Roval's engineers spent the CLX III's development challenging a convention the aero wheel industry had settled on years ago: that the rear wheel should be the deeper of the pair. The Rapide CLX III Front Wheel is the sharper end of that argument, a 51mm-deep rim built around the premise that the leading edge of the bike is where the aerodynamic work gets done. Roval's wind tunnel testing indicated that up to 90% of the aerodynamic benefit of a deep wheelset comes from the front, and the CLX III front rim is shaped to capture that benefit while keeping the wheel's behavior predictable in gusts.

The rim measures 35mm external at its widest point against a 21mm internal width, a deliberately blunt profile that flares outward from the tire. That shape guides air smoothly across wider yaw angles, softening the crosswind effect that traditionally makes deep front wheels twitchy in changing conditions. Roval optimized the design around a 28mm tire, which sits slightly narrower than the rim's outer edge to smooth the transition from tire to sidewall. Riders using 26 to 30mm tires will find the rim works across that range, though the fastest configuration in Roval's rolling resistance testing was the 28mm tire on the 21mm internal width.

Weight sits at 600 grams for the front, and the reduction from the previous CLX II generation comes primarily from two sources. Roval Aero Composite spokes, developed with Arris Composites, replace the steel spokes of the previous generation and account for the bulk of the savings on their own. The front wheel uses just 18 of these flat carbon spokes, laced straight-pull into the Roval LF hub. Titanium nipples keep the build serviceable, since the spokes remain adjustable and replaceable despite the carbon construction.... Read More