sshakari

I want to upgrade my wheels. I was looking at the ENVE 45 foundation. Has anyone been riding these and can make a comment? Also, if anyone can suggest another wheelset?

smashndash

I would have very little hesitation in buying these wheels if I were you... as long as I could bear using only the tires enve approved (tubeless).

The hub design (wave washer preload) IMO is not as good as the textbook adjustable collar system you see from Chris King, campy, Shimano (kinda), white industries, carbon-ti and probably others. It’s also arguably not as good as hubs from DT, i9, phil wood etc. that are made precisely to preload using dropout clamping force. One could say that the wave washer design is a bit of a fudge to accommodate sloppy tolerances conveniently and cheaply at the cost of bearing longevity. But I wouldn’t worry about it too much. There’s a pretty tight cap on how much the bearings can move side to side. Plus the bearings are NTN, which are the best out there.

sshakari

I appreciate the reply. Have to think about it some more. In the meantime, any other wheels in this price range?

smashndash

Bora WTO 45
Roval CL50
Reynolds AR41X
Bontrager Aeolus Pro 5
Light bicycle AR46 laced with DT 240 hubs

Just some wheels to consider. I just ordered them from most to least expensive (ish).

sshakari

thank you for the list.

Im just confused about wheel upgrades.

I would like upgrade my current wheels and yet
- I don't race, just ride for health and for sanity reasons
- Im 51 years old
- been cycling for a long time
- ride around 5-7k miles per year
- currently on DT Swiss 1800

Your advice would be appreciated.

blakcloud

Everything smashndash recommended are great. I will add one more to the list. It is the Dura Ace C40 that they are blowing out at $1400. I would purchase these over the Foundations. That is of course you don't need super wide tires. They C40's are a little on the narrow side but so are the wheels you have now. You get a lighter wheelset and you get Shimano quality.

sshakari

Wow, thanks for the tip on the Dura Ace wheels. I will have to seriously consider them, great price as well!

NoWhammies

I'd also add Boyd 44mm carbon wheels to the list. I am very happy with mine.

TheMalahat

I have some on the way; I don't think there's too many of them out in the wild right now.

I selected them because:

- I want to run tubeless;
- Enve is an experienced brand;
- I like you don't race, never will. I want to go quick but also be able to afford (future) vacations;
- the same size wheel front & back works for me for the $2000 Cdn saving over other Enve products;
- the weight is about 300 grams less than the Bontrager Aeulos 5 when tubeless, on par with the Rovals listed above. Those were the only ones listed here available to me, and I was going to / did buy from a LBS. I was actually pretty set on the Rovals for a bit, but, theyre out of stock for the 2 stores here. I assume because there's a new model year coming out;
- higher end Zipps, Rovals, Enve, just seemed overkill for me when I started the price to performance discussion; and
- the Enve lifetime warranty.

Hypothetically they'll arrive this week and I can post some thoughts when they're on. The wheels are, however, coming from Montreal where health concerns may quite fairly delay shipping.

sshakari

TheMalahat which tires did decide on? would like to get your impressions when you ride them.
NoWhammies thanks for the tip.
BlackCloud huge thank you for the tip on those wheels!
smashndash thank you for the list. I did go through and checked out the wheels.

I went with the Dura Ace wheels. I thought about the riding conditions and my needs, plus the price was awesome on these.

Seattle Forrest

The Pro Ones Enve "recommend" are fantastic tires, but the sidewalls are thin and cut easily. Only a problem if you go off the pavement and run into sharp rocks. IRC Roadlites perform almost as well (rolling resistance and grip) but are more durable.

TheMalahat

Interesting, thanks I will take a look at those... Any experience with Cadex tires? I'm currently undecided, gotta save some excitement for my pretty boring days off!

TheMalahat

The Zipp 303 S came out this morning; replaces the 302. Unfortunately, I don't have enough posts yet to provide a link. I'm sure you can find it on their website without any difficulty. It appears that the price is $300 USD less than the Foundation.

