Who can give me some feedback on the Rovel Control Carbon wheels? They look like a great option…29mm internal, dt 350, sub 1500 grams, $1350. For XC riding, is it as good as it looks on paper? Thanks
Joe
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If they were compatible with tire inserts they’d be the best value XC wheels out there hands down. You can get similar direct wheels like Nextie or Light Bicycle for maybe $1250 shipped, but I think most people would agree the Roval warranty is worth an extra $100.
If you know you’ll never want to run inserts, they’re the ticket for sure.
I kinda go back and forth on inserts but I can’t imagine there is anything about them that makes inserts “not work”….or is there?
It says in the description that the wheels are not compatible with inserts
I have been using these wheel for about 300k so far this year, I really like them, running them on an SB100 and went a little beefier on new tires and still reduced system weight by using these wheels. The 36t freehub is pretty quiet on trail but works really well, might give the 54t a try. Only thing that I didn’t know is that the 350hubs need a tool to get the end caps off (but the freehub is easy to inspect, clean, grease) but given how bomb proof they seem to be I highly doubt they’ll need much maintenance for a little while.
Yeah, I originally thought that’s silly and I’m sure they’re fine with inserts, but a friend of a friend broke his rim bed running inserts with the wheels, and I’ve seen other reports of this on the internet. So I guess Specialized means it. The rim bed must be paper thin.
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I’ve got 2 sets of DT350’s and a set of DT240’s that don’t require any tools to remove the end caps. They can be a bit of a pain to get out & I’ve used pliers & a rag on occasion, especially when new but they changed something? Pretty sure they’re still just a friction fit from what I’ve read but I could be wrong.
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By rim bed you mean the part where you put the rim tape?
Yeah
I guess that kinda makes sense, if they can save some weight there it’s probably a good place to do it as long as you don’t have some foam smashed against it on hard hits.
OK so no insert, no problem I can live with that. How about some other thoughts?
Joe
I love mine…been riding them for a year now and they’re still true and rolling fast.
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Same here. Using them on my Salsa Cutthroat for everything from road (occassionally) to gnarly gravel. They’re easy to use tubeless, are still true (I’m 6’5" and well north of 200 lbs 
) and are light. The warranty is great too.
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Yeah must admit that’s what I was hoping for. The 350 hubs on the Rovals seems to have a lock ring set up for the dust caps, (there is a big of play with each), I think you can essentially yank them out but DT was an official tool to get them back into place. I’ll have another look at them but there is definitely a different system on these particular wheels compared to all of my other friction fit dust caps on other wheels.
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Oh wow, I had no idea! Great info, thank you.
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