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Help me decide on which wheel - Zipp, Enve

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Help me decide on which wheel - Zipp, Enve

Old 03-20-21, 10:20 AM
  #1  
scottydonald
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Help me decide on which wheel - Zipp, Enve

I am going to upgrade my wheels on my Cervelo S series bike and have narrowed it down to -

Zipp 303 Firecrest
Enve 4.5 AR Disc
Enve Foundation 45
Parcours Strada
Hunt Limitless 48 Limitless
Scribe Aero Wide+ 50- HD

I want to run tubeless 28 tires so they all fit that brief. The price difference is huge from 1300 to 3000 so I just want to hear opinions from everyone here.

Right now its really the Zipp 303 Firecrest(local shop has them and I can get them tomorrow or wait and go extravagant on the 4.5 AR Disc.

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Old 03-20-21, 10:33 AM
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Don't overlook BTLOS wheels. https://btlos.com/road-bike Under $1100 with premium build. Try the new Michelin tubeless tire.

https://forums.thepaceline.net/showt...=262557&page=2

Last edited by DaveSSS; 03-21-21 at 08:34 AM.
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Old 03-20-21, 11:00 AM
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Round works. If you just get one, you can start getting your own experience with what works and doesn't work for you.

Otherwise you'll be like drivers that now have to use a gps everywhere they go because they don't form the connections in their brain to be aware of how to get to the grocery store with out one.

https://www.google.com/search?q=driv...hrome&ie=UTF-8
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Old 03-20-21, 11:07 AM
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Both Hambini and Durianrider are singing the praises of Winspace Hyper wheels, so they must be good.
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Old 03-20-21, 12:06 PM
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Good problem to have I have slightly older rim brake 303s, so I'm maybe a bit biased, but they've been great since day one- how they ~feel~, durability, and handling crosswinds.

Depends on what wheel you're replacing, how fast you are on a given day, what the expectations are, etc. Between the Firecrests and 4.5s with R45s, I don't think there's a wrong choice and you won't be wondering what you're missing out on either way, but if the money makes sense for you, Enves with R45s definitely have that extra je ne sais quoi emotional cool factor IMO.
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Old 03-20-21, 01:01 PM
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I love my ENVE Foundation 45s. Great wheel for the money. I also love my FFWD wheels, I would look at those as well.


The Zipp 303 is a great wheel too.
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Old 03-20-21, 01:11 PM
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Originally Posted by DaveSSS
Don't overlook BTLOS wheels. Under $1100 with premium build. Try the new Michelin tubeless tire.
Originally Posted by tyrion
Both Hambini and Durianrider are singing the praises of Winspace Hyper wheels, so they must be good.
Originally Posted by bahula03
Good problem to have I have slightly older rim brake 303s, so I'm maybe a bit biased, but they've been great since day one- how they ~feel~, durability, and handling crosswinds.

Depends on what wheel you're replacing, how fast you are on a given day, what the expectations are, etc. Between the Firecrests and 4.5s with R45s, I don't think there's a wrong choice and you won't be wondering what you're missing out on either way, but if the money makes sense for you, Enves with R45s definitely have that extra je ne sais quoi emotional cool factor IMO.
Originally Posted by InvertedMP
I love my ENVE Foundation 45s. Great wheel for the money. I also love my FFWD wheels, I would look at those as well.

The Zipp 303 is a great wheel too.
Have you tried the more expensive Enve wheels? interesting to see how they actually compare. What wheels do you run on a normal road day?
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Old 03-20-21, 01:15 PM
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Originally Posted by scottydonald
Have you tried the more expensive Enve wheels? interesting to see how they actually compare. What wheels do you run on a normal road day?
The Foundations are the only ENVE wheels I have tried. These will be my daily all around wheels. They do well in crosswinds, they are quiet, very smooth, stiff etc. For the sub 2k price point, these would be hard to beat, but I personally like a bigger wheel than the likes of the 303. I think the new Zipp 303 Fireecrest seems like a fantastic wheel choice.
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Old 03-20-21, 02:12 PM
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I think they're probably all all-around excellent. The choice IMO would come down to what you can find for sale and in stock, and if you can get any deals (which in these times seems highly doubtful).

When I got my SES 3.4 wheelset I made a rough list of what I looked for:
- Resistant to buffeting in gusty winds - this can even be a safety issue around here
- Rolls well under lateral loads; this compounds with the previous point but by itself is also a pure race consideration (which is of no consequence to me) in that starting a sprint in a tall gear is aided by rocking to reduce the load (but also of course is inefficient, which is why we'd never ride like that under normal circumstances)
- Reasonably lightweight - we have real climbs, not exactly Passo dello Stelvio or Klausenpass, but nevertheless
- Reasonably aero - if you've even ridden 17mph into a 15mph headwind (= 32mph) you know why you'd want this; not just dead head-on, but at an wider angle of headwinds
- Tubeless clincher - so I can standardize on tires between bikes
- Bulletproof
- To be ridden without any speculation whether I should upgrade or should have gotten something else instead (or, conversely, yes it's a lot of money but it only hurts once)
- And, of course they should roll well and feel planted in corners - but just about any wheel meets this need, even those bundled with bikes

And, so, yeah there are lots of great wheels. But each day spent indecisively looking and hunting for reviews that may not even mention half of the above is a day I'm not out riding them. The SES 3.4's were a recommendation from someone I hold in high regard, so... done.

