Cross-country wheel design has always lived at the intersection of two hostile demands: light enough to accelerate out of every corner and up every punchy climb, tough enough to survive the rock gardens and drops that now define World Cup courses. The Roval Control World Cup sits in that space at 991 grams for the wheelset, with carbon-spoked hoops setting a new bar in a discipline where weight makes a massive difference. The rear wheel handles the harder half of that equation, carrying torque loads, weighted climbing forces, and the accumulated hits that arrive when momentum drives the bike through technical terrain.

The weight target came from a long list of decisions rather than a single breakthrough: an optimized rim layup that shaves 36 grams off the Control SL Team wheels while retaining the same durability and performance, carbon spokes with titanium hardware that eliminate 101.6 grams versus steel spokes, and ultralight rim tape developed with 3M to save another 9.6 grams. The tubeless valves are cut to just enough length to fit standard pump heads at 1.5 grams each. None of these numbers are large on their own, but stacked together they push the wheel below thresholds that used to require accepting fragility.

In 2024 the Specialized Factory Racing Team completed every race without breaking a rim , a record that matters more than the weight number for anyone considering these wheels as anything other than one-race equipment. A 4mm-wide beadhook minimizes pinch flats , and the mini-hooked carbon construction is engineered around tubeless setups and tire inserts for aggressive racing.... Read More