Specialized’s notoriously tough carbon Roval Traverse HD wheels get a high-engagement DT Swiss 240 DEG upgrade, boosted almost three times to 90 POEs without sacrificing DT’s proven Star Ratchet durability. Not only are they tough enough to get spec’d on Specialized’s new top, high-powered S-Works Levo eMTB, they’re also plenty lightweight for any bike you might pedal to the top of a mountain and smash down the gnarliest track on the other side.
Roval Traverse HD 240 DEG fast & tough carbon MTB wheels
From just 1780g for the carbon mullet setup we’ve been riding off and on since mid-January, Specialized says the new Roval Traverse HD 240 DEG wheels are not only their toughest, it’s the “strongest carbon trail wheel [they]’ve ever tested“!
Much of their secret power falls on Specialized’s patent-pending Flat Top carbon rim design, with broad 5mm wide beads and smooth radii that claim to “require 85% more force to pinch flat” vs. a conventional bead. The 30mm internal hookless tubeless carbon rims remain lightweight with a light fiber infill for those wide beads, and feature a boxy 24mm deep trapezoid shape for good overall stiffness.
What’s new?
And now, DT Swiss 240 DEG ratchet internals deliver quick 90 POE / 4° freehub engagement without the durability concerns of tiny teeth or fragile pawls. DT solved the puzzle of fast engagement and durability last summer by increasing the diameter of their iconic Star Ratchet rings by 36% to create the new DEG ratchet – increasing their number of points of engagement from 54T to 90T without making their ratchet teeth smaller. And Specialized jumped at the chance to improve reliability over their previous fast-engaging Traverse HD wheels, while saving some weight at the same time.
Tech details & pricing
- Traverse HD asymmetric carbon rims with wide patent-pending Flat Top beads
- 30mm internal hookless tubeless-ready
- 40mm wide external x 24mm deep
- optimized for 2.4″ Specialized Butcher or Eliminator Grid Trail T9 tubeless tires
- Roval ThreadBed Vale – unique Specialized tubeless valve threads directly into an alloy insert co-molded in the rim (no outside nut visible)
- DT Swiss 240 DEG Boost 6-bolt hubs with sealed stainless cartridge bearings
- 90 POE / 4° freehub engagement
- SRAM XD driver only from Specialized (MicroSpline & HD available separately from DT Swiss)
- front wheel 29″ only, with 28 spokes laced 2x
- rear wheel 27.5 or 29″, with 32 spokes laced 3x
- handbuilt with DT Swiss RevoLite butted & fluted spokes and alloy DT ProLock nipples
- 1682g mullet wheelset weight, 1795g 29er wheelset weight (claimed weights with alloy tubeless valves & 32mm tape, included)
- 780g 29er front wheel, 902g 27.5″ rear wheel, 1015g 29″ rear wheel (claimed weights with valves & tape)
- limited lifetime warranty (if registered within 90 days of purchase)
The Roval Traverse HD 240 DEG wheels are sold individually, so you get the perfect setup for your bike or eMTB. Either 27.5 or 29er rear wheels sell for $1300 with the new DT 240 DEG hubs. Matching 29er front wheels sell for $900, making this a $2200 wheelset. Get yours now from your local specialized dealer bike shop or delivered straight to your door from Specialized.com.
Riding Review
These new Roval Traverse HD 240 DEG came spec’d on the S-Works Levo 4 that we’ve been testing – first in Madeira, then on our home trails, and even a sneaky enduro race a couple of days ahead of their official release. And we’ve put them through the ringer, with three different test riders turning back-to-back laps, as fast as the new Levo’s Super Charger could juice that powerful ebike back up.
I already had a good idea where we were going to start with the DT 240 DEG hubset, since I got an exclusive chance to test out this new hub tech for more than half a year before last summer’s launch. The engagement of these hubs is quick and solid. Exactly what you want from a hub that’s going to see a lot of hard technical trail riding. Yes, there are other faster-engaging hubs out there. But very few can match the reliability of a DT Swiss start ratchet, and almost none deliver ratchet reliability and fast engagement.
Maintain Your Premium Hubs
The only issue I saw with the Roval DEG wheels was not actually on my own setup. It was another rider testing the same wheels. You see, the teeth on these 90T DEG ratchets are quite small – about the same size as DT’s original smaller-diameter 54T high-engagement ratchet rings. And so they are a bit susceptible to over-greasing. Even using DT’s red “Special Grease”, covering the teeth with too much grease makes it possible to slip under load. If that happens, it’s not the end of the world. Just pop the cassette off tool-free, wipe the excess grease away with a clean, lint-free rag, and reinstall to ride. But too little, and you’ll shorten the lifespan of those ratchets, too.
Of course, these are premium wheels, so you should take care of them, especially the hubs. That doesn’t mean you need to go gently while you’re riding. Just at the end of the season, clean & regrease the internals, wipe the seals and check the bearings. And you should get many years out of them.
Parting Thoughts
As for those Flat Top carbon rims… Specialized also talks about these being nearly indestructible. They officially rate them for Aggressive Trail, Enduro & full-power eMTB use, but then go on to say they will guide you to improving as a rider “in the bike park, on a trail ride, or on an Enduro World Cup track”. That sounds like opening them up for literally any type of mountain bike riding.
We’ve been thrashing them on the new 24kg S-Works Levo. And that’s included plenty of big bikepark-style jumps (everything is a bikepark with an eMTB that shuttles you back-and-forth to the top of the mountain!) Plus, sketchy rock gardens, and even a dodgy e-Enduro power stage through an abandoned factory. But as light as they are, I wouldn’t mind swapping out the heavier aluminum wheels I have on my all-mountain trail bike. Or even those on my bikepark enduro bike.
It’s hard to find another mullet mountain bike wheelset that weighs as little as these do, yet instills such confidence that you can charge full-speed into any terrain. And the proven DT 240 DEG internals are just a fast-engaging bonus in my book.
This is the kind of carbon mountain bike wheelset that will just make you stop worrying about damaging a carbon rim by just riding your bike.