Roval Traverse HD 240 DEG Wheels

Roval, Specialized’s house brand in rolling stock, has been putting out quality wheels for some time now. The Traverse HD is a carbon wheel intended for “aggressive trail and enduro” riding, which in today’s world translates to “everything except a DH World Cup”, pretty much. We tested a pair of these rims/wheels last year, not long after their initial launch, and we were very impressed by their ride quality and dynamic handling characteristics on the trail. When Specialized announced a new version built with DT’s latest 240 DEG hub and Revolite spokes earlier this year, we thought it was a good opportunity to keep testing. This is our report after some more trail time.

Roval Traverse HD 240 DEG Wheelset Highlights

• Traverse HD asymmetric carbon clincher hookless rims
• Rim dimensions (F/R): depth: 24mm, external width: 40mm, internal width: 30mm, bead hook width: 5mm
• Tubeless/insert compatible
• Brake rotor mount: 6-Bolt
• Hole count: Front: 28H, Rear: 32H
• DT Swiss Revolite spokes, 2-cross up front, 3-cross out back
• Roval ThreadBed valves
• Front hub: DT Swiss 240 J-Bend, 6-Bolt, 15x110mm, 19mm OD end caps installed
• Rear hub: DT Swiss 240 J-Bend, 6-Bolt, 12x148mm, 90T DEG Ratchet
• Wheelset weight (29F/27.5R, as tested): 1775g, verified
• Rider weight limit: 275lbs / 125kg
• Limited lifetime warranty (including crash damage coverage for the first two years, subject to registration with Roval)
• MSRP: $2399.99 USD

Initial Impressions

The Traverse HD is built around an “asymmetric carbon clincher hookless” rim, 30mm wide internally and featuring an extra wide bead, dubbed “FlatStop”. The wider and flatter bead shape is meant to distribute impact loads over a larger surface area, to avoid the bead acting as a blade on your tire when a significant impact causes the tire to compress against the rim. The rim is deeper than on the other, lighter-duty wheel in the Traverse family, the Traverse SL II. This deeper rim profile provides for a stronger wheel in the vertical direction, while retaining a degree of vertical compliance as well. The rim shape is elaborate, and the finish is of very high quality. The spoke bed is offset to equalize the spoke tension between the two sides.

The test wheelset we were sent for this review is a mullet pairing, with a 27.5-inch rim out back and a 29er up front. The front wheel uses 28 spokes in a 2-cross pattern on both sides, while the rear ups the ante to 32 spokes laid out in a 3-cross pattern. The spokes are DT Swiss’s latest Revolites, a bladed design that is both light and strong. Specialized chose to use the classic J-bend version, which may seem less “blingy” but is great for when you’re out and about and need to replace a spoke – any bike shop is almost sure to stock something that will keep you rolling. On that topic, the wheels are delivered with a couple of spare spokes and nipples as well.

As you might have guessed from the name in the title of this review, this wheelset uses the DT Swiss 240 DEG hub. This hub was introduced in 2024, and we’ve had nothing but good results with it across several wheelsets tested. It features a new, over-sized version of the ubiquitous DT Swiss star ratchet freehub, with 90 teeth providing for super quick engagement without the reliability issues that could sometimes plague higher-engagement versions of the regular-sized ratchet in the past. You can also get a version of this wheelset with the 350 DEG variant of the hub, which adds a little weight and drops a significant chunk of dollars from the price tag (that wheel is also built using different spokes).

A final detail: the Traverse HD rim features the “Roval ThreadBed” valve that threads directly into the rim – Specialized says this “eliminates compression nuts and air loss from rim flex, making tire set-up easier, and reducing sealant clogs.” Note that you can still opt to install any regular Presta valve instead, should you prefer to.

On The Trail

We’ve tested the Traverse HD wheels with several different tires, all have been relatively easy to install and have held tubeless pressure well, as you’d expect with a high-quality rim. The ThreadBed valve is a neat concept, although you will want to make sure it works with your specific pump(s). Because it doesn’t feature threads on the valve stem, the smooth surface provides less purchase for the pump head which caused some leakage with some of our pumps (especially those that screw on). Take extra care to verify the emergency pump in your riding pack as it would be particularly unpleasant to discover that you can’t put air in a repaired tire, 10 miles from the trail head.

