Specialised has been operating an all-new, mega lightweight cross-county wheelset proper underneath our noses. For 2024, the Specialised Manufacturing unit Crew was a profitable cellular check lab, experimenting with new XC rim shapes, carbon/titanium spokes, and up to date hub designs. Consequently, the brand new Roval Management World Cup Wheels had been designed immediately with the Specialised Manufacturing unit Racing Crew athletes and the design crew.
Working cooperatively to get the wheelset as gentle as doable with out sacrificing sturdiness and dealing with, the brand new feather-weight wheels tip the scales at a scant 992g/pair with valves and tape. Specialised sees it as redefining what’s doable for a manufacturing, race-ready mountain bike wheelset.
The brand new Roval Management World Cup Wheels are only one a part of the Specialised cross-country pace replace. The wheels wanted new treads to be correctly despatched into the 2025 XCO battle. Meet the up to date and tweaked XC tires from Specialised: The Air Trak and Quick Trak.
There’s a lot to unpack right here, so let’s begin with the Roval Management World Cup Wheels.
Roval Management World Cup Wheels
Didn’t Specialised launch a loopy gentle XC wheelset final yr? Sure, it was known as the Management SL Crew Version and it appears they used that wheel as a proving floor for the carbon spoke addition to the Roval Management line. The primary variations could be the rim and hubset. The Roval SL Crew Version used the identical Roval rim as others within the XC line; this new wheelset is one other layup and design altogether.
How did they Save the Weight? The brand new design reduces weight by over 250g in comparison with earlier fashions. Each gram was analyzed and optimized, resulting in a 44g-lighter rim form that also meets off-road sturdiness and journey high quality requirements.
Specialised went all-in on carbon spokes, and the outcomes converse for themselves. Carbon spokes with titanium fittings are 1.7g lighter and 63% stronger than metal (weighing about 3g per spoke, together with nipple), chopping an enormous 101.6g whereas boosting total energy and longevity. After 9 months of testing, spoke reinforcement, ply overlaps, and fiber angles had been all fine-tuned, eliminating 18 plies and shedding one other 36g.
How’s the Sturdiness?
Mild and “World Cup race prepared” don’t scream longevity to the common shopper. However the Specialised Manufacturing unit Racing Crew ran the complete 2024 season design and not using a single damaged rim.
A key design function is a 4mm-wide rim wall and hookless design that minimizes pinch flats, distributing influence forces throughout the rim for elevated resilience. Optimized torsional stiffness permits the rim to flex with the terrain, maintaining management excessive and fatigue low—one thing we’ve seen on rims like the brand new ENVE MTB line and Reserve wheels.
Up to date Hubs and Spokes
Specialised says the brand new Roval LF hub (swapped out from the DT-240 straight-pulled design) and carbon spokes went via 25 iterations, all to dial within the good steadiness of acceleration, braking precision, and total smoothness.
The hub internals are DT 180 geared up with ceramic SINC bearings. The notable distinction is the brand new hubs are barely extra sculpted and use a middle lock disc slightly than a 6-bolt design just like the earlier.
Roval Management World Cup Wheels – Technical Particulars
- Rim outer width: 36mm
- Rim inside width: 29mm
- Rim peak: 26mm
- Hubs: Roval LF, DT-180 Internals, with SINC Ceramic bearings
- Spoke materials: Carbon/Titanium
- Value: $1,300 (entrance), $1,700 (rear), $3,000 (pair)
- Availability: Now
- Weights: 446g (entrance) 546g (rear), totaling 992g
Speak Tires to Me – Specialised: Air Trak & Quick Trak XC Tires
Specialised says its 2025 XC tire lineup is the quickest, lightest, and most sturdy they’ve ever created. They narrowed the scope of their cross-county choices barely and regarded to get as environment friendly as doable. To Specialised, a lean line means two tires, two treads, out there in two casing designs to fit your cross-country wants.
Specialised Air Trak – Most Pace
The Air Trak is a fast-looking tire. Its tread takes the fast-rolling tread cluster from the Renegade it replaces. It boasts a twin GRIPTON T5/T7 compound and Flex Lite casing. This tire is constructed to be the quickest off the road and thru the activates hardpack tracks. The up to date tread design has strategically positioned, and sized knobs shave 60g in comparison with the Renegade, which weighs in simply 575g.
But when the paths and races you frequent aren’t ski resort clear or tremendous quick clay, don’t fear. The Air Trak comes out there in two casing choices;
- Flex Lite: The last word light-weight XC casing for minimal weight and max pace.
- Grid Lite: The identical supple journey however with added safety towards pinch flats and sidewall cuts, with extra weight.
Specialised Air Trak Particulars:
- Terrain: Hardpack
- Casing: 60TPI Flex Lite
- Compound: GRIPTON T5 middle strip, GRIPTON T7 shoulders
- Sort: Tubeless
- Measurement Accessible: 29 x 2.35
- Weight: 605g
- Value: $65.00
Specialised Quick Trak: The Do-It-All XC Weapon
The Quick Trak is commonplace when the course has diverse terrain. Assume moist roots, rocks, some damp sections—otherwise you simply need that further push in corns. This tire presents management, pace, and light-weight efficiency. It’s a private favourite of mine, and I’m excited to see this replace. Specialised says it’s been refined to ship essentially the most well-rounded, high-performance XC tire you’ll be able to journey, however we’ll decide that later.
