Specialized / Roval ditches tubeless with its new Rapide and Alpinist CLX wheels

[eddief]

interesting change of direction:

https://cyclingtips.com/2020/06/rova...st-clx-wheels/

the second set mentioned in the article are nicely light weight. maybe they think they'll sell more wheels by going for grams over the alleged advantages of heavier tubeless ready wheels. i'd think most roadies would be quick to choose lighter over tubeless given that choice.

[robt57]

Originally Posted by eddief

interesting change of direction:

https://cyclingtips.com/2020/06/rova...st-clx-wheels/

That is interesting and posy/noteworthy. Should we stock up on latex tube again?

[eBAUMANN]

Truly bizarre.

[robt57]

I guess they have to decide which is the lesser of the evils. To limit a buyer pool due to that sticker, or to loose a big part of said buyer pool if pros/races are not bill boarding the gear.

[makoti]

Why would you do this? How big a difference did it make to the wheel to be TLready?

[madsciencenow]

Are these rims really almost 35 mm wide for a front rim? That seems extreme, even for disc?


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[eBAUMANN]

Originally Posted by makoti

Why would you do this? How big a difference did it make to the wheel to be TLready?

They picked aerodynamics over tubeless...adding weight in pursuit of one thing and had to give up another to keep it competitive for the gram counters.

The only way the industry survives is by convincing people the thing they bought last year is no longer "cutting edge tech." with enough "i need all the help i can get at my age" rich folks out there, the strategy seems to be working, for now...

Originally Posted by madsciencenow

Are these rims really almost 35 mm wide for a front rim? That seems extreme, even for disc?

The only logical reason I can think for doing this would be to "fill" the fork, breaking wind (heh) more effectively around the downtube/frame.

[jc031699]

The inner rim profile looks like they made this to be tubeless but somehow it wasn’t up to spec to be used for that.


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[GimmeSerotta]

Interested to see if this has any effect on the current traction road tubeless seems to have. I have no plans to go back to tubes after a year of loving tubeless.

[vincenz]

I applaud that the decision was made purely from a performance/weight perspective. No compromises. Good on spesh.

[unterhausen]

Originally Posted by jc031699

The inner rim profile looks like they made this to be tubeless but somehow it wasn’t up to spec to be used for that.

if you showed me a pic of that rim that didn't have the sticker, I would have thought it was tubeless. Really curious what is going on. Why have the bead troughs if it's not tubeless?

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by eBAUMANN

They picked aerodynamics over tubeless...adding weight in pursuit of one thing and had to give up another to keep it competitive for the gram counters.

The only way the industry survives is by convincing people the thing they bought last year is no longer "cutting edge tech." with enough "i need all the help i can get at my age" rich folks out there, the strategy seems to be working, for now...

The only logical reason I can think for doing this would be to "fill" the fork, breaking wind (heh) more effectively around the downtube/frame.

ayup..before ya know it, there will be a novel way to secure the BB bearings into the frame....with threads..

[dddd]

Originally Posted by unterhausen

if you showed me a pic of that rim that didn't have the sticker, I would have thought it was tubeless. Really curious what is going on. Why have the bead troughs if it's not tubeless?

It would seem to me that if the tire went flat while at speed, that the better bead retention could better allow the rider to stay in control as he/she slowed for a tire repair or wheel/tire replacement.
Maybe even stay in the race until the rider gets where they need to go for a wheel? I know that I've ridden on a flat tire for some distance during a race.

It would be good to see tube-type rims evolve with what has been learned over the past few years with tubeless rims.

[makoti]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

ayup..before ya know it, there will be a novel way to secure the BB bearings into the frame....with threads..

Don't forget that bearings will be loose to allow freedom of movement and easier maintenance

[Waldo62]

Nice start. Next, they should ditch disks...