ENVE 29'er rims real world feedback?

Discuss light weight issues concerning mountain bikes & parts.

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bigcalves
Posts: 73
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2010 3:29 am
Location: Boulder, CO

by bigcalves

I am getting close to pulling the trigger on a new MTB and one of the ones I am looking at comes with ENVE 29'er XC wheels. They are beautiful wheels, I have used their road wheels before (never owned them however), and always heard good things. But I am looking for some real world feedback on the rims. How do they ride? Are they worth it? Do they hold up in general to typical XC racing and riding? I weigh 175, I ride a 4 inch travel XC bike, I am not hard on parts in general, and I would say I am average in terms of aggressive riding style. I live in Colorado, so I typically ride in dusty conditions, relatively fast trails, lots of larger climbs and descents. It does get a bit rocky out here.

My concern is the cost of these wheels, if they will hold up, and what it would cost to replace and or fix. My current wheels are DT, but they are aluminum. I had Mavic wheels and I have ridden some ROVAL carbon wheels as well. Any advice from people who own these wheels, both positive or negative would be great.

http://enve.com/products/wheels/#29-xc- ... 5173506367

afalts
Posts: 157
Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2012 3:20 pm

by afalts

My experience has been good. So long as you run high enough pressure as to avoid hitting the rim. I have heard of the odd case of a spoke pulling through (happens on all rims and with Enve they've all been warrantied). Just don't try to run low pressure (sub 25-27 psi in a ~2.2" tire for your weight - I'm 170 and don't go too much lower than 27 in my 2.2" race king's) and expect not to damage the rim.

At your weight you will notice the stiffness increase. Are they worth it, IMO, not as an upgrade, I doubt they actually make you any faster. Unless money is no issue. But if they come with a high-end bike and you are prepared to spend that, I would say YES.

FWIW, I was having to warranty front and back Stan's Crest rims at least once per season due to cracking at the spoke holes. They just weren't holding up. Have had no issues with my enve's - racing or training set, and the training set sees a lot of riding.

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jimborello
Posts: 283
Joined: Sun May 31, 2009 5:07 am

by jimborello

I have a set built with white industries CLD hubs and they were awesome until I tried wider rims. The old Enve XCs have a 18.5mm inner width which was ok for XC, but recently some manufacturers have been pushing wider rims (even Enve) and they are really an upgrade. I bought a set of Nox 27.5 AM with a 28mm inner width and the difference is huge. I just bought another set for my 29er and Im planning to sell my Enve 29 XC, so if you want them for cheap shoot me a PM.

Other than the width the Enve XCs are solid wheels

afalts
Posts: 157
Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2012 3:20 pm

by afalts

I assumed OP was talking about the M50's which are a little wider. Yeah the '29 XC Clincher' model is a little outdated.

jimborello
Posts: 283
Joined: Sun May 31, 2009 5:07 am

by jimborello

Yes you are right he was talking about th new hookless M50s. IMHO they are still too narrow, and the weight advantage is too low, I would definitely use a wider rim and gain in handling confidence than dropping some grams.

And yes you a re right Asfalts these re a huge investment!! Unless they are coming with a new bike I wouldnt consider them either, or you can also look at the Nox wheels, they are 2/3 the price of the Enves

jackie
Posts: 96
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2011 6:04 am

by jackie

i am using the DT swiss 240 with the enve rims on my xc 29er rig for about 1 yr..
they had been holding up very well in the terrain that i am riding on.
in fact must better than those stan crest or flow that i had..
currently going to build another with CK hubs.
depend on you riding style. you might want the wider version

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XC-MTB
Posts: 116
Joined: Wed Oct 18, 2006 2:10 pm
Location: Germany
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by XC-MTB

I use them since three years with some XC-Racing and Marathon. Use them all year as my single wheelset even in the winter. Hubs are Chris King that have been updated to XX1 six weeks ago. I would recommend them and think that a good pair of Wheels could improve much more than a light frame when the Geometry of the frame fits.

