Roval present new Alpinist CLX and Rapide CLX road bike wheels – Speed demons and KOM hunters should watch out!
With the new Alpinist CLX and Rapide CLX, Roval present two road bike wheelsets that are intended to make both classic mountain specialists and KOM hunters happy. You can find out what else there are in addition to different rims for the front and rear and a record weight for clincher tires in the official press release.
Roval Rapide CLX – Complete Speed
For classic all-round racing, for bagging KOMS and burning the legs off your friends and enemies alike, for all the terrain from flats to rollers to crosswinds, Roval present the Rapide CLX. Roval’s goal in developing it was to make the fastest all-round wheels in the world. The Rapide CLX (1,400 g according to Roval) is a true do-it-all and do-it-fastest wheelset; successfully merging the light weight of climbing wheels with the lower aerodynamic drag of a dedicated aero setup, yet retaining the steady handling of shallow-rim wheels.
Roval is a subsidiary of Specialized, which develop its products independently from Specialized. According to Roval, the front wheel causes most of the instability due to wind gusts, which is why the front wheel rim is designed to be flatter and wider than the rear wheel rim. The front wheel has an outer rim width of 35 mm and is intended to reduce air resistance and increase stability, while the rim depth of 51 mm should improve stability in wind gusts. The rear wheel is a bit narrower with a rim width of 30 mm and, in combination with the 60 mm rim depth, is intended to further reduce air resistance.
| Wheel | Front wheel | Rear wheel |
|---|---|---|
| Rim type | Carbon, Clincher | Carbon, Clincher |
| Rim width | 21 mm internal, 35 mm external | 21 mm internal, 30,7 mm external |
| Rim depth | 51 mm | 60 mm |
| Spoke count | 18 | 24 |
| Spoke type | DT Swiss Aerolite | DT Swiss Aerolite |
| Nipple type | DT Swiss Pro Lock | DT Swiss Pro Lock |
| Hub | Roval AeroFlange Disc, Center Lock | Roval AeroFlange Disc, Center Lock, DT Swiss EXP internals, HG freehub |
| Weight | 649 g | 751 g |
| Price | 999.90 € | 1,399.90 € |
| Availability | now | now |
Roval Alpinist CLX – Light Makes Right
Conquer mountains, flatten hills, and feel your bike come alive with the lightest road clincher wheels Roval has ever made (1,248 g according to Roval). Mass is the enemy of performance, and there’s no room; nor excuse, for a single excess gram when chasing KOMs and mountaintop primes. Weight has been pared to the absolute minimum in order to capitalize on every watt of energy without sacrificing any of the strength, ride quality and durability that are crucial to long term performance and satisfaction.
The Aero Flange hubs found on both Rapide and Alpinist wheels form the basis of strong, light, slippery fast wheels. Aerodynamically optimized, with wide-bracing angles for increased strength and reduced spoke weight, they also feature ultra-smooth sealed cartridge bearings and the refined precision of DT Swiss’ new EXP freehub internals.
| Wheel | Front wheel | Rear wheel |
|---|---|---|
| Rim type | Carbon, Clincher | Carbon, Clincher |
| Rim width | 21 mm internal | 21 mm internal |
| Rim depth | 33 mm | 33 mm |
| Spoke count | 21 | 24 |
| Spoke type | DT Swiss Aerolite | DT Swiss Aerolite |
| Nipple type | DT Swiss Pro Lock | DT Swiss Pro Lock |
| Hub | Roval AeroFlange Disc, Center Lock | Roval AeroFlange Disc, Center Lock, DT Swiss EXP internals, HG freehub |
| Weight | 562 g | 686 g |
| Price | 999.90 € | 1,399.90 € |
| Availability | now | now |
Our opinion on the new Roval Rapide CLX and Alpinist CLX wheels
The developers behind the new Roval wheel concepts prove once again that you have to think outside the box in order to further optimize the performance of modern race bikes. In doing so, they plausibly combine trends that already exist on the market and develop them further. The HollowGram KN0T64 wheelset on the Cannondale SystemSix (click for review) was already equipped with extra-wide rims that protruded significantly from the 700 x 25C wide tires. Whether triathlon or road bike: The use of different rim depths has also been the subject of innovative drag optimization on modern bikes for a while. Many of these existing concepts have one thing in common – they are ridiculously fast but sometimes quite sensitive to crosswinds. This is exactly where Roval comes in and we are excited to see whether the wheels can prove themselves on the road. Roval use a classic tube setup for the wheels. Here you can clearly see the demarcation from Specialized, which has been using tubeless for years. We are currently still in the testing phase and will keep you up to date as soon as we have a detailed picture of the performance of both concepts. Stay tuned!
For more information about the Roval Alpinist CLX and Rapide CLX wheels go to rovalcomponents.com
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Words & Photos: Roval
