2019 Levo - Roval Traverse Alloy Wheels & tyre inserts

[Joss]

Hello,
Currently waiting on delivery of an alloy Levo Comp. The first proper ride it's to be used on is on very rocky terrain and I wondered how people were finding the Roval alloy wheels. Have they been standing up to abuse reasonably well? Time permitting, I intend to make an almost immediate switch to tubeless and this got me wondering if some sort of tyre insert would be wise. I seem to remember talk of the rims being relatively soft in the past and easily damaged. This coupled with the extra heft of the bike leads me to thinking an insert, at least in the rear, might be a good idea.

Many thanks.

 

[MylesKenevo]

If they are the same rim fitted to the Kenevo Comp then mine have handled some pretty hard abuse over the first 250km! converted to tubeless magic marys recently and now it handles a dream! Guy in our local shop said first component to shit the bed will be rear hub...

 

[Joss]

Hmm, not surprised at the prognosis for the hub!! The wheelsets aren't listed as identical but may be similar. Gut feeling is to not bother throwing money at inserts for them and instead, use them to destruction (rim and/or hub) and then move the wheels off my Sentinel onto this. I'll treat the Sentinel to some new bling wheels....

 

[outerlimits]

I’ve fished out 4500km of brutal abuse with my 120kg heft on the standard wheels. Replaced numerous rear spokes and the shit rear wheel bearings. Blown 6 Maxxis EXO and Spesh Grid tyres, tearing them at the bead. 27.5x2.8

I now run Spesh Eliminators in 27.5x2.6, Grid up front and Black Dimond rear. Really pleased with these with no problems.

Rims at going alright imo

 

[JonasH]

I got the shop to install CushCore, will switch to MM 2,6 in spring. Think the combo MM+CushCore is both safer & lighter than Eddy Current and tubeless.

 

[Joss]

I’ve fished out 4500km of brutal abuse with my 120kg heft on the standard wheels. Replaced numerous rear spokes and the shit rear wheel bearings. Blown 6 Maxxis EXO and Spesh Grid tyres, tearing them at the bead. 27.5x2.8

I now run Spesh Eliminators in 27.5x2.6, Grid up front and Black Dimond rear. Really pleased with these with no problems.

Rims at going alright imo

Thanks outerlimits, I must admit to being a little nervous about the Grid casings, another reason I'd considered inserts. Not familiar with Spesh tyre range so the Black Diamond thing is new to me.

 

[Joss]

I got the shop to install CushCore, will switch to MM 2,6 in spring. Think the combo MM+CushCore is both safer & lighter than Eddy Current and tubeless.

Thanks Jonas. I think an insert in the rear at least sounds prudent. Currently looking at the Vittoria Air Liners, whose tyre size threshold for a given insert size is 2.5. Just trying to establish the likelihood of running 2.4-2.5 tyres in the future, even just to increase choice of treads.

 

[deanphoto]

I managed to pierce a hole in the front spesh tyre riding tubeless, the rim held up okay but I wanted to get rid of that useless rear hub ASAP. Now riding the Carbon Roval's with Cushcore and it's been great.

 

[Dax]

I've beaten the heck out of my kenevo and the wheels are still round, but I did break a spoke last month.

 

[outerlimits]

Thanks outerlimits, I must admit to being a little nervous about the Grid casings, another reason I'd considered inserts. Not familiar with Spesh tyre range so the Black Diamond thing is new to me.

I wanted to steer clear of inserts for 2 reasons.
1. Bloody expensive for what they are
2. Running tubeless and if I done a sidewall our on the trail and wanted to put a tube in to get home, it would be a mess and PIA with an insert.
The black Dimond casing is awesome on the rear. It’s basically their downhill casing, like a Maxxis DD

 

[Barryjm]

Hmmmm... I am struggling at the moment to find the right set up! I have gone tubeless and to improve the handling and small bump compliance I dropped the pressure to 18PSI and the ride is much better, but I can feel the tyres squirm when cornering hard. But it gets worse... out today I dinged the rear rim, I am not aware of any rock strikes, and now the tyre will not hold air!!! At the moment I am not feeling impressed with the wheels or tyres! The tyre walls feel pretty thin and flexible compared to the Magic Marys’ fitted to Nukeproof! If I can fix the rim I am thinking of fitting new tyres with a much tougher side wall! The thought of a new wheel set after buying such an expensive bike doesn’t sit well!

