I just wanted to post a positive review for the X-bull boards that I got off of ebay from the seller xbull-usa. This is the seller based out of Kentucky.
I purchased my boards for $89 a few months ago and my initial impressions were pretty good. They seemed solid and I liked the carrying bag they came in. Now I don't have any experience with MaxTrax so I can't quite compare them to the plastic used in those unfortunately. But again, initial impression were good.
I finally got a chance to use them on a tight and rutted out switch back going up Red Cone Trail here in Co. It was a crossed up situation where I had a front tire and a back tire on opposite ends of the truck almost up in the air. To make it worse it had just started snowing and the dirt was getting slick. Even with my locker engaged I didn't have the traction to make it up and around the switchback. So out came the boards to see what they could do. We threw some dirt and rocks under the front tire that was up in the air and then wedged the board in there. Sure enough, the tire sucked it in and it caught under the tire and gave me the grip I needed to get up that switchback. Even with them grinding up against the rocks they held up great.
So far so good!
A little further up the trail, getting close to 12k ft, the snow was getting deeper and conditions in general were deteriorating. We were about 100 feet from the highest point of the trail and had one more steep snowy climb ahead of us. My buddy with mud terrains was able to plow his way up the hill but unfortunately my all terrains didn't have enough bite in the snow. So once again out came the xbull boards to see what we could do with them. Luckily they worked a charm and I was able to use them to get enough momentum to scoot my way up the hill. But unfortunately in the process they ended up cracking in a few places. I'm going to attribute that to the temperature outside and also all the wheel spin and having them wedged into whatever rocks we could find for extra stability. All in all they served their purpose and they got me out of a jam twice that day.
Now here's the really cool part. X-bull states that they have a 1 year warranty on the boards. So when I got home later in the day I shot a message to xbull-usa through ebay and told them what happened and provided some pictures.
Sure enough, I got a message back saying they'd honor their warranty and send me a new set on their dime. In my opinion that's pretty awesome! You always take a chance purchasing these offbrand products and you can almost never expect for them to actually honor a warranty or get any service post purchase. But I'm happy to report that in this case Xbull-usa is legit! I'd happily buy another set from them.
Anyway, this ended up being longer than I had intended but I feel that good sellers should be commended, especially when they stand behind their products.
Here's a link to their product on ebay if any of you are curious:
Orange Link
Black Link
For whatever reason the orange boards have gone up in price to $99 but the black ones are now selling for $64 bucks which in my opinion is a steal for what you get.
Also, a disclaimer. I'm not at all associated with X-bull. Just a happy customer.