Name: Bikes of the year 2020 | Roval Rapide CLX + Alpinist CLX Wheelsets
Uploaded: 2024-06-20T22:21:04.000Z
Duration: 8 min 15 s
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Well, upgrading your wheels will probably be high on your list if you're looking to make your bike lighter on the climbs or faster on the flat.

And this year, Roval has introduced two new wheelsets, the Rapide CLX 50 and the Alpinist CLX, and they've both made it into our wheelsets of the year shortlist, with one wheelset dedicated to climbing and one optimised for fast riding on the flat.

So there should be something here for wherever you're looking for those gains.

Before we dive in, don't forget to subscribe to our channel and hit that bell icon so that you get notified every time we post new videos.

Now we select our products of the year only from the stuff that our tech team have ridden and rated.

We've put thousands of kilometres into these wheels and you can be sure that our reviews are independent and authoritative.

Now there's a link to all of our wheel reviews in the description below.

Each year we decide which wheelsets of all the ones we've tested should be included in the final list.

There's been less sitting around together this year, of course, and getting together for these videos has been a little complicated too.

So now I'm going to hand straight over to you.

Thanks Becca, and welcome to the rest of you to the RoadTC Clubhouse.

Now Dave, I don't think you and I thought that you could really break the internet just by launching a set of carbon clinches.

No, I don't think Specialized thought people would care quite so much about the lack of tubeless, but some people were probably angry.

Well, I can take it or leave it, but I've had so many headaches setting up test wheels and test tyres.

Combinations don't really work sometimes, so just standard clinch is so easy, but we're getting away from the point.

They're stupidly fast, they're stupidly light.

Yeah, so I'm sure you'd forget about the lack of tubeless as soon as you rode these wheels.

In fact, probably it wouldn't even be that.

Take the wheels out of the box and it's the width that strikes you.

You look at the front, 35mm at its widest point, which is just insane.

So typical frame clearances mean that a few years ago, it simply wouldn't have been possible.

Well, Roval says the width makes the Rapids more stable and claims a 25% improvement, everyone loves a number, in gusting wind over the CLX 50.

Now, we measured these at 10g over the claimed 1,400g, but that's still extremely impressive for the depth.

Now, that lack of mass means the Rapids accelerate quickly and they climb really well as well.

Jamie here reviewed these, set loads of PRs with them on his So as a result of the width that you get with these, your tyres are going to balloon out.

Don't be surprised to find that a set of 25s, they'll sit at 27mm and generally that improves the tyre's profile.

Yeah, and the 21mm internal width is great for giving you a straight sidewall, something that helps you when you get into the corners.

The rims are actually optimised for 26-28mm tyres and the 28s do look a lot more natural on these rims.

If you go down to the 25s, you can see the rim's sidewall, which is a bit scary.

But honestly, the thing that you really remember is the comfort when you ride the 28s, especially just in training.

Okay, let's move from scary fast to scary light.

Now, Liam, you like going up hills more than most me, so the Alpinist CLX is exactly the kind of wheel for you.

Yeah, I don't think that there could be a wheelset that's more designed for the riding that I do.

As you might suspect, the 33mm deep carbon wheelset is light.

It tiptoe scales a scant 1,250g and that's with the rim tape installed.

Now, I put these wheels on my Specialized Venge that I had at the time.

I also put them on the Merida Reacto I was testing at the same time.

In both cases, it transformed the bikes from aero racers into actual very capable climbers.

So, climbing is obviously where these wheels really excel.

I've absolutely been loving smashing some of my local climbs.

The wheels are stiff enough to transfer the power when you really want to kick on the steeper pitches and I found them perfect for the high-powered efforts.

They're going to lose out a bit to them, but that's not what really they're designed for.

I find that if you're smashing it into a climb at, say, 30-40 kilometers per hour, these do okay, but they really come alive when you hit the really steep pitches.

Okay, so we've talked a bit about the rim profiles.

In terms of the tech, is there anything else going on here that's worthy of note?

If we move away from the rims, what we want to do is look at the center of the wheels.

These hubs are actually quite interesting.

Both of them actually have aero hub flanges, apparently.

Now, obviously, we can't test that and Rofl hasn't released any data to support that, but that is an excellent cafe claim.

Yeah, you can brag about that to your mates, I'm sure.

Inside there, we've got DT Swiss internals.

We've got the new Ratchet EXP as well, which is very interesting.

What that is, if I'm going to explain that in brief, is essentially they put the drive side bearing inside one of the Ratchets, so that allowed them to increase the So, stiff axles aside, what is it about these two sets of wheels that mean they've been included in the wheel sets of the year?

Well, apart from the lack of tubeless, the Rapides are simply an exceptionally fast set of wheels.

Never have we used wheels that are quite at home and on a 30% incline or in a group sprint.

The DT Swiss parts mean spares are readily available and they handle exceptionally well.

If you want to make your bike faster, that is a very...

Well, it's an expensive way to do it, but it's a very good way to do it.

For me, the low weight isn't actually the reason that these wheels are here.

They're just brilliant midsection wheels that are incredibly nice to ride.

The rim is great for wider road tyres and we've been really impressed by the build quality.

They have certainly met a fair few potholes during testing and they even had a little run-in with a car.

Yeah, I got a hug that I didn't really want.

The front wheel took the full force, although granted there isn't a lot of me, so not much force.

Anyway, the wheels held up very well through some rather rigorous testing.

They're also very calm in strong winds and that makes them a great choice for people who are looking for a performance set of wheels without too much depth.

So that is the Raval Rapide CLX and the Alpinist CLX, two really excellent wheel sets for different types of riding.

And if you've got any questions, do leave them in the comments below.

I'll be happy to talk about these wheels until the cows come home because I think they're absolutely excellent.

And don't forget to like and subscribe for more like this on Road CC.