Looks like a well designed piece of kit. I wouldn’t be concerned at all about how secure it is. I’d bet it’s fine. I use the CamelBak Hydropak which looks less secure, but once I’m wearing it, I never notice any unwanted movement.
Agree. Might be hot. I like the camelbak for this reason - minimal strapping. Also less than the USWE, which is one thing I don’t like about that pack.
Yeah, I think folks are overly concerned about security. I’m sure the USWE’s are nice, but the camelbaks are just fine IMO.
I’ve been using a camelbak chase that I got for under $50 and been quite happy with it.
Doesn’t look all that different than the Apidura I tested last year. That one was super light weight, but man was it hot. I’ll stick with my less aero Osprey Syncro (with the airspeed wireframe) to keep the pack somewhat away from my back. Also room for an insulation sleeve and a 3l bladder, or both.
New 998 grams roval wheelset with carbon spokes
My first thought was…those aren’t…that…bad…value wise.
Even the 920g Nexties are $2100, Enve M5 Pros are $2500 for 1325g, Zipp 1zero’s are $2000 for 1325g. I won’t be rushing out to buy them at full retail but you could do worse.
Yeah not too bad but not even 30mm internal width. Would also be nice to have no spoke holes!
they have internal nipples into the Ti head of the spoke, but I might be completely wrong, but they clearly don’t say Ti nipples they say Ti spoke heads and internal nipples, so I guess no hole isn’t possible. They are already out of stock online, I might end up buying one once their pro deals offer discount on those
Hoping that will transfer to road soon as well. Would love some carbon spoke Rovals.
definitely seems like an improvement over the Team edition they released last year. Definitely coming to road, question is when. Also question is if they are gonna be wider internal, or even a deeper front wheel, they don’t seem to be trying to hide that from anyone.
Nino has access to carbon spoked wheels though has chosen not to use them to race. The vast majority of other pro XCO/XCM racers also choose not to use them. So I’d assume whatever supposed benefits claimed, they don’t outweigh the negatives.
I recently broke a spoke the Saturday practice before a Sunday XC race. My local shop had a replacement spoke and I had it fixed before race day.
Are carbon spokes as easily available and replaceable? Perhaps that’s a consideration people should make.
The Bicycle Station posted an unboxing video yesterday and apparently you can see a bit of deflection in the spokes just when you pull the brake in the stand so I’m guessing there’s a fair bit of compliance to them.
They do come with spares in the box which is nice.
I would guess that carbon spokes may need to go through a maturation process like many other material advances. Wasn’t too long ago that everyone was trying to make their carbon rims as stiff as possible. I remember that Enve was called out as being particularly harsh. Rim manufacturers learned that stiffer is not always better and rims have evolved. Would guess we are going to see something similar with carbon spokes.
feedback from those who got nextie wheels with carbon spokes were good, not many people riding last year’s Roval Team version.
One thing I’m not happy about it is the internal nipples, wondering if that’s to reduce weight somehow, annoying to have to re-tape if wheel needs truing, also old Enve internal nipple mountain wheels used to be prone to spokes breaking.
It is an epic 8 evo converted to and epic 8 evo with flight attendant which they don’t have as a build option. it started as the 2025 base model epic 8 evo with the cheapest version of transmission and alloy wheels. Sold/repurposed all stock parts for other bikes and upgraded to a Pike FA fork and swapped to 130mm air shaft, Luxe FA shock, X01 drivetrain with Power meter for the FA, axs dropper post, Zipp Hitop wheels, and some Renthal carbon bars. Finished off at 27.2lbs which means almost nothing when I am >220lbs anyway.
The carbon spoke wheels that Nino has access to are the Silverton SL, and the spokes on those are bond directly to the rim. He still uses those for XCC. His “issue” with those is lack of compliance rather than reliability. I had the chance to test those wheels and they are incredibly easy to accelerate and super precise, but indeed quite stiff on corners. When one leans the bike on a rough corner they are a bit nervous
It’s great to see Specialized transitioning to carbon spokes!
If you opt for Nextie hubs on the Nextie Supreme wheelset, you can achieve a 948-950g wheelset for $1560 MSRP plus shipping. Generally, these carbon-spoked wheelsets come with spare/extra spokes in case of issues. However, depending on your weight and riding style, you might prefer the 978g or 1040g wheelset options.
I can’t speak to why the Roval wheelset lacks a tubeless rim bed, but I know that building a tubeless-ready wheelset involves a lot of extra manual labor. It could be a cost-saving measure, or perhaps they’re “trickling” technology to encourage more purchases. Everyone has their own opinions, but I believe modern MTB rims should be at least 30mm IW for true mountain bikes (not talking gravel, etc.).
The next innovation in this space could be the rise of molded spoke holes:
Nextie Supreme Edition Alpha 36S Carbon MTB Rim
These rims offer significant weight reduction (242g or 245g) while maintaining the same testing protocols and strength as previous carbon rims. With this development, we could see wheelsets close to or even below 900g (current estimates are 895-903g).
Completely agree with this. So annoying and one of my pet peeves about my old Enves.
they use tape because for some reason decided to go with internal nipples nobody knows exactly why
I have one suggestion for you to provide to Nextie which is to show the expected / claimed weight of a wheelset as you build, the + and - grams doesn’t help much understanding the final claimed weight without some work.