Enve wheels have long been on the wishlist of the discerning road, gravel or mountain bike rider, with their build quality and tendency to be early leaders in wheel technology being what attracts many riders. That said, their price has meant that they are available to only those with deep pockets, but last year, that changed.
Enve launched the Foundation collection with options for road, gravel and mountain biking. They took a huge amount of the tech from their top-end wheels and knocked a chunk off the price. This made them instantly popular and today we’re going to take a closer look at what you’re getting, how Enve saved money to bring the price down and why they wanted to offer the same customer aftercare that they give you with the SES wheels.
So, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of the Enve Foundation collection.
The range
Firstly, the Foundation collection has expanded away from just road wheels. Gravel riders have the choice between the 700c AG25 and the 650b AG28. Both have hookless carbon rims with wide internal profiles that are designed to support tyres from 36mm and up. Mountain bikers have the AM30, a trail and all-mountain wheelset with a hookless carbon rim, but it is the road wheels that we want to focus on and here, there are two options.
Firstly, the 45 is the all-around choice for riders that like to climb and ride fast. The 45mm deep hookless carbon rim is designed to handle well when descending and they shouldn’t be a handful if it gets a bit windy.
Then there is the 65. As with the 45, the clue about the depth is in the name and again, you’re looking at a hookless carbon rim. But this time, the wheel is aimed at a rider that sticks to the flat to rolling terrain and likes to do a spot of racing or faster events.
We could sit around telling you about the wheels, but when there is an expert available, we’re always keen to get their take. So watch the video to hear from Enve’s Neil Shirley. We chat about where the Foundation collection has come from, what it offers and why they think their wheels are a cut above the rest.
enve.com
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3 comments
Lower priced but definitely insulting to describe these as affordable. My club has 80+ members some of whom are pretty affluent but these would still be the most expensive in the bunch.
I think this is a little insulting to say affordable. How very middle class!
Affordable?
$1600 is more than the value of both my Mountain and roadbike combined... wheelset to be 'affordable' would surely be more like £3-400? or more aluminium offerings in the sub £100 range?