The wheels are out. Specs. 50mm front. 45 rear. 27.5mm id. 38mm external rm width. Carbon spokes. Like 3k for the wheelset if I am correct (Do not quote me on that). Really hope they come out with a cheaper version of this. Very curious what yall think. Seems like an odd day/ time to launch it but I aint complaining.
$1499 front / $1899 rear according to website now:
Soooo over 3k. Yk its probably a great wheelset. But I will be waiting for the version with a DT 350 hub lol.
Love the super wide bead hook, solid wheelset.
Interesting, thanks for the update. Specialized is very good at marketing.
They have great engineers and make great bikes and gear. But you are spot on in their marketing and aura. No other brand is anywhere near as good at getting people to fork over money for premium version of their frames like Specialized is with the S-works line-up.
My thoughts on it as someone who owns a Crux and is hyper obsessed with Wheels. For the two of you who care.
It appears to be a strong wheelset. Follows the Spech trend in wheels of nothing groundbreaking. But very good at what it is. I personally think the deeper front wheel makes a lot of sense. Especially for Gravel, where you already have a huge contact patch and getting blown around is not a problem (in my experience). I am about 160lb and do put a lot of weight over the front running the more modern road position. So that might be part of why. All that to say, if I had to guess, this wheel is faster than the Reserve’s or anything similar. I don’t think they would test as fast in a wind tunnel as something like a Zipp XPLR. IT seems to be fairly light. I think it is a great all-rounder wheelset. Pretty aero but also nice and light. For all of those who do gravel race’s that have a wide range of gravel and road, I think this is a amazing option.
However, I don’t really see how this beats the Chinese Market. You can go to Nexti and get the same depth mix with a DT 180 hub. The only difference is a narrower rim. You could get a 30 ID if you want and just run a little deeper. All for the price of the rear wheels. So if someone has 3k burning a hole in their pocket, I think it’s a great option. But hard to recommend to anyone when Light Bike and Nextie and Windspace exist.
They are so similar to the Hunt Limitless Aero wheels. Different, but defo similar and $1000 less currently w CeramicSpeed bearings.
You make a great point, and I just wanted to add to it.
Specialized clearly has an incredible R&D, engineering, and marketing team — probably the best in the industry. That said, I’ve always felt they tend to sandbag their releases a bit. It often seems like they already know what the next best or fastest solution is, but choose to release something a couple steps back (that will “probably” sell) so they can roll improvements out over time and keep people upgrading. It is a fantastic business model!
All that aside, the design they’ve released is unique. One thing worth pointing out is that the Roval rims are actually narrower than a lot of current Asian-brand wheels, and even Zipp:
Meanwhile, a lot of the Asian brands seem to be moving toward designs like this now:
What is very interesting about this release, it seems the wheels are utilizing some type of Kamm tail design for the aerodynamics.
I would like to add i’m a proud owner of 3 specialized bikes currently!
Yea, with the latest offerings from Zen Carbon or XMCS, you can customize just about everything for $1000. Internal widths, external widths, depths, spoke type and size, hubs. I just picked up pretty much this exact wheelset, 29int, 37ext, 50 front, 45 rear, carbon spokes. Came in a 1100g total weight. $980. Awesome wheels.
Do you guys think Specialized will release a CL version or just keep the CLX? I would be more interested in a 350 hub and steel spokes.
Finsty rides these now, apparently.
I don’t understand the flat top section of the rear rim.
Box rims live again!!!
That flat part is supposed to like a Kamm tail. That’s like frame tubes that have squared off backs instead of coming to a point like an airfoil. The idea is that the air separates at the edge and continues to flow back and meet the air coming from the other edge as if the airfoil shaped tube was actually there. Here’s a Trek article on the principle: Kammtail Virtual Foil
Same, and with metal spokes. This will probably be over $2k and we will think it’s a bargain!
Anybody ridden the CL version yet? Any feedback?
Just got my Terra Aero CL wheel set.
Not as sexy as the Aero CLX, but for 2 wheels @ $1488 delv to my door I’ll put up with the extra 400g in weight and DT Swiss 350 hub. With the 54T I installed and the Thunder Burt 2.25 tires the wheels sound and look sick!
I am seriously considering them. Let me know how they ride. Any pics of what the tires look like on the rim?
I will post pics after I get some ride time in on the wheels and tires