The RACE SL is truly a world-class wheelset! We designed it to dominate the competitive field of high-end wheelsets. The ride quality and comfort of this wheelset is truly special and is fast becoming a favorite among cyclists throughout the country. The RACE SL is a perfect choice for the cyclist looking for precise handling, stiffness and ride quality. This hand-built wheelset is perfect for road racing, criteriums and triathlon. Hand-built in Denver, Co with SAPIM CX spokes, Brass DT ProLock Nipples, our own proprietary 3-D Forged Alloy Hubset and sealed cartridge bearings, these wheels combine the strength and stiffness required by elite athletes.
-27mm Aero Rim
Shimano Compatible
-SAPIM CX Spokes
Campagnolo Compatible
-Brass DT ProLock Nipples
Includes Skewers
-20 spoke front - radially laced
Total Weight: 1555gr
-24 spoke two-cross rear
Sealed Cartridge Bearings
Weaknesses: My decals got kind of dirty over time.
Bottom Line:
I bought my Race SL's in October, and they've been outstanding. I swapped them in for the stock wheels of a new bike once they started showing a visible wobble after only a few hundred miles. Since then I've put over 3700 miles on them and they are still perfectly true. And that includes dirt/gravel roads, hitting potholes, bunny hopping obstacles, races, crashes, etc. The wheels are very stiff; I haven't been able to feel any deflection in the wheels in any sprints or bombing into any corners. The hubs roll very smooth and spin up quickly, making them great for accelerations. Since I've had these wheels I've gained a lot of confidence in sprints, cornering, and descents because of how sturdy and stable these wheels feel. They are also fantastic in the hills, which is good for me since i do a lot of climbing. I've also noticed during descents that i can usually catch and pass riders in front of me, that were going the same speed, with almost no effort.
I've also ridden Zipp 101s and Zipp 303s, and I feel like the race SL's perform all around better in than the 101s. These wheels may not be quite as fast on flat ground or in sprints as the 303s, but there wasn't a huge difference i noticed, and the Race SL's felt much quicker up hills. But with any Zipps (even 101s) you'll end up paying a lot more than for these wheels. ROL's customer service is probably the best hands down of any company or business I've ever dealt with. If you have any questions or concerns, Sean, the owner, will call you back personally to talk to you about it, and do whatever necessary to resolve any issue. They even gave me a free pair of socks.
The only downside I can find to these wheels is that my decals got kind of dirty from riding in the rain. Which is at most a trivial matter.
I absolutely love these wheels, and will probably buy my next set of wheels from ROL as well.
I bought these for my wife for her 30th birthday. She competes in sprint and international distance triathlons and I wanted to give her some more speed on her bike portion. She rides a 2006 Giant TCR C1 and it had Xero Lite XR3's on them. Let me tell you there was no comparison. The ROL's weighed about 400 grams less and smooth as butter. She noticed the difference the minute she got on the bike. They are smooth, responsive and fast. She was able to take her avg speed up from 18.5 MPH to just about 21 MPH from her last race before the wheelset (yes some added training was involved too).
This wheelset is not just about the performance, but the company ROL has some of the best customer service out there. I paid for 2nd day delivery on these, so my wife could get some extra training rides in before her next race, and was concerned when they were not shipped the next business day. I sent them and email, and was responded via email very quickly by Sean, the CEO of the company. Not only that, but shortly thereafter received a phone call from him as well. What I wasn't aware of, was that they build the wheels to order, and that was the reason they had not shipped yet. With this new understanding I was content with waiting, but Sean assured me they would be out that day. I was impressed with just the phone call, not everyday you get a call from a CEO. That is just not something you see in companies today, excellent customer service.
I look forward to purchasing a set for myself, and hopefully one of the deeper aero carbon sets for my wife on raceday. If you are looking for an upgrade from a stock wheelset or better performance from your current set. Want something light, fast and durable. If you don't have $1000+ to spend on wheels, but want the same quality (even if you do have the $1000, save some cash). This is the wheelset for you. Get some ROL Race SL's.
