The Traverse SL Fattie 29 is a light weight, wide-profile, enduro-ready carbon wheel you thought only existed in your dreams, combining the best features of your favourite wheels into one all-mountain package.
Along with light overall weight, stiffness, and durability, another top priority for the Traverse SL was ease of use. The creaky straight-pull spokes and corrosion-prone alloy nipples were removed. Roval also landed on 28 J-bend spokes, for both the front and rear wheels, that are all the same length, making it easy to find replacements should you need them. A new hub design was engineered with a wider profile and higher flange to aid in overall stiffness.
The Traverse SL Fatties may be wide, but with a 30mm inner rim width, they’re far from the girth of a fat bike rim. You've probably noticed that mountain bike rim widths have hovered between 19 and 23 millimetres for decades, and they've been long overdue for a change. In the search for a better wheel design, engineers began testing 2.3- to 2.5-inch tyres on 45-millimetre-wide fat bike rims to see what benefits could be found. It only took them a few rides to realise that the wider rims offered a variety of advantages, like adding additional tyre volume, which better supports them in hard cornering, greatly improves traction because of the ability to run lower pressures, and noticeably increases rim stiffness. They did note that there is an occurrence of diminishing returns with increasing width, however, and after testing everything from 25 to 45mm, determined that a 30mm inner width is optimal.
The rim was then designed using the knowledge gained from developing the Control SL. With this, Roval started with their Zero Bead Hook technology that gets rid of the weak spot found in a traditional wheel, and combined it with the wider profile to make a carbon rim that effectively dissipates forces. So, you can take abuse from rocks without the worry of cracks or dents. They’re strong, impact-resistant, tyre supporting and yet, light weight.
To achieve this weight, Roval rims are hand-built to their own alloy hubs, using only the highest quality DT Swiss Competition Race spokes. Inside the hubs, you'll find DT Swiss 240 internals with a quick engaging 54t DT Swiss star ratchet system in the rear that allows you to power over rocks and roots without delay. While machines build wheel well, professionally trained humans were chosen as they do so with an artistic touch that makes for minimal flaws.
Whether you need a carbon wheelset to get you through an enduro stage or one to shred your local rock garden, the Traverse SL Fattie has you covered.