 

[outerlimits]

Hmmmm... I am struggling at the moment to find the right set up! I have gone tubeless and to improve the handling and small bump compliance I dropped the pressure to 18PSI and the ride is much better, but I can feel the tyres squirm when cornering hard. But it gets worse... out today I dinged the rear rim, I am not aware of any rock strikes, and now the tyre will not hold air!!! At the moment I am not feeling impressed with the wheels or tyres! The tyre walls feel pretty thin and flexible compared to the Magic Marys’ fitted to Nukeproof! If I can fix the rim I am thinking of fitting new tyres with a much tougher side wall! The thought of a new wheel set after buying such an expensive bike doesn’t sit well!

Try the black Dimond downhill case Tyre on the rear. I’m loving mine. Should drop pressures, till you just start to feel squirm and then increase a few psi, or till the squirm stops. Gain some skill so you can corner at these higher pressures.

 

[Barryjm]

Thanks Outerlimits, will investigate those tyres, and yes definitely always looking for improving riding skills, particularly in all this blo0dy mud!

 

[Joss]

Hmmmm... I am struggling at the moment to find the right set up! I have gone tubeless and to improve the handling and small bump compliance I dropped the pressure to 18PSI and the ride is much better, but I can feel the tyres squirm when cornering hard. But it gets worse... out today I dinged the rear rim, I am not aware of any rock strikes, and now the tyre will not hold air!!! At the moment I am not feeling impressed with the wheels or tyres! The tyre walls feel pretty thin and flexible compared to the Magic Marys’ fitted to Nukeproof! If I can fix the rim I am thinking of fitting new tyres with a much tougher side wall! The thought of a new wheel set after buying such an expensive bike doesn’t sit well!

Morning.
This is precisely what I thought would be likely. I’ve only used Specialized tyres once before and realised it was pretty clear where their light weight came from! Couple this with rims that are often described as being somewhat soft and you’ve a recipe for an expensive ownership experience. I think you’re absolutely right - money will be best spent on tyres with heavier side walls. The extra support should help with supporting the heavier bike in corners and also protect the rims. Seems like their e-bikes should be coming with Black Diamond tyres as a minimum, but I guess that would slightly compromise weight and range claims etc. A bit like the modern trend of supplying cars without spare wheels and jacks etc.

So, now I have to decide between swapping out a brand new set of tyres to protect my rims or chucking another £120 at the bike by installing inserts.... ?

 

[outerlimits]

Morning.
This is precisely what I thought would be likely. I’ve only used Specialized tyres once before and realised it was pretty clear where their light weight came from! Couple this with rims that are often described as being somewhat soft and you’ve a recipe for an expensive ownership experience. I think you’re absolutely right - money will be best spent on tyres with heavier side walls. The extra support should help with supporting the heavier bike in corners and also protect the rims. Seems like their e-bikes should be coming with Black Diamond tyres as a minimum, but I guess that would slightly compromise weight and range claims etc. A bit like the modern trend of supplying cars without spare wheels and jacks etc.

So, now I have to decide between swapping out a brand new set of tyres to protect my rims or chucking another £120 at the bike by installing inserts.... ?

Tyres should be easy to on sell, so you can recoup some of the cost. Really only need to run a tougher casing in the rear. The front will work better with trail type casing.
Grid front and Black Dimond rear for example.

 

[Barryjm]

Tyres should be easy to on sell, so you can recoup some of the cost. Really only need to run a tougher casing in the rear. The front will work better with trail type casing.
Grid front and Black Dimond rear for example.[/QUOTE]

Sorry mucked up the quoting!

