I find it absolutely ridiculous that we have to pick our $2,000 wheels based on which is compatible with the tire we like. And then we pray the data doesn’t change a week later. It’s crazy that there is no standard.
2 Likes
While I’d agree isn’t that the whole industry nowadays?
Wheels, tires, seatposts, stem and bar combos, saddle rail shapes, BB, etc.
1 Like
Not really. For all those other components…there are measurements. Have a 31mm stem? Buy a 31mm set of bars. I mean they’re clearly labeled, and the dimensions are accurate.
Wheels and tires…they dont even bother to measure or post dimensions. The ones they do (622mm) are effectively a guess.
It really shouldnt be hard. Wheel and tire manufacturers, at a bare minimum, need to be accurately measuring and stating the dimensions of their wheel and tire circumferences. So maybe Enves measure exactly 623.5mm or something. You then know you probably need a tire that measures 621mm to fit tight with a touch of stretch and rubber squish. Or that if you get tires with a 625mm circumference, you’re going to need to pick up a roll of rim tape as well.
Seems this would be an easy workaround until theres some sort of actual standard. At least companies wouldnt effectively be saying “meh, how should I know?” when theyre asked of their product will actually work.
3 Likes
I had a different interpretation of the word “standard” here. There’s loads of examples out there for the parts I listed which don’t allow interchanging easily.
Ahh got ya. Yea agreed it’s totally unnecessarily complicated to replace parts because of lack of standard. But…at least you CAN know what you’re buying with other components. With tubeless parts no matter what…it is going to be a question mark until the parts are on your bike and you’re riding them successfully.
2 Likes
Agree that this is ridiculous. The hookless idea seems absurdly restrictive and risky at this time, esp if you can’t run what is widely regarded as the best tire on the market.
Happy new owner of hooked rim brake (gasp!) carbon rims that have thoroughly exceeded my expectations including hand mounting GP5000TLs.
I won’t disagree with the crazy part but these wheels routinely go on sale for $1,280 (including yesterday). For the price, I’m off off Contis and I’m on Schwalbes and I honestly love them, no regrets. I’m easy though and I don’t have a tire that I feel like I have to ride like I do on the dirt.
I whacked a pothole today on mine and I was positive I was going to flat and didn’t. Any other wheel I’ve ridden and it would have been a sealant fountain.
I mounted up a set up S-Works Turbo RapidAir 2Bliss Ready in 28 on a set up Foundation 65s. Inflated to 60 psi they measure right about 28, so slightly smaller than the Schwalbe Pro One’s in 28, so perhaps a slightly better match in terms of being aero. I was going to try the 26’s, but they weren’t available locally, so pleased that the 28s are true to size.
Will get them out on the road tomorrow morning for the first time.
2 Likes
Please drop a report on them. I’m running the Schwalbe Pro Ones in 28 and they don’t protrude out from the wheel which I like. I’ve been eyeing the S-Works in 26 for crit racing. Not sure I want to go back and forth though so they would end up being every day tires for me. Interested to hear how you like them.
2 Likes
Agreed. i’d like to know how the Specialized perform as well. I still think these wheels are worth it, and if the Schwalbe or Specialized tires work well, then there’s no reason to change my purchase intention, I believe.
1 Like
I will say the S-Works Turbo RapidAir 2Bliss Ready mounted up super easy. No need to pre-heat with a hairdryer like I did with my Conti 5000 TLs on my Bontrager wheels. I was almost able to get the Specialized on by hand except for the last little bit which I popped on with a plastic Silca tire lever. I have a compressor, so I used that to seat them and then used Stan’s Pro Sealant with a milKit injector to try and prevent clogging of the valve.
2 Likes
How are Enve even selling wheels at these ridiculous prices?? $1600 for a wheelset that weighs close to 2kg… Just insane. I guess people that buy Enve-products do this with huge discounts or something?
2 Likes
What size Roval vs. the Enve 3.4? Which did you prefer?
