Specialized Roval CLX 50 Disc Brake Rear Wheel (Carbon/Black) (Centerlock) (Tubeless)

Price: $1,399.99
Discontinued Online
This item is discontinued and no longer available for purchase. You may want to search our site for a similar item.
Note: Manufacturer does not allow coupons

When Roval set out to create the CLX 50, they had clear goals in mind—create wheels that are 45 to 55mm deep, 2Bliss Ready, aerodynamically optimized, ultra-wide, and around 1400 grams. This meant that they'd have to borrow some weight savings techniques that were developed for the CLX 32, while taking some aero guidance from the CLX 64, to create what could be called "the unicorn wheel."

Roval implemented every lightweight trick in the book without sacrificing anything to durability. And from there, they performed a variety of studies on different wheel depths, ultimately deciding that meeting the strict weight and stiffness targets would be a big gamble with something too deep, which is where 50mm was born from.

After the depth was determined, Roval engineers jumped headlong into Computational Fluid Dynamics computer modeling to arrive at various rim shapes that could make the CLX 50 as fast as possible. It took a while, but they narrowed the rim shape down to three contenders that were then CNC machined into rims, built into wheels, and put into Specialized's Win Tunnel. In the tunnel, they tested every wheel, Roval's, and the competition's, with a 24C (measuring ~26mm wide) Specialized S-Works Turbo tire inflated to 100 PSI, as tires can drastically affect performance. Testing wheels by themselves, not on a bike, is often seen as malpractice, but in Roval's years of testing experience, the numbers have shown that the deltas between bike and wheel, and wheel alone, are consistent.

After finding the most optimized rim shape that supported Roval's svelte weight requirements, they opted to lace the rims to the Aero Flange (AF) hub with DT Swiss 240 internals, which features the legendary CeramicSpeed bearings and a 12 x 142mm thru-axle, via 24 DT Swiss Aerolite spokes. Now it was time for final testing validation. The result? A 50mm-deep, 1415-gram clincher wheelset that's not only ~100 grams lighter than the competition's similar depth wheel but is also measurably faster in every conceivable test than every wheel in its category.

Specifications:
Wheel Size: 700c
ISO Diameter (ETRTO): 622
Position: Rear
Tire Type: Tubeless (Clincher)
Brake Type: Disc Brake (Centerlock)
Hub: Roval AFD1, CeramicSpeed Bearings, DT Swiss 240 Internals
Axle Type: Quick Release or Thru Axle
Hub Spacing: QR/12 x 142mm
Drive Type (Rear Hub): Shimano/SRAM 11 Speed Road (8, 9, 10, 11 Speed)
Rim: Carbon (50mm Depth, Disc Brake Only)
Rim Width: 20.7mm (Inner), 29.4mm (Outer)
Valve: Presta
Spoke Count: 24H
Spoke Type: T-Head (DT Swiss Aerolite)
Material: Carbon
Color: Black
Weight: 770g (Rear Only)

Includes:

  • Roval CLX 50 Rear Wheel 
  • Roval padded wheelbag
  • Roval steel quick release
  • 12mm Thru Axle End Caps
  • Quick release End Caps
  • Roval tubeless plugs
  • Roval tubeless valves

This product was added to our catalog on July 6, 2021