Product news: Roval CLX 50 – The new standard among carbon wheel all-rounders?

Market: With the new Roval CLX 50, Specialized is supplementing its high-end carbon wheels with an all-rounder that places itself between the light climbing specialist CLX 32 and the aero wheels CLX 64. The technical data of the 50mm newcomer are extremely promising and the price is relatively low in this performance class.

After a few years of what seemed to be almost a standstill in the field of road bike wheels, development is picking up speed again these days. The reason for this is not necessarily to be found in the introduction and gradual establishment of disc brakes on the road, but rather in the increasingly sophisticated production processes for carbon rims on the one hand and the trend towards wider tires and less air pressure on the other.

Of course, Specialized's wheel manufacturer Roval is also concerned with the latest developments and is constantly looking for the best performance. No wonder: after all, two WorldTour teams, QuickStep Floors and BORA-hansgrohe, will be equipped with Roval wheels in 2017 and in this area every watt and every little detail counts. The latest addition to the Roval high-performance family is called the CLX 50 and is positioned between the two already available CLX 32 and CLX 64. Unsurprisingly, the number in the name refers to the rim height, which makes it clear: With around 50mm, you now have a real all-rounder in the program that has to perform the demanding balancing act between light-footed climbing specialist and aerodynamic high-speed runner.

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But before we go into detail about the complex development process and the technical innovations, first the facts about the Roval CLX 50. The wheels will be available for clincher and tubular and – as is appropriate for 2017 – also in one variant for disc brakes. The tubeless compatibility of the carbon rim is also very welcome. Even if tubeless on racing bikes still enjoys exotic status, in our opinion it is only a matter of time before the system, which has long been established on mountain bikes, will also prevail on the asphalt.

Roval CLX 50 – development process with a clear goal: light-footed all-rounder

At the beginning of every development process there is a – usually quite ambitious – goal. In the case of the new Roval CLX 50 wheels, this meant building a wheelset with a rim height of around 50mm and keeping the weight below the magical 1.400g mark. In addition, the rim should be able to handle wide tires and be prepared for the tubeless future. The fact that all of these goals could ultimately be achieved with the CLX 50 was partly due to the wealth of experience that had already been gained during the development of the CLX 32 and the CLX 64.

Although the range already had wheels and rims that worked very well, the decision was made to make a radical new start in terms of shape and simulated a large number of different rim heights, shapes and weights in various analyses. At the end of these so-called CFD simulations there were three rim profiles, for which corresponding prototypes were made and then put through their paces - in the wind tunnel as well as under real conditions on the road.

As already mentioned, Roval has explicitly optimized the new CLX 50 rim for use with wide tyres. A Specialized Turbo with a width of 24mm was used in all tests. Thanks to the generous inner width of almost 21mm, which even exceeds that of some MTB wheelsets, the tire sits securely on the rim and unfolds much more voluminously than on narrow rims. In the case of the 24mm Turbo, the effective tire width is therefore 26mm.

Tubless compatibility was one of the indisputable basic requirements in the development process of the new rim. The scope of delivery of the wheelset includes special rubber plugs with which each spoke hole can be individually covered and sealed. If you prefer to use conventional tubeless rim tape instead, you can of course also use it and save yourself the rubber plugs.

Roval CLX 50: top performance in the wind tunnel

Of course, the Californian manufacturer insisted on testing and comparing not only their own wheelset but also the comparable competition in their own wind tunnel in the western United States. The results should have been noted with great pleasure at Roval and Specialized: The CLX 50 performs extremely well and, depending on the angle of attack, can even stand up to aero specialists.

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It is quite surprising that the Roval CLX 50 is able to undercut even the excellent values ​​of the ZIPP 454 NSW - while being lighter at the same time. The excellent performance of the development department is also evident in the fact that with an angle of attack of 10°, you even come dangerously close to your own aero reference CLX 64.

Roval CLX 50 pricing and availability

All variants of the Roval CLX 50 – whether clincher, tubular or disc – cost €2.299. Sure: That's a lot of money for a wheelset, but compared to the competition, the new all-rounder from the US manufacturer is more in the lower range. In view of the low weight and the promising values ​​from the wind tunnel, one could even speak of a bargain; at least for those who are willing to pay a lot of money for a high-end wheelset.

The wheels are now available from specialist retailers.

Website

www.specialized.com