The Roval Rapide CLX II Team wheelset has been floating across the professional peloton for a few months already. Cyclingnews subscribers can have seen it in each our Giro d’Italia tech gallery and our Critérium du Dauphiné tech gallery, standing out from the group with their polished silver hubs and their ‘CLX Team’ markings.
After a lot hypothesis, Specialized finally lifted the covers and revealed that they aren’t an all-new product, however a restricted version model of the Rapide CLX II, with merely 1,500 making manufacturing on high of the professional crew allocation.
The greatest headline stat is a weight of 1,390g (with valves and tape), which is admittedly fairly respectable for a wheelset of this depth, and represents a 130g drop vs the still-in-line Rapide CLX II. The greatest visible change is the redesigned low-flange hub, which is clearcoated, and thus left silver slightly than powder-coated black, and purports to be 0.5 watts extra aerodynamic with an enchancment in wind-up stiffness and spoke fatigue too.
To purchase them, you are taking a look at £3,000 / $3,800 / €3,700 / AU$6,000, which is a £500 / $1,000 / €1,000 / AU$1,600 premium over and above the CLX II wheels.
That’s probably not the total image, although. While the wheels are marginally higher than these they’re based mostly upon, additionally they include a number of additional ‘stuff’ within the field. But maybe probably the most alluring side is that they signify a ticket into an unique membership.
Like an iPhone or every other premium buy lately, the possession expertise begins within the unboxing, and emblazoned on the vegan-dyed black cardboard field lies the phrases “welcome to the crew” in holographic silver end. It units a premium precedent.
Inside the black presentation field, you may discover your wheels, two bottles, two tyres, a double wheel bag, and a field stuffed with spares (Image credit score: Josh Croxton)
Inside, the 2 wheels are joined by a silver-stitched Roval wheel bag, a full set of alternative DT Swiss Sinc bearings, each Shimano HG and SRAM XDR freehub our bodies, spare DT Aerolight II spokes and nipples, silver alloy centre-lock disc rotor lockrings, a S-Works branded Dynaplug Racer Pro tyre plug device, spare tyre plugs, two Specialized Turbo RapidAir tyres, a pair of S-Works branded Purist water bottles, and even a construct card for every wheel exhibiting the spoke tensions, trueness and extra.
Only 1,500 shall be made, which means once they’re gone, Specialized will make no extra. That’s not me attempting to create a way of urgency although; I’m simply stating info. I may report an album and solely produce one copy, however such exclusivity doesn’t suggest anybody would pay to listen to me sing.
(Image credit score: Josh Croxton)
Design and specification
At first look, the wheels are similar to the Rapide CLX II, however the particulars maintain some important updates. The hub shells, designed and manufactured by Specialized itself, are based mostly across the DT Swiss Ratchet EXP internals. Specialized says the low-flange hub design is 50 grams lighter throughout the pair, whereas additionally serving to with wind-up stiffness to the good thing about acceleration and braking response. The avoidance of the black paint is value two of these grams, and about 50 factors in added type.
(Image credit score: Josh Croxton)
Stepping outwards to the edges for a second, and that is the place you would be forgiven for pondering nothing has modified. The profile is unchanged, with the entrance wheel measuring 51mm deep and 35mm large, and the rear measuring 60mm deep and 30.7mm large. Both nonetheless characteristic hooked beads, 21mm inside widths and had been designed for 26mm tyres, though the model says 28mm and 30mm tyres present very related aero efficiency due to the broader entrance rim.
However, the carbon fibre has been refined utilizing completely different resin and smaller overlaps between every layup. The course of is alleged to be extra time-consuming, but it surely leads to a 40-gram weight saving per rim versus the CLX II.
In whole, Specialized says the brand new wheels are 130 grams lighter than the CLX II in whole, and having weighed the CLX II at 1,520g again in 2022 and the CLX II Team yesterday at 1,390g, I concur.
1.39kg, precisely what Specialized suggests. (Image credit score: Josh Croxton)
Connecting the hub and the rim is a set of DT Swiss Aerolite II spokes, which Specialized says had been settled upon after an extended course of that concerned seven different potential choices. Interestingly, whereas Specialized discovered that carbon spokes would have introduced the load down additional, the aerodynamic efficiency suffered by round 1.5 watts. Given the main target was on its professional racers, and the S-Works Tarmac SL8 can hit the UCI’s mandated 6.8kg with out an excessive amount of hassle, the load penalty was accepted for the extra aero profit.