The Enve Foundation 65 weigh 1620 grams and the 45 weigh about 100g less. Regardless of prices or your feelings towards a brand, it’s a gross misnomer to say this is close to 2kg.
4 Likes
The Rovals were just a test set I used for a handful of rides while I was trying to decide what I wanted to buy. I think they were CL 40s. They felt good, but ultimately the ENVEs just felt better to me in a completely non scientific way. Stiffer, maybe. I’ve never felt another set of wheels that roll like ENVEs do, honestly.
I had to make the same decision. I got a sweet deal for $1400 and The 2 main reasons I decided to pay more than maybe I should. 1. Lifetime warranty 2. The fact they are made in America. I figured if I spending money I really want to do all I can to help
3 Likes
Are you 
?
Enve 65 - $1,600 MSRP
- Internal Rim Width: 21mm
- Depth 65MM
- Wheelset Weight: 1641g
https://www.enve.com/en/products/enve-65/
Zipp 404 NSW Tubeless Disc - $1,400 MSRP for the front, $1,800 for the rear - $3,200 for the set
- Internal Rim Width: 21mm
- Depth 58MM
- Wheelset Weight: 1690g
Enve 45 - $1,600 MSRP
- Internal Rim Width: 21mm
- Depth 45MM
- Wheelset Weight: 1541g
https://www.enve.com/en/products/enve-45/
Roval CL 50 Disc - $1,700 MSRP
- Internal Rim Width: 20.7mm
- Depth 50MM
- Wheelset Weight: 1515g
Enve wheels are competitively priced or cheaper than other wheels of similar depth from other well known brands.
4 Likes
@achase6002 @mhandwerk I guess I should’ve specified that it was the MTB-wheelset I was discussing. The road-wheelsets I have no opinion on. The MTB-wheels are:
AM30 - 1852g
That is a wheelset for $1600 which is comparable to handing in Duke Lucky Jack SLS2 Ultra rim, Sapim CX Ray and DT 180-hubs to a wheelbuilder only to find out that that wheelset would run at around $1000 and be around 1200g in weight. Or heck just buying DT Swiss highest end XRC1200 which is about 1400g and has the best hubs on the market imho.
2 Likes
So I got my first ride in today on the combination of the Enve Foundation 65s with the Specialized S-Works Turbo RapidAir 2Bliss Ready in 28. These are on my Trek Emonda (prior gen, not the one that was just released). I’ve ridden the Emonda exclusively with Bontrager Aeolus 3 TLR Disc D3s (Bontrager Aeolus 3 TLR Disc D3 wheelset review - BikeRadar) with Conti GP 5000 TLs in 28 for most of last season and so far this year, so that’s my basis for any comparison.
One tricky thing in making assessments is that I changed two things, the wheels and the tires, but had no choice given that the 5000 TLs are not on the compatible list for the Foundation 65s.
As I mentioned previously, the S-Works tires installed easily after I taped up the 65s. I still wish Enve would start pre-taping their wheels, but they weren’t hard to tape up with the provided tape. I installed a new set of 160mm Dura-Ace rotors and a new Dura-Ace cassette. I also put on a fresh Dura-Ace chain prepped with Silca’s new wax.
Out of interest I weighed the front wheel with the Dura-Ace rotor installed as well as the tire and Stan’s Race sealant in, and it came out to 2.11 lbs on my Park scale. My Bontrager Aeolus 3 TLR D3 wheel, with the same size Dura-Ace rotor and Conti 5000 TLs was 2.01 lbs, so a tiny bit lighter. The sealant though hasn’t been replaced in a few months, so may be somewhat dried out at the moment.
For today’s ride I inflated to 58 psi (I weigh about 153 lb but carried a 2L USWE back plus 3 bottles on the frame today due to the 90+ degree temps). Plans were for an endurance ride and I last 92 miles, so it wasn’t the fastest ride, but gave me plenty of time to get a feel for the tires and wheels.