Used the rims with sealant and different tires: Race King, X-King, IKON, Saguaro, Mezcal

My dream would be a tubular one with Dugast Fast Bird in 50 or 52

solarider
Posts: 577
Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2010 9:08 pm

by solarider

I have three sets.

1 tubular, and 2 clincher.

They are nice. The tubulars are really light (I have them on my road disc bike since they are pretty much the lightest rim that ENVE make in any format). The clinchers aren't actually super light, but they all ride nicely.

Having spent so much on rims, I would love to tell you how life changing they are, but that simply isn't the case.

They are round, they are black, and they hold your tires in place nicely, but are they that much better than a Stan's Crest? Honestly, I couldn't say so. They are bling, and they do look great, but they aren't so much stiffer than a decent aluminium rim, and in the hands of the wrong wheel builder, the benefits will be lost anyway. They do seem quite resistant to impacts, although again, no more or less than a decent aluminium rim.

There is a bit of purchase justification involved with people who say that they transformed the feel of their bike. I think a really well built set of hand built wheels with almost any high end components would do just the same.

So, if you want a set, buy them. You won't be disappointed by any means, but it won't be the revelation that some would have you believe either in weight or ride quality.

Dilberto88
Posts: 35
Joined: Sun Jul 07, 2013 7:37 pm

by Dilberto88

Not liking the inner alloy nipples, which can corrode running tubeless. I once had to do a trailside re-tension, which required removing rear wheel, removing tire, tubeless tape, all the liquid sealant...talk about a thoroughly MESSY, time-consuming, ride-defeating fix....:(

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LeDuke
Posts: 2021
Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2012 2:39 am
Location: Front Range, CO

by LeDuke

They haven't shipped with alloy nipples in the last year. Super light brass these days.


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Briscoelab
Posts: 1513
Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2006 6:01 pm

by Briscoelab

Enve wheels are awesome. Super stiff and the most durable wheel we've even used, period. My wife, despite being a small rider, is incredibly hard on wheels. She's trashed just about everything out there, except for Enve XC wheels. She rode a set for 2 years with zero issues. Then, when she got a Specialized S-works complete with the new bead hookless rims, I inherited them. No issues when I used them for a year.

That said, even though we had the "UST" version of the XC rims... they were not as easy to setup tubeless as Stans Crest or Specialized Roval carbon wheels. I think the new M50 wheels are better in this regard.

If you can get the new style M50 rims, I'd go that route. They are wider and should setup tubeless easier. But, I wouldn't balk at an XC set if the price was right.

jimborello
Posts: 283
Joined: Sun May 31, 2009 5:07 am

by jimborello

What did you get finally??? If you are still looking Im ready to sell my Enve XC with white industries cld hubs and centerlock rt99 rotors for cheap! just send me a PM

Balti
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2015 7:43 pm

by Balti

and beetwen enve m50 and mcfk,what do you prefer?

bm0p700f
in the industry
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by bm0p700f

I don't think there is much gain with enve rims over Chinese carbon rims. The wider the rim the better but some of the Chinese offering are light and wide. Built up a set of 4 mm rims for a customer (he supplied the rims) and they were under 450g round and black. Stiff too. Much like an enve rim but wider and a lot cheaper. I know what I would buy. I have a set of Chinese mtb tubular rims that I use all the time. These are worth it because they are 330m and very stiff. You can't get that with alloy rims if you can find them.

If you want to try a wide alloy rim then get hold of a set Ryde trace trail rims as these light wide and stiff. Cheap too. I can't think of many options that will perform as well as the enve's but cost you a lot less.

scant
Posts: 270
Joined: Fri Apr 30, 2004 2:05 pm
Location: S.Wales UK

by scant

I've used both 26 & 29er enve rims. on the 29er for the last year. I had stans crests before & even at my 140lb weight I found the crests far too fragile & flexible. yes the enves cost considerably more than the enve given they're so close in weight, but they're significantly stronger & stiffer.
make sure you use the newer brass nipples as the earlier alu pillar nipples corroded & broke after just 1 winter of use.

I'm getting some light-bicycle rims built up into a wheelset, curious to see how they perform given they're so much cheaper than enve

by Weenie


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