Is This Roval’s Strongest Carbon Wheel Yet? We Test & Review The Roval Traverse SL Fattie Carbon Wheelset.

December 14, 2017
8 Comments
In Issue #116 of Singletrack Magazine, David tested and reviewed six sets of carbon mountain bike wheels, all fitted with the same WTB Vigilante/Trail Boss tyre combo Those of us above a certain age will know that, thanks to the internet, the Yellow Pages is now a shadow of its former self. In 2017 they are mere pamphlets compared to the weighty tomes of yore, and strongmen in leopard print underpants would just look silly ripping them apart on stage. Perhaps in the 21st century, they could rep
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David started mountain biking in the 90’s, by which he means “Ineptly jumping a Saracen Kili Racer off anything available in a nearby industrial estate”. After growing up and living in some extremely flat places, David moved to Yorkshire specifically for the mountain biking. This felt like a horrible mistake at first, because the hills are so steep, but you get used to them pretty quickly. Previously, David trifled with road and BMX, but mountain bikes always won. He’s most at peace battering down a rough trail, quietly fixing everything that does to a bike, or trying to figure out if that one click of compression damping has made things marginally better or worse. The inept jumping continues to this day.

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8 thoughts on “Is This Roval’s Strongest Carbon Wheel Yet? We Test & Review The Roval Traverse SL Fattie Carbon Wheelset.”

  2. Hi howsyourdad1, there’ll be some more reviews appearing on the web soon (Boyd review is already up), and our three category winners are in issue 116 of the magazine.

    One thing we found through back to back testing was that what’s compliant for a heavier rider might not be for a lighter one – and there’s probably a good wedge of personal preference in there too. For me, as a ~75Kg rider, I got the best and most precise feel from the Mavic XA Carbon (more expensive than these Rovals though). Andi is slightly heavier and got on best with the RSP Calavera wheels, and Barney, who is much taller and hence heavier than either of us, is running some Rovals similar to these and gets on great with them.

  3. cheers for that. I’m in the market see and there seems to be a lot of choice now. A person on a facebook group I’m in recommended the RSP calavera wheels for around 800 quid! looking forward to the review of those. keep up the good work!

  4. “Roval pioneered the hookless carbon rim”

    No, they did not. I don’t know who actually did, but they didn’t start developing their hookless beads until after Lightbicycle had theirs on the market

  6. @eddibaby, if the rim’s slippy it can be harder to get a good stick, especially if you’ve not got it really clean. I always key mine a bit with a scotchbrite pad just to take some of hte smooth off

  7. @Northwind That’s what Wil told me! Blame him 🙂
    Edit: Spesh were the first people Chipps saw doing hookless, at the Sea Otter a few years back.

    @eddiebaby I hate it, but can’t say it’s rational. When I have a bike to do list, rim taping always gets put off (BTW, saw that thread a while back – really glad you were reunited with your bike!)

  8. I thought it was a case of use either the plugs or tape but not both together.
    Those brown 2bliss rim tapes are ment to Work tubless but don’t always.

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