Roval Rapide CLX III wheel review: The road mullet approach delivers the goods

The original Roval Rapide CLX wheelset launched back in 2020, at the time joining the CLX 64 models; remember them? Last year, the brand launched the Rapide CLX III, the latest addition to the Rapide range.

The CLX III was rolled out in June last year, along with the Rapide CL III and Rapide CLX Sprint. The wheels shed weight with the introduction of carbon fibre Arris spokes and use a 51mm-deep front wheel with a 48mm-deep rear wheel, in what's occasionally referred to as a 'road mullet' setup.

These wheels are seeing regular action in the WorldTour by various Specialised-sponsored teams, and are generally a popular choice on Specialized models or as a standalone aftermarket choice; to be clear, Roval is a component arm of Specialized.

I’ve been riding them for months, tackling a road race and training on them. We also took them to Silverstone recently to see how they would fare against the best road bike wheels in our CN Labs aero wheel shootout.

Just another stop on the Roval / Specialized hype train, or do these wheels walk it like they talk it? I’ve put in the hard yards to find out.

Design and aesthetics

Carbon fibre spokes and overall wheelset weights seem to dominate conversations at present when it comes to the latest wheelsets. We will cover that, but for me the rim shapes and depths of the CLX III's need talking about first. There's more to a set of wheels than the spoke material and overall weight on the scales.

The CLX III's, like the II's they replaced, employ specific front and rear rim depths. The Rapide II's had a 51mm front and 60mm deep rear; the III's have a 51mm deep front rim and a 48mm rear.

The idea is centred around the Specialized design philosophy of optimising the leading edge, or to put it simply, the front of the bike where aerodynamic performance matters most; the rear wheel can then be made shallower to save weight and aid handling and acceleration. The brand says everything contributes toward aero performance, overall wheelset weight, and crosswind stability.

The rims have a wider, round external profile that is a lot rounder than some wheels with a more traditional 'V' shape, with a more 'normal' internal width.

Internal width for both wheels is 21mm, whilst the front external number is 35mm at the widest point, and 31.3mm at the rear. Even the bead hook widths are specific: 5.5mm at the front, 4.1mm at the rear. Roval calls this the 'Flatstop rim bead' and claims the wider beads help prevent flats if you smash the rim. I haven't tested this specifically; who deliberately rides down potholes? But I haven't punctured whilst testing.

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The hub internals are by DT Swiss and use the 180 hub internals with a 36-tooth ratchet system. Spoke count is 18 up front and 24 in the rear, and surprise, these spokes don't come from Vonoa, who provide spokes for a lot of wheel brands right now, but Arris, a US-based firm making composite spokes.

The spokes use titanium end pieces and alloy nipples; four spares are included with the wheels, and they can be manually trued. So need to worry about dealer-only truing procedures.

When it comes to looks, the Rapide III's are a stylish wheelset without overdoing it. The hubs and rims are gloss black, with silver spoke nipples and end pieces at the hub. Two decal versions are available: gloss white (pictured) or 'satin carbon', which gives a stealthy, blacked-out look with black decals.

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Performance

During my test period, I’ve used the CLX III’s with two pairs of tyres: the S-Works Turbo TLR tyre, and the newer Cotton TLR models, which pair the Specialized cotton performance into a tubeless-ready package; they are now what you see Remco Evenepoel and his teammates using. Thankfully I’ve encountered zero punctures or sealant sprays in my test period.

I installed both sets of tyres with a track pump, but the process wasn’t completely painless, with some seepage, mess and hesitancy for the tyres to seat and seal first time. The rim profiles of the CLX III’s seem to make things trickier. It certainly wasn’t a disaster, but a little more annoying than I would like.

I’ll get straight to the point: the CLX III’s feel pretty fantastic across the board. I’ve been impressed, and when I have switched back to them from other wheelsets, the point has been reinforced: they are excellent all-rounders.

They accelerate very well from low speeds, and feel fast and reactive when making changes in direction. I felt like I could dart around on them; they are exciting to use.

There’s also a comfort, a kind of softness (I mean this in a good way) from the overall ride quality that I can’t fully put my fingers on; perhaps it comes from the rim shapes, good quality tubeless tyres or just the overall build, but there is almost a luxurious ride feel. We also mentioned this comfort in our Rapide CLX II review.

Get them rolling, and those big white Roval logos start to flick round when you glance down, and they feel very quick, about as quick as anything I’ve used to date, especially with a top quality road tyre fitted.

The pros seem to favour the CLX Sprints for most racing, except perhaps the mountains, but I don’t think there’s a massive amount in it in the real world. I used the wheels for a road race with 32mm Cotton TLR tyres, and they felt fast and poised, cornering excellently and stiff feeling when I followed moves on one of the circuit's climbs. They are also a prime example of how you can have your cake and eat it now when it comes to wheel depth and overall wheelset weight; 1338 grams is nice and light.

There are online comments to the tune of, 'why would you fit a deeper front wheel? Handling will suffer in crosswinds'. That may have been true 10 years ago if you ran something like a narrow 60mm deep front wheel and a 40mm rear, but times have changed, and these wheels with their more modern wider rim shapes do very well in the wind. To an extent it depends on the rider, but poor handling as a result of the mismatched depths is a non-issue, so don't worry on that front.

We also have some wind tunnel data for the CLX III's from our recent CN Labs aero wheel test.

We tested 14 wheelsets around the 60mm depth range, or 'brand's fastest' options, on the same bike at 40 km/h across a range of yaws. We also used the same pair of 28 and 30mm tyres for testing.

In our testing, the CLX III finished in the bottom half of the test group and was faster with a 28mm tyre than they were with a 30mm. The CLX Sprint wheelset was marginally quicker.

There was less than a three-watt difference between a lot of the wheelsets in our test, and rolling resistance and bike and rider differences would account for more than this number in the real world. The CLX III's are a competitive wheelset, despite not making the podium in our test.

Value

$3,399.98 / £2,999.98 / €3,498 is our RRP for the CLX III's. There's plenty to choose from at this price point. The Vision Metron RS are a little more cash; there's the CLX Sprints, of course, and several Zipp wheelsets amongst others.

The wheels have performed brilliantly for me; I really like the ride quality, handling, and my own perception of their speed has been good.

There are wheelsets out there that are cheaper by $ 1000-odd, with similar overall weights and aero performance.

You'll still have to pedal regardless; I don't think you stand to lose out on too much with a cheaper wheelset and great quality tyres.

Verdict

I like the styling, and I really like how these wheels ride.

They tick the carbon spoke box, the overall weight is low, they handle and accelerate well, and they feel fast pretty much everywhere. Throw in that plush ride feel and there isn't too much not to like.

They are excellent all-rounders in my opinion, great for racing and all-round riding thanks to their low weight, but they do sit at the premium end of the market; there's a lot of choice when it comes to wheels, possibly more than there ever has been, but for me the Rapide III is another very good wheelset from Roval.