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Submitted by
Eric
a Triathlete
Date Reviewed: April 2, 2012
Strengths: Stay true, spin forever, affordable.
Weaknesses: None
Bottom Line:
Wheels that make you feel good. Like having a box of old hockey cards out of a yard sale. Feel so happy to have something for the right price. I rent a set of big, expensive wheels for a triathlon and i regret not having kept my ROL instead. These wheels have something special. I weight 185, former mountain biker that hop the curb on the road bike once in a while. Light and responsive wheels.
Strengths: Outstanding all-around wheels! Nearly as fast and stiff as my 50mm carbons.
Semi-aero rims that weigh the same as an Open Pro. (450-460g)
High quality build
Customer service
They look good on the bike
Weaknesses: None
Bottom Line:
I bought Race SLs in late March 09. Hit FF to today, three years later.
Here's my take...
It's been three years my ROL Race SL wheels were delivered and I've ridden and raced them exclusively. I ordered them in the beginning of March 09, and waited patiently for 4 weeks. ROL was in the process of moving to Austin, and Sean Lambert (the man who own the joint) kept me abreast of the progress. He gave me a delivery date and the wheels arrived exactly on that date. He called me, not the other way around. That's good customer service. Call him and talk about wheels...seriously, he'll talk to you for as long as you feel like staying on the phone. I just talked to him today, for no other reason than the want to chat about wheels!
The Race SLs use ROL's own hubs, which are sourced from the Far East, but appear to be faithful knock-offs of DT Swiss 240s. The spokes are DT Aerolites (new ones are built with CX Rays) and the hoops are produced by Kinlin. Sean and his band of merry men (are there women working @ ROL?) handbuild each and every wheel to a high standard. They come out of the box dead true, round and tensioned evenly.
No ceramics in the hubs, and they aren't needed. The quality of the ROL hubs is higher than a lot of hubs that cost as much as the entire Race SL wheelset. They are dead smooth and roll almost as long as my White Industries H1 hubset, which ain't exactly cheap.
The wheels are stiff, but not to the point of being harsh. The high flange hubs, the 30mm deep hoops and the high tension of the DT Aerolite spokes all lend to this stiffness. I outfitted them with Vittoria Open Corsa CX rubber and Michelin Latex tubes...no point riding low quality tires on high quality wheels. The quality of the ride is very good as well, high dollar tires and tubes notwithstanding. No getting beat up on long rides with these wheels.
They roll like a freight train and corner smoothly and progressively. Once a line is picked, there's not a lot of drama, and that's a good thing when bombing corners @ 25mph+.
I'm no lightweight, but even at 185 pounds, there's no flex when standing to climb or sprinting out of the saddle.
I've had more wheels than I care to remember. These are keepers. They do everything well and weigh a very reasonable 1545 grams (stated weight is 1550). The bang for the buck is damn good too. $625 for the set! That's no typo folks. You cannot source the parts and have a similar set of wheels built for anywhere close to the cost of the Race SLs. Go ahead, try it...I'll give you links to the pieces if you'd like!
I just rebuilt the rear wheel, as it had an unfortunate meeting with a large, water-filled hole in the road. Had I not shellaced the hole at nearly 30mph, the 3 year old rear wheel would still be rolling strong. The hub was just fine, so a new Kinlin 30mm hoop and 24 spokes were sourced and the wheel lives again!
Total mileage for the wheelset, pre-hole smash was over 15k miles. Never an issue, never a moment of drama.
I'm a ROL wheel user, and I approved this message!
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Submitted by
IML
a Recreational Rider
Date Reviewed: January 3, 2012
Strengths: spin forever, light, solid
Weaknesses: none
Bottom Line:
First serious road bike and these don't seem to disappoint. I'll follow up with more once I have more miles on the wheels.
