, while also protecting the rim and reducing the chance of pinch flats.The complete wheelset weighs a claimed 1,208g without valves and rim tape, increasing to 1,248g with both fitted. SRAM XD and Shimano Micro Spline freehubs are available.The Max XC WheelSystem is priced at 3,500 / $4,000 / 4,200. In the US, the front and rear wheels can also be bought separately for $1,650 and $2,350 respectively.This certainly isn't a budget way into MTB wheels. But for Cadex's first crack at mountain biking, there's quite a lot here that's different enough to get our attention.