The wheels roll on DT Swiss SINC bearings; ceramic as you’d count on for a wheel of this value.
(Image credit score: Josh Croxton)
Included within the field is a full set of spare bearings alongside a hoard of alternative spokes and freehub our bodies for each Shimano and SRAM. The worth of the bearings alone is over £200, which fits an extended technique to offsetting the extra sale value.
Performance
As I see it, I must overview this wheelset in two methods. I can overview the efficiency of the wheelset itself, which is best on paper than the CLX II. I then must overview the so-called ‘expertise’ of proudly owning a pair.
On the wheelset entrance, having ridden them for a bit over every week now, I’d be mendacity if I instructed you I may really feel the distinction. It’s about 12 months since I final rode the CLX II, and even when I had been using them again to again, 130 grams can be powerful to note, and half a watt of aero not possible.
They are quick, however indiscernibly near similarly-premium rivals with out the assistance of a wind tunnel. They speed up rapidly, and though they do not really feel fairly as sprightly because the Black Inc 28/32 which I had fitted to the Factor O2 VAM final 12 months, there are different variables at play, such because the body they had been mounted to (I’m at present using the heavier OSTRO VAM), tyre alternative, and the way recent my legs are.
But as talked about, my scales agree that the wheels are 130 grams lighter, and I’ve no cause to dispute the remaining claims.
Ignoring the CLX II for a second, the on-paper stats of the CLX II Team are fairly aggressive, although not market-leading. For instance, you may get the Cadex 50 Ultra for a bit cheaper (£2,650), they’re 40 grams lighter (based on my scales), and their aero efficiency shall be shut (based mostly on the extraordinarily marginal variations between our wind tunnel wheels testing). I do not know if it could be higher or worse, however I’m doing my greatest to safe some extra wind tunnel time!
Elsewhere, the Enve SES 6.7 are barely deeper, and subsequently presumably marginally extra aero, however they seem to be a bit heavier, and value extra at £3,300. Zipp’s 454 NSW are round 40 grams heavier, dearer (at retail) and once more, the aero shall be across the identical.
It’s exhausting to disregard the Hunt Sub50 right here too, which on the considerably cheaper value of £2,289 (with ceramic bearings), are 10g lighter (claimed) however by Hunt’s personal admission, are marginally slower than the CLX II. It’s not possible to disregard the Black Inc 48/58, that are additionally considerably cheaper at £2,329, with an assumed related aerodynamic efficiency, and weigh a reasonably spectacular 1,290g.
The field wherein they arrive is a (Image credit score: Josh Croxton)
One factor all of these wheels omit, nonetheless, is the field stuffed with spares that Roval provides. If you break a spoke in your Hunt wheels or want alternative bearings in your Enves, you may have to attend till your native bike store can supply some spares, after which pay for them. With the Rapide CLX II Team, you’ll be able to stroll in with the spares in hand and have a repair straight away (assuming the mechanic is not busy, in fact. Don’t be that man).
That extends to the preliminary setup, too, whereby you are able to roll with freehubs for each SRAM and Shimano, together with tyres too. The fulfilling possession expertise continues to the wheel bag, which is a pleasant contact, as are the rotor lockrings, S-Works branded bottles, and Dynaplug tyre device.
Image 1 of 2
Value
To begin with, let us take a look at the value distinction between the CLX II and the CLX II Team. As I see it, you are paying for 3 issues:
A greater product
Extra ‘stuff’
Exclusivity
If you are able the place the marginally improved product issues, then to place it frankly you are in all probability able the place you do not really should pay in your wheels.
As I’ve outlined above, you may get lighter wheels for much less. You can nearly definitely get sooner wheels for much less too (based mostly on acceptable assumptions coupled with our wind tunnel information), and you’ll fairly presumably get sooner, lighter wheels for much less, although I haven’t got the aero information to again this up.
I believe it is truthful to say that if all-out efficiency is your sole metric, and half a watt (one second over 40km) is value $3800 or £3000, you are a professional rider, my opinion would not matter to you since you’re obligated to make use of them, and you have in all probability been using these longer than I’ve. Hello Remco, I’m speaking to you.
