Roval Rapide CLX II
£2,800 Is this second-generation aero wheelset finally up to speed?
“The Rapide CLX IIs do a great job of tracking straight in moderate crosswinds”
THIS SECOND ITERATION of the CLX cuts the same silhouette through the wind as the original. The girthy 35mmwide, 51mm-deep front rim is designed to damp steering input and keep the rider from overcorrecting in crosswinds while the rear rim has a more traditional, 30mmwide, 60mm-deep aero profile. The wheels use DT Swiss Aerolite spokes (18 at the front; 24 at the rear) and both wheels have 21mm internal widths optimised for 26mm-wide tyres. Hooked beads are still used. Although brands such as Enve, Hunt and Zipp have fully embraced hookless technologies, Roval says it uses hooked rims for better security and more compatibility with both tubed and tubeless tyres.
So what’s different to its predecessor? It has tubeless compatibility and a revised carbon layup. The new layup boosts the rims’ impact strength by redistributing force away from the outside of the rim, so you’re much less likely to get tubeless blowouts. This does mean the wheels are now about 100g heavier than the previous version though. However, excess material has been shaved from elsewhere to help bring the weight down, and our test set of wheels weighed a very competitive 1,520g, including tubeless tape and valves.
In testing, I used the wheels with Specialized’s S-Works Turbo RapidAir tubeless tyres, which snapped into place with a reassuring “pop” just before I reached my preferred riding pressures of 78psi at the front and 80psi in the rear. When inflated, the actual width of both tyres was 27.5mm, which meant the 35mm-wide front rim dwarfed the tyre (this didn’t look great).
My testing ground in Colorado is prone to blustery weather, and despite their 51mm depth, the Rapide CLX IIs do a great job of tracking straight in moderate crosswinds. When the front end did get blown off line by 20-30mph gusts, the wheels felt easier to correct than similar mid-depth wheels I’ve ridden from Enve and Zipp. Overall road handling was equally impressive. The damped steering feel inspires confidence and the wheels spun up to speed with ease and responded with haste when switching course through tight S-turns and leaning hard into hairpin descents. In fact I found it hard to fault their performance: they beat their competitors for versatility and are perfect for long training rides, racing a weekend criterium or hunting KOMs.