Specialized Roval Control 29 Carbon 148

It’s not often that “affordable” and “carbon” appear in the same sentence, but our Control 29 Carbon wheelset was designed to change that. Utilizing many of the same techniques used in the development of the SL iteration of the Control 29, these wheels provide the lightweight XC performance you need at a more attainable price.

Creating a successful XC wheelset isn't as easy as you might think. Often times, keeping a wheel light, stiff, and strong requires an unlimited budget. So when we were asked to create a wheel that had low inertia and weight, but was also affordable, strong enough to take on rocks and roots, and wide enough to optimize traction and rolling resistance, we knew that we had our work cut out for us.

We started with the notion of keeping these wheels as close to their SL brethren as possible. And with this, we explored what made the SLs so awesome in the first place, and then we implemented nearly every aspect of them. Starting with the rim, we kept our renowned Zero Hook Bead that allows for continuous fiber layup across the sidewall and rim bed. We then paired it with a wide 25-millimeter internal profile that makes it resilient to impact and creates a tire profile that’s conducive to low rolling resistance and incredible traction.

On the trail, these technical traits translate to a wheelset that many XC riders have grown to love—quick accelerations on punchy climbs, swift stopping that lets you leave braking till the last second, and unprecedented reliability. Combine this with the easy to set up our 2Bliss Ready system and you have a reliable XC wheelset that’s as easy to climb on as it is to work on.

To go along with the rim, we made sure to keep the lightweight, reliable, and affordable features in mind when building the wheelset, so we took DT Swiss 350 Classic hubs (15x110mm thru-axle front / 12x148mm thru-axle rear) and hand-laced them with 28 DT Swiss Competition Race spokes. Finding hand-built wheels is becoming more and more difficult, but we're fully invested in the power of the human touch. When a wheel is machine-built, there are certain margins of error that are built into the system that result in inconsistencies. With a real person building your wheels, however, you're sure to get a wheelset that's free of imperfections.

At a Glance

• Rim Type: Carbon clincher, 2Bliss Ready, Zero Bead Hook design, black graphic under clear coat.
• Rim Material: Carbon fiber
• Rim Width: 25mm internal
• Front Spoke Pattern: Two-cross
• Rear Spoke Pattern: Two-cross
• Spoke Count: 28h Front, 28h Rear
• Spoke Type: DT Swiss Competition Race J-bend
• Nipple Type: DT Swiss Alloy Pro Lock hexagonal
• Front Hub: DT Swiss 350 Classic, 28h, 15x110mm thru-axle, 6-bolt, includes 15x110mm 19mm OD end caps.
• Rear Hub: DT Swiss 350 Classic, 28h, 36t quick engagement ratchet system cassette, 12x148mm, includes SRAM XX1 XD freehub.