Road Wheels, Race Tires and Gravel Bikes: Five Cycling Upgrades Compared

Introduction

This season’s road and gravel releases have one theme running through them: getting more speed for the money. Roval has taken the rims from its range-topping wheelset and built a cheaper version around them. Zipp has attacked the same price point with a lighter, hookless design. Specialized has rebuilt its S-Works Turbo tire family around a new centre compound, and Factor has pushed its gravel platform further towards pure racing.

For riders weighing up a wheel upgrade, a fresh set of race tires or a dedicated gravel race bike, the five products below cover the three most common ways to spend money on going faster. Each section explains what the product is, what it does differently from its closest rival, and who it suits best.

How These Upgrades Were Assessed

Price against performance is the starting point. Wheels and tires sit in a crowded market where a few hundred pounds or a few grams can separate two otherwise similar products, so the most useful comparisons are the ones that hold price steady and look at what each brand has chosen to prioritise.

Weight, rim profile, bead design, hub specification and intended terrain all matter. For wheels, that means rim depth, internal and external width, and whether the rim is hooked or hookless. For tires, it means compound, casing and how much pressure the bead is designed to hold. For a gravel frame, it means weight, geometry, tire clearance and how the bike behaves when the surface turns loose.

Durability and year-round usability carry weight too. A product that is slightly heavier but easier to live with can be the better purchase for riders who are not chasing a result every weekend.

Roval CL II: Race-Derived Wheels at a Lower Price

The CL II shares its rims with the CLX II that arrived earlier this year. The differences come down to the spokes and hubs, which have been swapped for slightly cheaper and heavier components. The DT Swiss 350 hub is the headline change, and given its reputation for durability it reads more as a move towards year-round reliability than a straightforward downgrade.

The weight penalty is around 70 grams across the pair, which is a small amount to give up for a wheelset that costs roughly £1,000 less than the CLX II. At around £1,500, Roval is pitching the CL II at one of the most competitive price points in the aero wheel market.

The rim design is deliberately traditional in one key respect. While plenty of brands have moved to hookless rims for the weight savings, cleaner tire transition and lower manufacturing costs, Roval has kept a hooked profile across both the CLX and CL ranges. The rims use a flat leading edge, a wide external width and a mismatched depth split of 51mm at the front and 60mm at the rear.

That combination makes the CL II a strong option for riders who want most of the performance of a range-topping wheelset without the range-topping invoice.

Zipp 404 Firecrest: Hookless Speed and Lower Weight

Zipp’s 404 Firecrest sits at effectively the same price as the Roval CL II, but the two brands have optimised in opposite directions. Zipp uses a hookless rim profile, which gives a clean transition between tire and rim, and runs the same 58mm depth front and rear rather than a staggered split.

The 404 Firecrest is also nearly 100 grams lighter than the CL II, which puts it on the right side of the 1,500 gram mark. Its 23mm internal rim width lets the tire sit a little wider and plumper, a common theme among hookless designs.

Which of the two is faster is genuinely hard to call from the numbers alone. What is clear is how differently the two brands have approached the same problem. Roval keeps a hooked bead, a flat leading edge and a deeper rear rim. Zipp goes hookless, keeps the depths matched and saves weight.

Riders who want the lightest option at this price, and who are comfortable with hookless rims and the tire compatibility that comes with them, will find the 404 Firecrest appealing. Riders who prefer a hooked rim and a deeper rear wheel have the CL II.

Specialized S-Works Turbo Rapid Air 2BR: Fast Rubber With a Stronger Bead

Specialized has replaced its S-Works Turbo tire family with four new models spanning roughly £35 to £65. The S-Works Turbo Rapid Air 2BR sits at the top at £65, and it is the model that has been raced through the season, including a Grand Tour prologue victory.

The construction uses a dual compound layout. A new compound in the centre of the tread is designed for speed and wear resistance, while the shoulders keep the existing T5 compound for grip. It is a familiar idea, but the balance between the two zones is what the update is built around.

Bead retention is the other headline. Tires are expected to hold 115 percent of the 72.5 PSI ISO test pressure, and Specialized claims the new casing will stay on the rim at 200 percent of that figure. For riders who have been wary of hookless setups, that is a meaningful claim, and the tire is hookless compatible.

At £65 the Rapid Air 2BR undercuts the Continental GP5000 S TR and the comparable Schwalbe Pro One TLE at £75 by £10, which keeps it competitive in a segment where prices have crept upward.

Specialized S-Works Turbo: A Tube-Type Option Worth Keeping

Not every rider wants to deal with sealant, and Specialized has kept a tube-type option in the range. The standard S-Works Turbo costs around £45 and uses a traditional inner tube setup.

Its presence in the line-up matters because several brands have narrowed their ranges towards tubeless only. Riders who prefer the simplicity of tubes, or who run wheels that are not tubeless ready, still have a top-tier S-Works tire to choose from.

Factor Ostro Gravel: A Gravel Bike Built Around Racing

Gravel bikes have shifted direction over the past few seasons. Early models leaned towards bikepacking and load carrying, while the newest wave is aimed squarely at racing. The Factor Ostro Gravel belongs to that second group, and it is designed with UCI Gravel World Championship courses in mind.

The silhouette is closer to an aero road bike than to a traditional gravel machine, with an integrated cockpit, a thickened head tube, a deep down tube and a substantial bottom bracket area. The frame weighs around 900 grams, and a complete build comes in at roughly 8 kilograms.

Handling is where the design shows most clearly. Chainstays are a tight 420mm, which gives the rear end a responsiveness closer to an endurance road bike than to a long, stable gravel platform. In practice that means quick accelerations and confident cornering rather than a planted, truck-like feel.

Tire clearance is deliberately bounded. Rather than claiming compatibility with a very wide spread of sizes and leaving the geometry untouched, Factor has been clear about the tire sizes the Ostro Gravel is actually optimised for. That clarity is more useful than a broad headline range, because handling changes substantially as tire width grows.

At around £8,500 for the top-end build, the Ostro Gravel sits below many flagship gravel bikes, including models such as the Specialized Crux that push into five figures.

Overall Buying Advice

Start with the cheapest upgrade. Tires change how a bike feels more than almost anything else, and the S-Works Turbo Rapid Air 2BR at £65, or the tube-type S-Works Turbo at around £45, is a small outlay next to a new wheelset.

If wheels are the priority, the choice between the Roval CL II and the Zipp 404 Firecrest comes down to preferences rather than price, since the two sit at the same point. The CL II offers a hooked rim, a flat leading edge and a deeper rear wheel. The 404 Firecrest is lighter and hookless, with matched rim depths. Neither approach is objectively better; they simply suit different riders and different tire choices.

For anyone whose season revolves around gravel racing, the Factor Ostro Gravel is a specialised tool. Its low frame weight, tight rear end and aero shaping are aimed at speed on race courses, and the price is reasonable for a top-end build, though it remains a significant purchase that only makes sense if racing is the plan.

Conclusion

Each of these products reflects a brand choosing a direction rather than chasing a single specification. Roval has kept a hooked rim and brought range-topping rim performance down in price. Zipp has gone hookless and saved weight. Specialized has rebuilt its race tire around a stronger bead and a new centre compound while keeping a tube-type option in the range. Factor has pushed its gravel platform towards racing geometry and aero shaping. Match the choice to how you actually ride, and any of them will feel like money well spent.