My response:

Great, thanks for the info, going to go black diamond at the back and keep the Grid as a spare for the front,

 

[Barryjm]

Just installed the Specialized Black Diamond, the difference in thickness and rigidity of the tyre side wall is ‘night and day’ compared to the original Grid tyre! Not been out yet but very optimistic this will solve my back tyre squirming and burping problems!

 

[Joss]

Just installed the Specialized Black Diamond, the difference in thickness and rigidity of the tyre side wall is ‘night and day’ compared to the original Grid tyre! Not been out yet but very optimistic this will solve my back tyre squirming and burping problems!

Nearly splashed out on one last night but it's been an expensive week, what with buying the bike and all that!!
Maybe next week....... The removed tyre will be put aside for future use on the front.

 

[Tim69]

Hmmmm... I am struggling at the moment to find the right set up! I have gone tubeless and to improve the handling and small bump compliance I dropped the pressure to 18PSI and the ride is much better, but I can feel the tyres squirm when cornering hard. But it gets worse... out today I dinged the rear rim, I am not aware of any rock strikes, and now the tyre will not hold air!!! At the moment I am not feeling impressed with the wheels or tyres! The tyre walls feel pretty thin and flexible compared to the Magic Marys’ fitted to Nukeproof! If I can fix the rim I am thinking of fitting new tyres with a much tougher side wall! The thought of a new wheel set after buying such an expensive bike doesn’t sit well!

Yup! i'm no newbie to riding... So had the bike shop setup my new Keno tubeless...and second ride out! rear rim "ding" and "burped out"...and wouldn't air back up...had to walk my brand new Ebike home...verry! embarrassing! for a bike that cost me the price of a good used car!
been riding homemade tubeless for over ten years...Never! had to walk home...
not even downhill riding! or racing..
never trusted "folding tires"... always rode wire rims..and DH casings even on my trail bike.
well worth the weight in mho... so the "grid" tires did not impress me..
Tim

 

[sirshan]

I abused the rims immediately after purchase - went straight to Tubeless and rode a ton of rock gardens. No issues.

I decided recently to try inserts from all the hype I read recently and chose Vitorria Airliners...I have to say I love it. Ran them on the Rovals and liked it so much I went with the same setup on some Stans Sentry Wheels I had built. Inserts all day for an ebike for me...probably would do it on the rears of my analogs.

 

[Tim69]

I abused the rims immediately after purchase - went straight to Tubeless and rode a ton of rock gardens. No issues.

I decided recently to try inserts from all the hype I read recently and chose Vitorria Airliners...I have to say I love it. Ran them on the Rovals and liked it so much I went with the same setup on some Stans Sentry Wheels I had built. Inserts all day for an ebike for me...probably would do it on the rears of my analogs.

Sounds good, can you say what the " vitorias" did to improve your ride!? Interested in getting some inserts too... And there's not much real world info.. just s lot of hype.. like you said.
So any way you can elaborate would be great!?
Tim

 

[sirshan]

I ride at about 190lbs with gear. I like to run fairly low pressure depending on conditions. With the Vitorria Airliners, those things fill quite a bit of airspace and are pretty dense. You get the benefits of low pressure traction without the thump of going through rock gardens and smashing your wheel on a sharp rock/edge...
I do think they fee different from cushcores. I rode a bike with cushcore and those felt a bit squishy. Airliners are a bit more stiff in my opinion, but since the bike is heavy and im not exactly featherweight, i like how they ride. They hold tire shape well too at low pressure.

 

[Tim69]

I ride at about 190lbs with gear. I like to run fairly low pressure depending on conditions. With the Vitorria Airliners, those things fill quite a bit of airspace and are pretty dense. You get the benefits of low pressure traction without the thump of going through rock gardens and smashing your wheel on a sharp rock/edge...
I do think they fee different from cushcores. I rode a bike with cushcore and those felt a bit squishy. Airliners are a bit more stiff in my opinion, but since the bike is heavy and im not exactly featherweight, i like how they ride. They hold tire shape well too at low pressure.

