Roval has announced its first-ever gravel-specific carbon wheels and claims that one set in the all-new Terra range — the Terra CLX Evo — boasts an internal width greater than any other ‘road’ wheel on the market.
The Terra CLX Evo’s internal wall-to-wall girth of 30mm is indeed impressive and, Roval says, this means you’ll be able to use tyres up to 55mm (2.1in) wide if your frame will allow.
Roval Terra CLX carbon gravel wheels key specs
- Gravel-specific carbon composite hook beaded rims meet Roval’s mountain bike standard
- 700c CLX has 25mm internal rim width for 28 to 42mm wide tyres
- CLX Evo has 30mm internal rim width, with a claimed 1,296g weight
- 700c CLX Evo takes 38 to 47mm tyres, 650b takes 42mm to 55mm (2.1in)
- 1,303g for 650b CLX Evo wheelset, 1,357g for 700c
- DT Swiss hubs internals and spokes
- Lifetime warranty and no fault crash replacement
- $2,500 for CLX and CLX Evo, international pricing TBC
The new Terra CLX range consists of two models and three variants: the CLX and the aforementioned CLX Evo, with the CLX Evo available in 700c or 650b sizes.
It’s the 650b version that’ll take the fatter rubber with the 700c limited to ‘just’ 47mm. The CLX is designed to work best with 28 to 42mm wide tyres.
As well as claiming a width record, Roval also says that, at 1,296g (including rim tape and tubeless valves), the Terra CLX is the lightest gravel wheelset with a 25mm internal width on the market. The Terra CLX Evos tip the scales at a claimed 1,303g a set in 650b and 1,357g for the 700c version.
The Terras are designed to be ‘tubeless first’, and Roval is keen to highlight that it opted to forgo increasingly on-trend hookless rims for hooked rims.
Although it makes manufacturing more complicated, Roval claims that it is “best practice to have a hook holding the tyre bead securely, given the wide differential in tyre size and potential for high pressures”.
Both the Terra CLX and CLX Evo models are built around Roval’s AFD hubs, which use DT Swiss internals.
The standard rear hub uses DT Swiss’s EXP freehub and Shimano HG and SRAM XDR options are listed. The hubs are matched to DT Swiss Aerolite T-head spokes.
If you’re concerned about the durability of $2,500 carbon wheels, Roval reassures us that while designed for gravel use, the Terra’s pass its own mountain bike wheel standards. If that’s not enough for you, there’s also a lifetime warranty and Roval’s “***t Happens” no-fault crash replacement policy.