In action, the Traverse HD wheel is impressive. It provides that muted, yet not overly stiff feel that is common to good carbon wheels, which allows you to hold a line in pretty much any circumstances. The wheel will go where you tell it to, without suffering too much harsh deflection through the gnarly stuff. The “FlatStop” bead also does a great job of keeping snakebite incidents to a minimum, which further contributes to a confidence-inspiring riding experience.

Whether you’re landing a drop or pushing the wheel through a turn, the Traverse HD will give you back what you put into it. It’s dynamic and snappy, and remains unphased by impacts whether from rocks or misjudged landings. We’ve tested variants of this wheel on anything from 130mm trail bikes to 170mm enduro sleds with similarly good results, which is even more impressive when you factor in the relatively low weight of the wheelset. The 240 DEG hubs also contribute to the overall impression of quality here, with quick engagement and drag-free rolling speed.

Long Term Durability

As mentioned previously, we’ve tested several sets of wheels built with the Traverse HD rim. The first wheel we tested survived about a year of heavy duty shredding on several bikes, with quite a few “oh shit” moments along the way. There were several times when we thought the rim was done for, only to see it roll away completely unscathed. The spoke tension usually remained impressively unaffected during these episodes as well. However, as is par for the course with many carbon wheels we’ve used over the years, one day the rim had had enough and gave up. This often happens on something seemingly innocuous, the cumulative result of ongoing abuse and not necessarily related to the final incident. Our second test set, the object of this review, is still going strong after 5 months on the trail at this point.

Specialized offers a limited lifetime warranty against manufacturing defects on these wheels, including crash damage coverage for the first two years (subject to ownership registration with Roval), after which you can still get access to discounted crash replacement pricing if an incident should be deemed outside the scope of the warranty. This isn’t necessarily in line with the most generous, no-questions-asked lifetime warranty policies available from certain other manufacturers, but it still provides reassurance that you’ll get significant mileage and longevity out of your sizeable investment in these wheels. You should also note that some manufacturers have actually started walking back those comprehensive lifetime policies in light of customer abuse or just plain tough times in the industry, so they should not be taken as unlimited licenses to re-spawn wheels indefinitely. Carbon wheels will not survive forever in our experience, but they do offer a much more hands-off ownership experience while they do – choose accordingly.

What’s The Bottom Line?

A high-quality carbon wheelset typically offers good ride quality and almost completely maintenance-free riding “forever” – a set and forget type of component as long as it’s holding together. Specialized’s new Traverse HD 240 wheel definitely falls into this category, with very convincing on-trail characteristics and an impressive ability to shrug off seemingly ride-ending impacts and keep on rolling. We did eventually get one of our test wheels to give up the ghost, but not before surviving an intense year of rough riding and plenty of dubious line choices along the way. If you really ride hard and you frequently subject your wheels to cringe-inducing rock strikes, you may want to consider a strong alloy rim that will dent before it breaks, but other than that, the Traverse HD should provide for many happy miles of worry-free shredding. 

More information at: www.specialized.com.

About The Reviewer

Johan Hjord - Age: 52 // Years Riding MTB: 20 // Weight: 190-pounds (87 kg) // Height: 6'0" (1.84m)

Johan loves bikes, which strangely doesn’t make him any better at riding them. After many years spent practicing falling off cliffs with his snowboard, he took up mountain biking in 2005. Ever since, he’s mostly been riding bikes with too much suspension travel to cover up his many flaws as a rider. His 200-pound body weight coupled with unique skill for poor line choice and clumsy landings make him an expert on durability - if parts survive Johan, they’re pretty much okay for anybody. Johan rides flat pedals with a riding style that he describes as "none" (when in actuality he rips!). Having found most trail features to be not to his liking, Johan uses much of his spare time building his own. Johan’s other accomplishments include surviving this far and helping keep the Vital Media Machine’s stoke dial firmly on 11.

Photos by Johan Hjord and Nils Hjord