Well, to help me out today, I've got Jamie Williams, and we've got two of the best options out there right now.

This is the Rovell Rapid CLX2, and this is the Rovell Alpinist CLX2.

Let's take a look at the wheels.

Now, my riding, I live on the Mendips, and that means I get a mix of flats and hills.

What that means is that I want a wheel set that can do it all, but most of my riding is in a group, and as with most group rides, that ends up in a race, obviously.

Rovell has gone for a 51mm deep wheel at the front, and a 60mm deep wheel at the rear.

Now, some wheel sets of this depth can sometimes feel a little bit sluggish, but Rovell have done a good job keeping the weight down to just 15, 20 grams, and what that means is that they're a good all-round wheel set.

They're good on the climbs, but also they accelerate well, and most importantly, they're reactive for the town sign sprint.

Now, personally, I'm not racing much these days.

What I like to do is just get out in the fresh air and enjoy these lovely, lovely lanes.

The headline claim with these wheels is the 1265 gram weight.

Now, that usually comes along with a load of stuff about them being a brilliant climbing wheel set, and that is what they are, but there's so much more than that.

What we're going to do now is we're going to go down after we've climbed, and it twists and it turns, so I can have a fun wheel set going up, and then I can have a fun wheel set going down.

Now, what Jamie hasn't mentioned, probably because he actually likes ripping a group to shreds in a crosswind, is just how stable his wheels are when it gets gusty.

Being a lovely shallow depth, my wheels are always going to be easy to live with no matter what the weather decides to do.

If you're really unsure about buying deep wheels, I'd always recommend starting with something like the Alpinist CLX2 to see how you get on.

You know what I said about not wanting to go fast these days?

Well, I still like to do that from time to time.

Wait, so you don't care about climbing?

Are you even Liam?

No, no, no, no, no, no.

I still care so much about climbing.

I just don't think that these wheels should be pigeonholed as just a climber's wheel set.

They're brilliant.

They're light.

They're responsive.

They're comfortable.

They have the ability to transform a bike.

I think they're just a better wheel set for you and I than these wheels, as long as you're not wanting to smash it in a race every weekend.

I've got to disagree, and you certainly won't find me doing a hill climb.

No.

So should we have a look at some tech?

Yeah, let's do that because there is a lot of tech crammed inside these wheels that you might not initially notice.

So let's start at the rims, shall we?

Yeah, absolutely.

So what's hiding away in here?

Well, obviously, we've got some different rim depth, but externally, nothing's really changed over the old version, but all the fun stuff comes inside.

So there's a brand new rim profile, an internal rim profile in both of these wheels.

Yes, so this can now be run tubeless ready, and you can fit tubeless ready tyres or clincher tube type tyres.

Yeah, so basically, the reason that Roval has gone with a hooked design over a hookless one is, well, tyre choice.

I think we both appreciate the extra choice.

Yeah, absolutely.

And you can run the tyres, Roval say, up to 110 PSI.

That's also better for bigger riders if you are heavier than me.

Most people are.

And while I have some absolute horror stories about setting up tubeless tyres, the Rovals here, well, with the specialised tyres that I have on them, they were a breeze to install.

So you didn't cover your kitchen in sealant?

I did not, thankfully.

Oh, that does sound good.

You never want that pools of sealant, none of it left in the tyre, trying to mop it up.

It's terrible.

There are some combinations that just don't work very well, but Roval say that they've reduced the circumference of the wheel to make the tyres fit on better.

Of course, the reason that Roval has gone back to the tubeless system is that it's faster.

At 40 kph, they say that it will save you 1.7 watts per wheel.

What's that, 3.4?

No, 3.5.

How have they come to that, I wonder?

Anyway, even though their maths are maybe a little bit off, though, what we also have in these wheels is ceramic bearings.

That's front and back.

Yes, you get the DT Swiss Sync ceramic bearings.

They're based on balls made from silicone nitride, which is an extremely tough wear and corrosion resistant ceramic material.

They do sound hella fancy.

If the pros want them and they're good enough for the pros, fine by me.

It's also nice to have them in a wheel set at this price.

It is, yes.

To be honest, when you dig down into the tech and performance of these wheels and compare them to Roval's rivals, the CLX2 models actually offer good value for money.

There's certainly nothing out there that can match these wheels when it comes to the sheer number of professional race wins over the past few seasons.

Jamie, I have to say, my opinions are even more entrenched than they were.

My wheel set is just better.

Now, if you agree with me, let me know down in the comments below and let me know which one you'd choose.

And please do jump in the comments to let Liam know that he is wrong.

These are by far the superior wheel set.

And as always, remember to like and subscribe to the channel for more content like this.