Oh! So you did try the cushcores on the roval rims!? And removed them!? Why? If I may ask.. trying to decide between the two..
Or was it on another bike..
I really want to go with cushcores on the rear tire.. but the price!??
Thanks! For the help?
Tim

 

[sirshan]

Oh! So you did try the cushcores on the roval rims!? And removed them!? Why? If I may ask.. trying to decide between the two..
Or was it on another bike..
I really want to go with cushcores on the rear tire.. but the price!??
Thanks! For the help?
Tim

No, I rode them on another bike with DT Wheels...but you can def feel the difference.

Cushcore is really Cush/Squish feeling. Airliners are a bit more stiff...but still cushy. I prefer the feel of the Airliners because even with impact, it doesn't feel like the tire is compressed to far. Cushcores seem so squishy to me that it feels it compresses way more. I guess its all on personal preference at that point. Airliners are super duper easy to install too...part of the other reason I went this route. LOL

 

[muzzman1]

I have a '19 alloy levo comp with tubeless rovals since feb 2019. I've ridden about 400 miles since. At about 300 I crossed a stream a bit too quick and pinched the sidewall.
I saw this as a great excuse to put in some cushcores.
I used to ride about 25lbs in the tires and now I ride with 20.
The rovals have held up very well, have not been dinged or become untrue at all.
I cannot begin to express the difference in control and comfort the inserts provide.
Out here in CA most trails are pebbly and sandy at my local trails. Before the inserts I could feel every pebble and the bike would wash out at high speeds.
Since the inserts the bike is WAY more stable and I don't feel the little stuff anymore.
(I am in no way affiliated with cushcore, but I am a strong believer)

 

[Rocket Roche]

I'm riding a 2017 Levo 27.5 wheels and fitted Vittoria airliners when i got the bike and went tubeless using the the original spesh tyres and no issues fitting and liked the way they felt running lower pressures. However recently fitted new tyres 2.8 magic mary front and maxxis high roller 2.8 on the rear, the vittoria airliners are now hanging up in the garage as I can't get the tyres on due to them being more rigid and actually damaged the rim in the process so had to buy a new rim and have £100's worth of airliners hanging up?
Going to take them to LBS and see if they can fit the airliners for me? Or anyone got any tips watched a youtube clip made it look easy

 

[sirshan]

I'm riding a 2017 Levo 27.5 wheels and fitted Vittoria airliners when i got the bike and went tubeless using the the original spesh tyres and no issues fitting and liked the way they felt running lower pressures. However recently fitted new tyres 2.8 magic mary front and maxxis high roller 2.8 on the rear, the vittoria airliners are now hanging up in the garage as I can't get the tyres on due to them being more rigid and actually damaged the rim in the process so had to buy a new rim and have £100's worth of airliners hanging up?
Going to take them to LBS and see if they can fit the airliners for me? Or anyone got any tips watched a youtube clip made it look easy

Yeah, I was pretty pissed at my new tires. I went Maxxis Aggressor in the rear and Spesh Eliminator front and it was a @&$?! to get on. Probably should have stretched them out for a day or so....eventually did it and damaged a sticker on my wheel from levers. Didnt care for the rim stickers anyways

 

[Tim69]

well... (for my Kenevo..) after listening to everyones stories here..and extensive internet research - have decided to put out the money, and ordered a cushcore and a spesh black diamond for the rear, will save the grid for the front.
will update how it works out.
Tim

 

[Joss]

well... (for my Kenevo..) after listening to everyones stories here..and extensive internet research - have decided to put out the money, and ordered a cushcore and a spesh black diamond for the rear, will save the grid for the front.
will update how it works out.
Tim

Looking forward to hearing how that goes - I think it’s my most likely course of action.