great product and service

The Alpinist CL wheelset is fast in all riding conditions. I put Vittoria latex tubes with Grand Prix 5000 25x700's on the rims with Ultegra 140mm rotors. Tires are easy to mount if the tire bead is pushed into the center indention of the rim. Tires measured out at 27mm after mounting on these rims @ 105 psi. I have never owned wheels that spin up this fast. They are aero enough to get away and you can jump with this wheelset like no other. Climbing feels effortless. They will need some truing after each year of riding (currently have 2,100 miles on them). The wheels are sound, smooth, and also a dream on those century days. I purchased some back-up wheels; but the value of the Alpinist CL wheels coupled with the fact that they are such a delight to ride, has convinced me to sell my back-up wheels and get another set of Alpinist when they come back into stock.

I was trying to decide between the CL Alpinist and CL 50's, and decided on the Alpinists. I have a set of 50mm rim brake wheels and I like how they hold speed but they do get pushed around with crosswinds so wanted something a little shallower for an every day wheels set. The Alpinists are a newer design while the CL 50 have been out a while. If they had the newer design Rapide CL that so far only come with new Specialized bikes then I may have leaned more towards the Rapide CL as they claim to handle crosswinds better than the CL/CLX50. Also, the Alpinist CL as opposed to the CL 50 have bladed spokes and are lighter. Depending on your riding style, if you are a punchy rider that likes to climb and attack then I highly recommend changing the DT Swiss ratchet out from the 18T to the 54T - takes 5 minutes and transforms the wheels to a very quick reacting set of wheels that give you instant engagement when you need it. Go easy on the grease and you really don't notice any extra drag. Most important tip is when you are mounting tires push the tire beads down into the inner center channel of the rims all the way around the rim, this way you can mount tires with just your hands. I mounted S-works turbo 26mm tires and at first they wouldn't go on and I struggled till I took the time to push the beads into the channel. I also used tubolito s-tubos and like latex you should use plenty of baby powder to mount them, I put baby powder on the tubes and the insides of the tires. Pre-inflate the tubes to where they just barely hold their shape and the install will go smoothly. The Alpinists with the tubolitos make for a very light set of disc wheels. Like most good carbon wheels they ride very comfortably, and feel smoother than alloy wheels. They feel solid even with hard out of the saddle efforts and they spin up really quick. In crosswinds these actually feel faster than deeper wheels as they are unfazed and let you put all your effort into just going fast.

I haven't ridden them yet, but the weight of the wheelset was under the spec'd weight. Wheels look well built and came with hand built spoke tension cards. These should be a great all arounder wheelset on a Tarmac SL7. Lifetime warranty!