Roval goes tubeless with new generation Rapide and Alpinist wheels

The story of why Roval waited this long to go tubeless

Roval Alpenist CLX II and Roval Rapide CLX II
(Image credit: Anne-Marije Rook // Future)

When Roval launched the Rapide CLX and Alpinist CLX wheelsets in 2020, it raised some eyebrows by not going tubeless. The brand’s message at the time was that the tube system was simply the fastest. But that wasn’t necessarily the complete story. 

Yes, these wheels were indeed the fastest, lightest and best all-around wheelsets Specialized’s sister brand had ever produced. And Roval is quick to point out that over the 2020 and 2021 seasons, Rapide and Alpinist wheels won more races on the World Tour than any other wheels — 155 race wins in fact. However, leading up to the 2022 season, Roval had every intention of adopting a tubeless system, until Peter Sagan destroyed one of the prototypes in training. 

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