Gucci-carbon bar-stem and seatpost released alongside high-end aluminium wheelset
This competition is now closed Aluminum Square Bar
Roval, Specialized’s in-house component brand, has launched three new cross-country components – an integrated bar-stem, a seatpost and a wheelset.
The cockpit and seatpost are both made of carbon fibre, with the wheelset an aluminium affair – albeit with a revised manufacturing technique.
The Control SL Cockpit will retail for £300 and the Control SL Seatpost £205. The wheels will be sold separately, with the front setting you back £310 and the rear £450.
International pricing is to be confirmed.
The Control SL Cockpit is constructed from high-modulus carbon fibre and designed for cross-country racing. Roval claims a 250g weight in its 70mm stem length variant.
The bar-stem is 780mm in width and includes cut marks in case you want to chop it down. It’s available in 60 to 90mm stem lengths.
The cockpit has a 0mm rise, with a -12-degree integrated stem. It has an 8-degree backsweep and 1-degree upsweep.
Roval includes titanium bolts and the bar-stem is compatible with the brand’s bolt-on computer mount.
The Control SL Seatpost is also constructed from high-modulus carbon fibre and has a 180g claimed weight.
It’s only available in a 30.9mm diameter with a 415mm length and is compatible with both alloy and carbon-railed saddles.
Roval has long been a proponent of using a single bolt to secure the saddle, but like its featherweight Alpinist road seatpost, the Control SL uses a 2-bolt design. A 2-bolt design allows for independent adjustment of the saddle setback and angle.
The Control Alloy 350s are a 29in wheelset with aluminium rims, although Roval says it holds the wheel to the standards of its Control SL carbon components.
To increase durability and reduce weight, Specialized says it has customised its shot peening process – a process where metal projectiles are shot at the alloy to increase its strength.
Roval claims a 1,648g wheel weight, with the front coming in at 768g and the rear at 880g.
The wheels have a ‘zero bead hook design’, a 27mm internal rim width and a 19mm rim depth.
Roval says the rims are compatible with tyre inserts and can accept between 1.9 and 2.6in mountain bike tyres.
Roval specs the newly launched DT Swiss 350 hub in its straight-pull, 6-bolt disc variant. The wheels come stock with a SRAM XD freehub.
Lacing the hubs to the 28-hole rims are Sapim’s D-Light straight-pull spokes in a 2-cross pattern. They’re secured with double-squared Sapim alloy nipples.
Oscar Huckle is a technical writer at BikeRadar. He has been an avid cyclist since his teenage years, initially catching the road cycling bug and riding for a local club. He’s since been indoctrinated into gravel riding and more recently has taken to the dark art of mountain biking. His favourite rides are epic road or gravel routes, and he has also caught the bikepacking bug hard after completing the King Alfred’s Way and West Kernow Way. Oscar has a BA degree in English Literature and Film Studies and has close to a decade of cycling industry experience, initially working in a variety of roles at Evans Cycles before joining Carbon Bike Repair. He is particularly fond of workshop tool exotica and is a proponent of Campagnolo groupsets. Oscar prefers lightweight road and gravel frames with simple tube shapes, rather than the latest trend for aerodynamics and full integration. He is obsessed with keeping up to date with all the latest tech, is fixated with the smallest details and is known for his unique opinions.
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