Enve rim - Irregular sidewall thickness

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Visus
Posts: 179
Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2018 1:43 pm

by Visus

I've purchased a second hand but unused Enve 4.5 Wheelset for rimbrake with the hooked beads, G2 (second generation with the NBT new brake track)

On the rear wheel I noticed at one spot an irregularity of the rim sidewall where it gets thinner for 1-2mm and then a lot thicker for about 10-20mm. The thickening happens on both sides (more pronounced/prominent on one side due to the thinner part just before). The bead has a very sharp edge along those thicker parts of the hook and seems a bit squared off. This spot is 180° to the valve hole. I guess it's from manufacturing.

Did anyone encounter something similar with their Enve rims. As they are second-hand I can't exchange them. I will sand down/round off the sharp edge. Any thoughts? I wrote Enve but they are not responding to my enquiry
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TobinHatesYou
Posts: 12458
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:02 pm

by TobinHatesYou

I have similar on one of my rims. It bothers me, but in practice the rim works just fine.

by Weenie


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charirider
Posts: 263
Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2021 3:00 am

by charirider

Had similar issue in Reynolds AR28x rim, just a poor quality. Saw a lot LB rims, not a single issue like this. If you have cash for ENVE-like wheels, why not to buy Zipps? Quality is like night and day. Do you want your rim brake rims disintegrate during a long descent?
2018 Cannondale SuperSix EVO 2 rim size 56 (raw stripped) 6.9kg
2014 Bridgestone Anchor CX6 Equipe size 55 (cyclocross) 9.8kg

alanyu
Posts: 1506
Joined: Thu Jun 06, 2019 1:10 pm

by alanyu

It's normal for enve. If you cut the rim, you will also be astonished by how many voids there are at this price tag.

kode54
Posts: 3750
Joined: Tue May 23, 2006 9:39 pm

by kode54

Are you certain it’s an authentic Enve wheel? Not sure I have seen a rim strip with that Enve logo with outline.
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iamraymond
Posts: 624
Joined: Wed Jun 28, 2017 8:59 am

by iamraymond

kode54 wrote:
Fri May 27, 2022 1:43 pm
Are you certain it’s an authentic Enve wheel? Not sure I have seen a rim strip with that Enve logo with outline.
I thought so too, but it appears to be an earlier wheel.

Take a look here: https://www.slowtwitch.com/Products/Thi ... _3251.html

ABogle
Posts: 111
Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2021 8:21 pm

by ABogle

alanyu wrote:
Fri May 27, 2022 1:32 pm
It's normal for enve. If you cut the rim, you will also be astonished by how many voids there are at this price tag.
Really thats shocking, for this kind of money you'd expect it to be no less than perfect. The non foundation edition wheels cost about as much as a custom made steel frame.

jlok
Posts: 2400
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2015 3:30 am

by jlok

ABogle wrote:
Sat May 28, 2022 11:29 am
alanyu wrote:
Fri May 27, 2022 1:32 pm
It's normal for enve. If you cut the rim, you will also be astonished by how many voids there are at this price tag.
Really thats shocking, for this kind of money you'd expect it to be no less than perfect. The non foundation edition wheels cost about as much as a custom made steel frame.
Enve is no longer unique. I'd buy them only at half of the asking price now. My last set of Enve was SES 4.5 AR and it was unique. I tolerated it's high price and poor rim finishing due to the wide 25mm int. width and reasonably light weight. Nowadays, even Light Bicycle could do the same at much cheaper price (ok, maybe not the molded spoke hole, but LB does angled holes to better suit the spoke angle than Enve).
Rikulau V9 DB Custom < BMC TM02 < Litespeed T1sl Disc < Giant Propel Advanced SL Disc 1 < Propel Adv < TCR Adv SL Disc < KTM Revelator Sky < CAAD 12 Disc < Domane S Disc < Alize < CAAD 10

Visus
Posts: 179
Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2018 1:43 pm

by Visus

The price of the wheelset was too good to pass up. Paid slightly more then the cost of the Chris King hubs they are built upon, way less than half the price.

It's reassuring to hear others receiving the same "quality". Already had tubular Enve rims with a very rough finish around the drilled rim bed holes but it is still annoying receiving wheels with these little faults knowing it's an 3500$ Wheelset. I will round off the sharp edge with sand paper and call it a day. It's just that I havent yet experienced a carbon rim brake wheel with as good braking as the Enve ones.

Concerning general quality it's interesting that for example LB achieves such an uniform finish and quality (have one wheelset from them) for a fracture of the price. It seems Enve is living of the (admittetly impressive) marketing and the "made in USA" though the second one doesn't seem to add much value to the quality of their products

Just as a side note: after not having received an answer from Enve support, I sent another inquiry but to the north american support. They responded within a day! Still havent heard back from european customer support (it is non-existant, an LBS once told me they don't even get replies :shock: )

by Weenie


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