Roval’s newest wheels are the Rapide CLX II Team. Much effort has been made to make the wheels lighter and more aerodynamic, saving a gram per wheel on the uncoated hubs and a whole second on 40 km. It has also retained the hooked tire beads, as it believes there is too much risk of tire blowout with hookless.
The latest buzzword in cycling is all-road: the ability to ride your racing bike off-road, but still handle it well on asphalt. As you’d expect, there’s a whole host of products ready to help you do just that, and we’ve got two of them in this week’s roundup.
Fulcrum’s Sharq wheels have a rim with an internal width of 25mm and a wavy profile – but do they infringe on the patent granted to Zipp? And motorcycle brand Ducati has launched an electric all-road bike that comes with heavy-duty tires, an FSA hub motor and a set of bikepacking bags.
Roval Rapide CLX II Team wheels retain their hooked tire beads
Why paint your hub black when you can save a gram by leaving it silver?
(Image credit: Roval)
2024 appears to be the year of the expensive wheels, with the latest Roval wheels costing $3,800/£3,000, the price of a decent carbon bike. Specialized claims they’re lighter and more aerodynamic – they would, wouldn’t they – but they’ve also retained crochet beads.
Roval is not a fan of hookless and has eschewed the technology that allows tubeless tire rims to be made without a wheel hook, even as competitors Zipp and Enve have gone all in. Meanwhile, Specialized says hookless technology cannot meet high-pressure testing requirements without blowing the tire off.
Roval says the new wheels shed 130 grams from the standard Rapide CLX II for a wheelset weight of 1,360 grams. This consists of 40 grams per rim due to a new carbon lay-up, plus a saving of 25 grams per hub due to a new shell. It is silver because not coating it black saves a gram per hub.
An adjusted rim profile saves an estimated 0.5 watts when using tires between 26 mm and 30 mm wide, with a time saving of one second over 40 km.
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It’s not just the price tag that makes it difficult to get your hands on the new wheels. Roval has only made 1,500 sets available for purchase, with the rest going to the WorldTour team riders.
Fulcrum’s sawtooth allroad wheels
It is claimed that the wavy profile of the Sharq wheels makes them more stable, but does this violate Zipp patents?
(Image credit: Future)
This week Fulcrum introduced its new wheels for all-road riders. The wheels, called Sharq, have a wavy profile to the rim, with a depth between 42mm and 47mm, which Fulcrum says makes them less sensitive to crosswinds.
The asymmetrical bulges are reminiscent of Zipp’s NSW wheels, which immediately raises a question: has Fulcrum infringed on a patent licensed to Zipp?
Princeton Carbon Plant met with Zipp’s owner, SRAM, over its own wavy edge profiles. SRAM v. Princeton’s case went to trial in February 2023 and resulted in a mixed verdict, dismissing one of Princeton’s defenses but rejecting the prior art claim (i.e. that there were already products that used similar profile) was still playing.
We asked Fulcrum about its own patent, but we didn’t hear back. The new wheels are now for sale for €2,460. They have an internal rim width of 25mm and a claimed weight of 1,440 grams and Fulcrum says they are aero-optimized for tires from 30mm to 42mm wide. The company thinks they are a great option for riders who want to be fast on the road, but still want to ride off-road.
The Sharq wheels also had a gravel outing at Unbound last weekend, being ridden to fifth place by Mattia De Marchi.
Ducati goes off-road with its Futa e-bike
Ducati uses an FSA hub motor to add extra pushing power off-road
(Image credit: Future)
Ducati isn’t a name you’d normally associate with human-powered transport, but it has launched an all-road bike called the Futa. The Futa All Road is powered by a 250W, 42Nm FSA rear hub motor and has a carbon frame with a 250Wh internal battery in the downtube. You can buy a 250 Wh range extender to add some extra mileage.
It is equipped with a SRAM Rival 2×12-speed groupset and Vision AGX 30 carbon wheels with 38mm Vittoria Terreno Dry tires. Ducati claims a size medium weighs just 12.4kg. The Futa All Road costs €7,690 and is sold complete with a set of bikepacking bags.
A road-going version of the Futa is also available, which can be fitted with the FSA K-Force WE electronic groupset or an alternative SRAM Rival option.