Within the meantime, listed below are the up to date tech particulars. The design crew up to date the tread barely with Block-In-Block outer knobs for higher predictable dealing with in blended circumstances. The compact middle knobs have a GRIPTON T5 middle strip to decrease rolling resistance with out sacrificing grip. It arrives in each Flex Lite or Grid Lite casings and a pair of.25″ and a pair of.35″ sizes.
- Terrain: Blended XC Terrain
- Compound: GRIPTON T5 middle strip, GRIPTON T7 shoulders
- Casing: 60TPI Flex Lite or Grid Lite with sidewall safety
- Compound: GRIPTON® T5/T7
- Sort: Tubeless
- Measurement & Weight: 29×2.2 Flex Lite – 605g, 29×2.35 Flex Lite – 615g, 29×2.2 Grid Lite – 676g, 29×2.35 Grid Lite – 690g
- Value: $65
First Impressions: Roval Management World Cup Wheels and Up to date XC tires
The Roval Management World Cup Wheels arrived in a field just like the Crew Version wheels however in a barely much less grand bundle.
The wheels arrive with a premium bag (every wheel arrives with its personal bag), substitute spokes (every 304mm), and nipples in case of path mishaps. In addition they include Roval Management stickers to maintain you recent for the press and in several colorways to match your journey.
Not like the Crew Version wheels, the Management World Cup Wheels don’t arrive with substitute bearings, an alternate freehub physique, or enjoyable further gear. To match, the Crew Version wheels are $3,300 for the set, and the Management World Cup Wheels are $3,000.
What About Weight
The load of the Management World Cup Wheels is startling, even for somebody who commonly sees high-end bike gear. These are positively the lightest 29″ wheels that I’ve examined, and so they stay as much as the burden hype.
The Management World Cup Wheels weighed in at 992g on our scales, together with rim tape and valves.
Setup
I went with my private favourite race setup with the brand new Specialised: Quick Trak within the entrance, Renegade… I imply Air Trak within the rear. The tires mounted simply, and I might really feel a slight distinction within the casing whereas mounting. In comparison with the earlier mannequin, the 2025 model feels extra pliable and barely softer to the contact.
Journey Impressions – Roval Management World Cup Wheels
The climate in Pittsburgh has been…crap. So our trails haven’t been very usable, however I used to be fortunate to sneak in a few rides, and so they had been sufficient to get a glimpse into what the Roval Management World Cup Wheels are all about.
My preliminary journey was to the paths and again, which gave me some good highway time and path time. First off, the Roval Management World Cup Wheels felt wonderful and balanced on the highway, and the tires rolled very effectively. The brand new tires have a pleasant spherical form, no flattop over uncovered aspect knobs. They felt completely paired with the Management World Cup Wheels, as they need to. I inflated them to 18/19 PSI to begin my journey and felt assured that this strain could be OK for many of the using.
On the Bike
My path to the trailhead is lumpy, riddled with fast climbs that come out of the blue. On these climbs, I might really feel the springiness of the Management World Cup Wheels. The lightness provides one other dimension to climbing (at the very least to me). They spin up quick and maintain the pace over the terrain, like a pleasant mid-depth (30mm) highway wheel.
On the paths, every thing clicked. The tires and the wheels (the truth that I haven’t been on the paths that a lot this season) all felt nice. The primary impression was, “These are gentle,” after which, “These are quick.” In fact, the primary impression is the burden, however the second is the tires. The paths had been frozen, with some ice and ruts. I might hook up on the path and rumble over the ruts with out feeling squirmy.
I mounted the Quick Trak on the entrance and the Air Trak on the rear, and it was the fitting transfer for the circumstances. The Quick Trak might dig into the path confidently when diving downhill, and the Air Trak had sufficient chunk to claw up the frozen single observe.
The load of the wheels transfers to the general feeling of the bike—the hopping, the wheeling over obstacles, the small vibration damping—every thing. However what do you count on from a $3,000 World Cup race-level wheelset?
I’m nonetheless feeling out of the Management World Cup Wheelset and the Quick/Air Trak combo, however I’m excited. The wheels shall be a real asset to the race and performance-focused riders.
What concerning the worth? Effectively, it’s about $3/gram for the Management World Cup Wheels at $3,000 per set. Their closest manufacturing (large field) competitor is the Bontrager RSL (1200g) at $2,700 and the DT Swiss XRC 1200 (1,300g) at $2,900 for the set.
Keep Tuned
We plan on testing these this season with a lot of racing (my hip keen), and we’ll report again quickly. Till then, we are able to confidently say these wheels are gentle, quick, and costly. But it surely may very well be price it in case you’re on a quest for a Stars and Stripes jersey or to construct the last word XC race rig.
