While traditionally-shaped disc wheels are faster than their spoked counterparts, the Roval 321 Disc for disc brakes turns conventional design on its head, creating the fastest wheel on the planet.
Disc wheels often fall into two categories, a completely flat shape, with structure coming from carbon fibre and a honeycomb-foam filling, or a spoked wheel that's been faired with a carbon fibre cover. The 321 uses a single layer of 1k carbon fibre on each side of the wheel, and it all comes together at the brake track bridge. This kind of carbon fibre is rarely used in bicycle components due to its high manufacturing cost, but it offers a bevy of performance benefits. This coveted carbon is much lighter than other layups, like 3k and 12k, and it can only be laid by the most skilled of carbon fibre craftsmen. It's complicated, but the pay-out is worth it, as it delivers a supple ride and one of the lightest disc wheels available. And in the real world, this means that it'll spin-up quickly and reduce fatigue over the length of the course.
Stiffness is often the “hot-topic” in the disc wheel world. It's long been thought that efficient power transfer and high stiffness are directly correlated, but through extensive field-testing, Roval have determined that this isn't the case at all. The initial disc was so stiff that, under power, it wouldn't flex with the frame and this caused brake rub. This wrongly creates the perception of a flexy wheel, when really, the wheel is actually too stiff. In order to solve the brake rub problem, Roval first designed their optimal aero shape and then worked on the internal stiffness targets to fit within a desirable frame stiffness.
While light overall weight was a development priority, the focus was aerodynamics. Through hours of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and testing in the Win Tunnel, Roval developed a never-before-seen shape that's optimised to work with a tyre for on-bike airflow. What this translates to is an all-carbon disc wheel that, on the non-drive-side, has a shape that's as aerodynamic as Roval's current understanding allows, and a drive-side shape that's as aerodynamic as the wheel-dish and derailleur clearance will allow for.
To save every possible watt, CeramicSpeed bearings and DT Swiss 240 hub internals into our hub were added. Each 321 Disc wheel is also 2Bliss Ready right out of the box and comes with a padded wheel bag, quick-release, and tubeless valve stem.
Designed for the most uncompromising athletes in the world, with engineering to match, the 321 Disc is the world's most advanced disc wheel for your race against the clock.
- Rim Type: Full carbon clincher, 2Bliss Ready
- Rim Material: Carbon
- Braking Surface: Disc brake only
- Rim Depth: Solid Disc
- Rim Width: 19mm internal, 27.3mm external (at brake track)
- Rear Hub: Roval Disc 142x12mm, CeramicSpeed bearings, DT Swiss 240 internals, 11-speed
- Assembly Method: Handmade
- Extras: Roval padded wheel bag, Roval tubeless valve, Roval valve pocket covers
- Weight: 1015g