The most interesting thing was that for the first 30 - 40 miles or so I thought the tires felt a bit “harsh”. Almost like they were over inflated and transmitting more buzz than expected. My initial thought was that the Conti’s feel much smoother on the road. But then after about mile 40 or 50 they seemed to smooth out. Initially I thought it just may have been a change in the pavement, since the roads I ride are a mix of smoother and rougher asphalt as well as some chip seal, but the feeling persisted right to the end of the ride. Pressure wouldn’t explain it either because if anything the pressure should have gone up a little in the heat. Regardless, nice and smooth rolling after the initial break-in period. Given the endurance pace to the ride, averaging about 20 mph, I wasn’t railing any corners at 40 mph, but any corners I did hit the felt solid and stable. I hit one section of gravel in the latter half of the ride with a lot of loose but small stones and they handled this great too.
With the caveat I’m basing this on just one longish ride, it does seem like the the Specialized S-Works Turbo RapidAir 2Bliss Ready in 28 are a good match for the Foundation 65s. I suspect the 26s would work really well to for crits. I’m very curious if anyone else noticed that the “break in” period that I found today. I don’t tend to flat a lot and I’ve gone two seasons without a flat on the Conti’s, so we will see how they Specialized tires match up as I get more miles on them.
The wheels definitely wanted to go faster than I was going for a lot of the ride. Anytime I pushed above 20 mph, they wanted me to hold the speed. In the drops on the long straight sections of road, once you have them up to speed they do help you hold it. I was doing a bit of high end Z2 and lower end Z3, and seemed to be carrying 1 - 2 mph more than I would on the Bontragers. However below 20 mph there was little difference between the two. In the few sections where I was pushing a bit more speed, you could hear a bit of a whoosh noise as the wheels cut through the hot humid air. It will be fun to take these out for some shorter, more spirited rides.
The free hub sound on the Enve’s is a little louder and coarser sounding than the Bontragers, which I believe use DTSwiss internals. The bearing in the Foundation wheels are a step down from what is in the SES wheels, steel instead of stainless steel. I’m unclear what impact that will ultimately have in the long term, but hopefully they hold up well. The Bontrager hubs have been bullet proof for me to date.
There winds were calm today, so I really can’t comment on cross-wind stability. This is an area I’m really interested to see how they perform given the deep dish but also Enve’s reputation as handling crosswinds well. I rode in some wicked crosswinds in Maui in January when doing the West Maui Loop on the Bontragers, and despite being only 35mm deep, the front wheel was getting knocked around a fair bit. Those wheels are two generations old though now, so I suspect the new Bontrager’s are probably better shaped.
I picked up my Foundation 65s when Westernbikeworks had them on special for $1168. I had been considering them for a while, but when the special popped up a few Sunday’s ago, I pounced. For that price, I do think they are a solid “value”. The Specialized S-Works Turbo RapidAir 2Bliss Ready tires also appear to be a nice option as a tire for them. I’ll post an update as I ride them more and experience some different conditions, but for now I’m definitely really pleased.
9 Likes
Yeah, I agree with you on the MTB wheels. I pointed out earlier in the thread that I don’t think the MTB wheelset in this lineup is particularly great value given the options at this price point. For that price, there are better options out there that you can get that are significantly lighter and still come with a lifetime warranty and made in North America (since that is a reason one might choose ENVE over some others). At this price point and with all those considerations in mind, I’d choose WeAreOne over ENVE without a doubt (full disclosure: I just did that). There are also other options at this price point or cheaper, but they’re either heavier than the WeAreOnes and not made in NA (Santa Cruz Reserves) and don’t have a lifetime warranty for any incident that occurs while riding (pretty much all the other options). I’d even buy the Reserves over the ENVEs at this price point though. Those ENVEs are boat anchors. My aluminum DT Swiss wheels that the WeAreOnes are replacing are lighter than these ENVEs.
2 Likes