With that stated, all the additional stuff goes an extended technique to offsetting the value hike, and to some folks, that’ll swing the choice.
In the UK, the place the value distinction is £500, the maths of what you get within the field stacks up fairly properly. £200 of bearings, £50 of spokes, £130 of tyres, a spare freehub, bottles, and a premium padded wheel bag will whole up pretty near £500. Couple that with the development to the wheels and the worth might be well worth the spend.
In Europe and the United States, the place the distinction is €1000 / $1000, the sums do not stability fairly so favourably.
Do you want all the additional stuff? Of course not, however you may place sufficient worth on having spares at hand that it is value it to you.
Do you want spare batteries and lightbulbs in your kitchen drawer? No, however you have acquired some, have not you? If £200 of spare ceramic bearings sit in your shed for the following 4 years untouched, you may be fairly miffed at having purchased them, but when those in your wheels select to implode the evening earlier than your subsequent massive race, you may be as smug as they arrive.
Of course, that is all earlier than we get to the intangible cause to purchase these wheels: exclusivity. I do not assume they’re going to be so unique that their worth will go up, slightly than down, however being a part of an unique membership is one thing that excites lots of people. I do not a lot look after it. I do not purchase artwork, I do not purchase NFTs, however folks did and do.
The incontrovertible fact that in 2018, Burberry burned a reported $37 million of unsold stock to guard its exclusivity and keep away from devaluing its picture proves that the idea is alive, they usually’re removed from the one ones to have performed it. It’s disgusting, and I hate it, and I’ve gone off on a tangent.
There shall be just one,500 of those wheelsets. Their silver hubs challenge grandeur to the world; an image of luxurious, and little doubt wealthy youngsters will purchase them simply to therapeutic massage their ego by way of Instagram likes, however such is the world wherein we stay.
It irks me when manufacturers launch particular Tadej Pogačar saddles, Paris-Roubaix watches, or Tour de France sun shades which might be precisely the identical because the others, however in a distinct color, and assume that is value paying further. Maybe I’m only a cynic.
At least on this case, the product is definitely higher, and Specialized has gone a good technique to including worth by way of helpful equipment and spares.
Verdict
Those marginal enhancements may not be noticeable when using, however my Park Tool scales say they’re lighter, and I belief that the remainder of the variations aren’t simply made up. Even as a standalone wheelset, although, they’re fairly aggressive of their value level.
Whether these are well worth the added spend over the CLX II is an identical query to asking whether or not an S-Works body is value the additional over a Specialized body. The distinction is there, if solely marginal, and the price is kind of considerably increased, however the attract of being a part of the figmental S-Works membership is so sturdy that I see simply as many S-Works bikes at my native races because the cheaper Specialized equivalents.
However, it would not finish there. The unboxing was extra of an fulfilling expertise than you get with different wheels, and the sense of being a part of an unique ‘Team’ shall be engaging to some, however for me, the largest profit is within the field stuffed with spares and equipment, and the simplicity that brings to the continued possession.
Whether or not you assume it is value the additional price will rely on how a lot worth you place on every of the next three issues: marginal features, exclusivity, and the significance of available spares. Do they mix to make it a greater proposition than the prevailing wheels? I’m afraid I can not reply that for you.
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Testing scorecard and notes
Design and aesthetics
They had been already an excellent wanting set of wheels, and the silver hub actually pops.
10/10
Ride high quality
No complaints right here. They’re easy and quick rolling, and the hub has a pleasant buzz.
10/10
Tubeless Compatibility
The entrance wheel’s rim witdh makes getting tyres on a little bit of a chore, however inflation was speedy as soon as finally seated. The hooked bead improves compatibility and Specialized’s testing far exceeds the ETRTO ideas. Specialized says that the one means a punctured tyre will come off the rim is in a crash so important that one thing else has failed catastrophically.
8/10
Hubs
They look nice, they work brilliantly, they’re straightforward to service they usually include spare ceramic bearings
10/10
Value
Hard to quantify objectively. It’s doable to get lighter wheels for much less, and extra aero wheels for much less. The value hike over the CLX II is an enormous one. Yes, you are getting added extras, however most of these you may in all probability by no means use, so that you’re paying for peace of thoughts.