ENVE has good customer support - mine took a while to build and ship during Covid, but it's not like anything else was readily available either. Each wheelset is built to order, and they were responsive when I checked in to see how things were coming along. Mostly to make sure no balls had been dropped and work was moving along. They always got back to me within the hour.
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Old 03-20-21, 06:40 PM
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Originally Posted by sfrider
I think they're probably all all-around excellent. The choice IMO would come down to what you can find for sale and in stock, and if you can get any deals (which in these times seems highly doubtful).

When I got my SES 3.4 wheelset I made a rough list of what I looked for:
- Resistant to buffeting in gusty winds - this can even be a safety issue around here
- Rolls well under lateral loads; this compounds with the previous point but by itself is also a pure race consideration (which is of no consequence to me) in that starting a sprint in a tall gear is aided by rocking to reduce the load (but also of course is inefficient, which is why we'd never ride like that under normal circumstances)
- Reasonably lightweight - we have real climbs, not exactly Passo dello Stelvio or Klausenpass, but nevertheless
- Reasonably aero - if you've even ridden 17mph into a 15mph headwind (= 32mph) you know why you'd want this; not just dead head-on, but at an wider angle of headwinds
- Tubeless clincher - so I can standardize on tires between bikes
- Bulletproof
- To be ridden without any speculation whether I should upgrade or should have gotten something else instead (or, conversely, yes it's a lot of money but it only hurts once)
- And, of course they should roll well and feel planted in corners - but just about any wheel meets this need, even those bundled with bikes

And, so, yeah there are lots of great wheels. But each day spent indecisively looking and hunting for reviews that may not even mention half of the above is a day I'm not out riding them. The SES 3.4's were a recommendation from someone I hold in high regard, so... done.

ENVE has good customer support - mine took a while to build and ship during Covid, but it's not like anything else was readily available either. Each wheelset is built to order, and they were responsive when I checked in to see how things were coming along. Mostly to make sure no balls had been dropped and work was moving along. They always got back to me within the hour.
Thank you.

I can see what you are saying, as said I think all the wheels would meet my requirements.

The 4.5 SES AR I would have to wait for, seems three months which would be annoying but not the end of the world.
I have found the Foundation 45 online
303 Firecrest is at my local shop where I have spent a lot of Money there in the last month or so.
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Old 03-20-21, 07:56 PM
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I love my 4.5ARs and @sfrider did a good enough job explaining why that I don't need to repeat all of that. I'm sure any of us would be happy on any of the wheels you're looking at.
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Old 03-21-21, 10:25 AM
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Originally Posted by Seattle Forrest
I love my 4.5ARs and @sfrider did a good enough job explaining why that I don't need to repeat all of that. I'm sure any of us would be happy on any of the wheels you're looking at.
What tyres are you running on your 4.5 AR's?
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Old 03-21-21, 10:43 AM
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IRC Roadlite. I'll probably try the Enve ones when these wear out, but I like them.
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Old 03-21-21, 03:04 PM
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In a fairly similar situation myself. Right now I am trying to decide between 303FC, 3.4 SES and 3.4 AR. My goal was to run a 25-28 mm tubeless, have a bit of aero and lightweight for climbing. Hookless is appealing for the futureproofing aspect.
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Old 03-22-21, 07:13 AM
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Originally Posted by Seattle Forrest
IRC Roadlite. I'll probably try the Enve ones when these wear out, but I like them.
was just watching their YouTube video on them when I read this! fact they are 27,29 etc is annoying but they look good on spec.

Originally Posted by RichLV
In a fairly similar situation myself. Right now I am trying to decide between 303FC, 3.4 SES and 3.4 AR. My goal was to run a 25-28 mm tubeless, have a bit of aero and lightweight for climbing. Hookless is appealing for the futureproofing aspect.
I am currently leaning towards the 4.5 AR Disc but getting a set seems almost impossible. I am thinking the same for Hookless and the fact I am 98kg also.
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Old 03-22-21, 07:25 AM
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I have the 303S, the "budget" sibling to the 303FC. I've probably got about 5k miles on them and still love 'em - I have to imagine that I'd like the FC version even more. Hookless is great if you're committed to tubeless - the tire/rim transition really is pretty damn impressive. With the options listed, I don't think that you'd be able to go wrong - you've just gotta get your hands on 'em.
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Old 03-22-21, 12:53 PM
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If these are all within your budget and fit your criteria for a wheelset, doesn't the decision essentially boil down to which wheelset or brand you think looks the best, or provides some emotional tug?

If you've got an Enve/Chris King budget, just go for it. I'll likely never spend that much on a set of wheels, but they look really awesome. Zipps are cool too, but IMO the Enve's seem a bit more special.
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Old 03-23-21, 03:17 PM
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Thank you guys; just went for it there when I noticed a site had some Enve 4.5 AR Discs in stock.

Arriving Friday, just need to get some tyres now!
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