Not that looks are everything, but the new Zipp look isn't working for me.

melikebikey35

Hookless rims, tubeless tires only, and a MAX pressure capability of only 73 psi...no thank you. And my feelings are the same for the Enves. I really hope that this isn't the direction that all wheels are heading...

The price point, lower weight (Zipps have always been very heavy for the price), and lifetime warranty are all nice touches, though.

smashndash

https://www.velonews.com/gear/zipp-3...go-even-wider/

I’ll give the Zipp logo some time. I’m sure it’ll grow on everyone once we stop seeing the old logo.

This looks like a great wheelset for anyone who wants to run tubeless 28s at a low pressure. $1300 is a great price for a wheelset from a big brand with a lifetime warranty.

Seattle Forrest

I would go with Enve over Zipp. (Actually, not would, did.) Build quality. Reliable hubs. Molded spoke holes make a stronger rim, some Zipps have been known to crack at the spoke hole. Better support if needed.

Seattle Forrest

Both of these wheelsets are made to be ridden on gravel. Not in the sense of being gravel bike wheels for the Dirty Kanza, they're "mixed surface" wheels. They have some aero goodness for paved sections and they're fat to accommodate the gravel parts. It's a specific niche they fill.

There will always be enough people racing on pavement only that this isn't the direction all new wheels will go. Gravel bikes have been out for a long time, they're still making crit and tri bikes too.

melikebikey35

I definitely agree that these are more suited for gravel, but from what I've seen, I don't think that the brands are actually marketing it that way...and I feel that most buyers will be purchasing them for road use.
23mm internal, and 27mm external doesn't scream "gravel wheels" and Zipp themselves say that they are optimized for 28mm tire. Which sounds like they designed for road use.

Seattle Forrest

I have a set of Enve wheels that are made for 28 mm tires. I wouldn't use them in deep pea sized gravel (because I'd sink, and frankly because that stuff isn't fun to ride on) but they work great on dirt roads. They work great on paved roads too. With 28s I mean.

The hookless setup that requires tubeless tires whether you use tubes or not is more limiting than I expected. Frankly I thought there would be several times as many options by now. There are great options that I'm happy with, but not always available locally.

smashndash

Nah I think this is where road (non TT/track/tri) wheels are headed. There is no way a 65mm wheelset is mainly intended for gravel. It’s primarily a road wheelset. It can go offroad just like your toyota camry can do hot laps around the track. Technically doable, but not really its explicit purpose. I anticipate that many new road wheels and tires will be hookless and tubeless only. Perhaps only because it’s cheaper to make hookless wheels. Sounds a lot like the transition to pressfit. I anticipate disaster.

I think people are right to be weary of these claims that 72psi in a 28mm tire is plenty for everyone upto 200lbs.
https://axs-stage.sram.com/tirepressureguide

Their own website says that 150lbs is too much for a 25mm tire on this new wheelset. But somehow 28s are fine for 200lb people? I have used a 28mm tire before. The difference in pressure necessary was not that drastic.

I remember when I tested the Specialized Roubaix and weighed 135lbs, I wanted to run the 28mm tires at 50-60psi, just like my race bike. The shop associates were scandalized and said they couldn’t possibly do any less than 80. How the turn tables. Now I’m the curmudgeon yelling at the bike industry that the pressure ratings don’t go high enough.

Unfortunately I think the only solution for now is that heavier people will have to go with bigger tires. Which, imo, is not the end of the world.

TheMalahat

GP5000TL now approved, but 25s only for whatever reason. Will probably do that.

TheMalahat

Wheels arrived today. No ride for a couple days because of my work schedule.

They look fantastic, nice gloss and the comparatively understated decals to other Enve products appeal to my tastes. The hub sounds cool too, excited to hear it on the road.

I'm running Vitoria Corsa Control 2.0. Again no ride yet, I'm not super excited about that set up but I'll keep an open mind. We basically have a quasi-tire shortage here with surging bike sales! If I don't like them GP5000TL when I can get them.