Roval has launched two new gravel wheelsets. The Terra Aero CLX transports the deeper front/shallower rear design seen in Roval’s Rapide III road wheels to gravel, while the Terra CLX III is its lightest ever gravel wheelset at 1,079g.
It says that its new wheels are designed to provide aero efficiency and terrain compliance at the faster speeds now seen in elite gravel races. It targets the Terra Aero CLX at gravel riders looking for maximum aero gains in exposed conditions, while the Terra CLX III is designed to offer compliance and low weight for climbing and technical descents.
Truncated aerofoil shapes
The Terra Aero CLX wheelset has a 1,340g claimed weight. The 640g front wheel has a 50mm depth, while the 700g rear is 45mm deep. When it launched the Rapide III road wheelset, Roval claimed that, since the majority of the aero gains from a deeper wheel occur at the front, the deeper front/shallower rear design reaped most of the available aero gains, while reducing the wheelset’s weight and rotating mass.
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Rather than the smoothly curved profile normally seen on the best gravel bike wheels, the new Terra Aero CLX front wheel has a truncated, cut-off profile. Roval claims its new design is up to 5.84 watts faster than its previous generation Terra CLX II wheelset at 40km/h with a Specialized Tracer 45 tyre fitted. It reports the largest gains at 5 to 12 degree yaw angles, which it says are typical in gravel races.
The truncated shape is claimed by Roval to have the aero characteristics of a 70mm deep front wheel. Its simulations took into account the need for stable handling at lower speeds when fitted with wider and hence taller tyres with a tread and in gustier winds than road tyres. It also modelled the whole bike, using a Specialized Crux, not just the wheel, before taking prototypes to Specialized’s own wind tunnel for testing.
As with its premium road wheels, Roval has switched from steel to Arris carbon spokes to reduce weight by a claimed 96.6g and increase wheel stiffness. It says that the thinner spoke profile than steel spokes also contributes between 0.3 and 0.5 watts of aero benefits.
The rim width has increased too, with a 27mm internal, 38.5mm external width that’s suitable for gravel tyres from 35mm to 60mm wide. Roval claims that the wider rim helps smooth the tyre-to-rim interface and avoid flow separation.
Another technology ported over from Roval’s road wheels is its FlatStop bead hooks, which help avoid pinch flats. They’re 5.38mm wide and, Roval claims, require 91% more impact energy than the older Terra II wheels to induce a pinch flat.
The Roval Terra Aero CLX wheels are priced at £1,299 / €1,499 front and £1,699 / €1,999 rear.
Terra CLX III has low weight and increased compliance
The Terra CLX III wheelset, meanwhile, has a 1,079g claimed weight with valves and tape and a 27mm depth front and rear. Roval says it’s its lightest gravel wheelset ever.
It says it’s actually reduced the wheels’ lateral stiffness by 22% for increased compliance, better control on awkward surfaces and reduced rider fatigue, although the wheels use the same composite spokes as the Aero wheels.
The FlatStop bead hook is a little narrower than for the Aero wheels at 4.86mm and, while the internal width is the same 27mm, the outer width is 38mm.
The Roval Terra CLX III wheels are priced at £1,149 / €1,299 front and £1,599 / €1,899 rear.