Aero vs Lightweight Carbon Wheels: Roval Alpinist CLX II and Rapide CLX II

Shallow lightweight or deep section aero carbon wheels, which is faster and which is best for you? I set out to answer the question by testing the new Roval Rapide CLX II wheels and compared them to the Alpinist CLX II wheels in a real-world comparative test to find out once and for all.

Alpinist CLX II review
Colnago C68 First Ride

In association with Roval Components
All views and opinions are my own, Roval had no editorial input or viewed the video before publication. Their support allows me to create videos like this for you all.

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[jason-dyou]

I dont understand how David doesnt have millions of subscribers. His reviews and technical data on component comparisons is some of the best online.

[crbondur]

Honestly, both sets of wheels are lighter and better than the alloy rims I'm running right now, so either is a good upgrade over what I have. :D

[Dejay]

I've found 40's to be the sweet spot for me. I live in quite a hilly area and ride in all weather. I've tried 60MM boras which felt fast on the flat but could be quite a handful in the wind, and 23's which were stable but offered no aero benefits on the flat, 40 just seems to be fast enough but stable enough to ride year round.

[Nonixification]

You pushed 3.7 % more watts for 2.9% faster time. Or I miscalculated something?

[LoaforDie]

I have CLX on my tarmac SL7. But I just got alpinist (1) CLX for the climbs. So this video makes total sense for me.

[willsutton]

I mean, really, let’s be honest… deep section wheels just look totally badass. (And those Rovals looked GREAT with the ‘Nag, btw.). Do us mere mortal, non-pros really need them? Likely not, but I run ‘em anyhow. And while we’re on the vanity kick, did you hear how they sounded while he was rolling along? Almost makes it worth the price of admission.

[ryanS]

I personally like an all round wheelset that can do both adequately. I run 40’s and love them.

[reynolds]

7watts is a sizable gap between runs. I wonder how much of the 40 sec is attributed to that.

[imacomputer]

the weight difference is so tiny it's kind of silly to pick a lighter rim over an aero rim. what you ate for breakfast could make a bigger weight difference. aero's advantage gets exponentially bigger the faster you go too. that said, an aero helmet makes a bigger difference than wheels

[cyberfunk]

I saw another test where the wats were even and the difference was something like a second per km. No point in keeping heart rate equal, that doesn't matter for this type of experiment, what matters is having as close to same watts.

[raphaeltiziani]

I think most of those review forget one thing. Where do you loose the wheel of your opponent in the race? On the flat? On the 4/5% climb? Or on the 8+% climbs? For me its for sure on the steep stuff. So that is limiting myself, so Im probably better off with "climbing wheels" (I use 40 mm 1200 gr farsports feders).

If you ride just solo then ok, deeper is mostly better.

[jeansebastienroy]

My 2021 Aethos came in with Roval Alpinists and I love them. Comfortable, light and quick. Yes I would be faster all around with the Rapide, but I do one race a year which has a lot of climbing (2000m over 105 km) and I can stay in the pack on the descents no problem. And as I am going to a bike trip in the Alps soon, the Alpinist will be the top choice there!

[RogerWatson]

I also proved this point recently in a group ride so much so both riders have gone and ordered the same Zipp 303s wheelset. The two riders are heavier than me and riding heavier bikes yet I sailed past them downhill with no pedalling. It was a very simple example of the benefits of a carbon aero wheel over OEM wheels.

[russellbrooks]

Thanks David. All the testing and data from different people comes to the same conclusion, but it was still entertaining to watch! The only element that seems to be neglected when covering this topic is the benefit of rotational mass one gets from a deeper and heavier wheel. Something for another video perhaps?! I would also love to see a video with the same type of test but with lightweight vs aero frame sets with identical wheels and group set etc. This seems to be something rarely covered. Perhaps because it’s hard to get two identical bikes with different frames to test easily? Say a Trek Emonda vs Madone with similar or identical components and wheels.

[allthingsbike.]

I'd always take a weight penalty to look cooler at the café!! 😂👌

[dperreno]

What are the rim depths of the two wheels? That was my first question but I had to plow through 2/3 of the video to learn the dimensions on the deep wheelset. I never did find out about the shallow wheels though. Sorry if this comes off as snarky, but really, you need to tell us that info up front. Or in the description. Or both.

[grahambowes]

I noticed the speed gain when I fitted deeper section 45mm Zipp 303s to my Orbea over the shallower wheels that came with it. I didn't dare go deeper as I'm in the mid 60kg range, but I'd add that the Zipps are much more benign in crosswinds than the than the other wheels were.

[mohamadjamil]

Hi David, I have the Rapids on my aethos. The bike feels faster and the rims are really nice in perpendicular and tail wind. My observation is that, and like many deep rims is that they are very unstable in cross or diagonal wind and a bit scary when descending. Once I had to come to a complete stop because of gust. I also noticed that they are a bit bouncy when the road gets rough sometimes (rear wheel). Moreover, the bike lost its agility and became a bit heavier to accelerate as compared to shallow ones. Moreover, and As compared to my previous 45 fast forward, the rovals do not come on top. I would or should have kept the shallow rovals as the rapids are more or a better fit for the tarmc.

[bitgeist]

Really great review, David. I must say, I'm very torn on this issue. I live in the Taunus region of Germany and we tend to have fairly consistent hills with fairly steep gradients. I like the idea of a 36mm rim depth but after watching this video; I'm suddenly a lot more interested in trying to learn if a 50mm rim depth might not be better for me 🙂 Unfortunately, I can't buy both, so... It very well may come down to your analysis! Although; I'd be very curious as to how similar or different the overall terrain is in the Cots Wolds vs the Taunus. Thanks again for another informative and educational presentation!

[magicsork]

I would like to give a different view in addition to the fact that same watt shall be consodered, the result it is strictly correlated to athlete power profile. If i had less power than athur for istance, i would go slower and take less advantange by aero. This should be considered as comparing factor as well