High-end wheelset manufacturer Enve is expanding its horizons, launching its first ever complete road bike.
Fully manufactured at its headquarters in Ogden, Utah, the bike will be called the Enve Custom Road, will be entirely customisable – from geometry down to paint job – and will aim at both the road and on-trend all-road categories of the bike market.
This may be Enve’s first venture into building complete bikes, but the company already has a deep history beyond just wheels. Enve has long supplied carbon forks to titanium bike manufacturers and has produced the carbon frame tubes used by the likes of Parlee and Independent Fabrication.
And it says it was this intricate knowledge of carbon fibre that made moving into full custom bike manufacturing a logical step for Enve.
‘Our opportunity as a carbon specialist and US manufacturer is to deliver a bike that can compete with the best high-end frame models available while also delivering a high-touch personalised experience to our customers,’ said Jake Pantone, Enve’s VP of product and brand.
‘While customisation at any level is a challenge, the Enve Bike Builder allows customers to virtually paint and build out their dream bike, streamlining the process and allowing us to focus our direct interactions with customers on getting their fit and geometry defined.’
Enve says the first purpose of the Custom Road bike is to hit all the touchpoints for the ultimate modern road bike. It uses aerodynamically optimised tubing, integrated components such as the Aeroset integrated front end developed with Chris King, had dropped its seatstays for better comfort, was disc-only and made sure there was room for 35mm tyres.
Its next purpose was to then give any potential customer the opportunity to experience the ‘custom’ part of its name.
There are two general geometry fits on offer, the ‘Race’ and the ‘All-Road’. The former relies on a shorter wheelbase and steeper front end for a more traditional race bike feel while the latter has an extended wheelbase and a more upright position aimed more at multi-surface riding.
Yet within those parameters, the rider can have the tubes manufactured to their specifications and regardless of fit or whether you opt for the ‘road’ geometry, the bike will always retain its ability to fit up to 35mm tyres.
The bike features Enve’s new SES AR integrated bar-stem combo, which is available in a choice of stem lengths between 90mm and 130mm at 5mm increments, and handlebar widths range from 38cm to 46cm. Other component choices are similarly fluid and you can choose from Enve’s complete wheelset range.
Complete builds can be fitted with Sram Red and Force AXS or Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 and Ultegra Di2 disc components. You can also opt for frame-only, chassis (adding the fork, headset, seat mast topper, bar-stem setup and a custom Scicon Aerocomfort 3.0 TSA travel case) or the rolling chassis (further adding a set of SES or Foundation wheels).
Enve is offering custom paintjobs from four base design templates with 38 colours to choose, including everything from a matte finish to glitter. Or you can just have a ‘ready to paint’ blank frame supplied and sent for custom painting at an authorised Enve dealer.
For more, visit the Enve website here.
This level of customisation and promised quality obviously comes at a cost.
You’re talking US$7,000 (approx £5,100) for just the chassis. If you want a complete build with either Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 or Sram Red AXS and Enve’s premium SES wheelset, it will cost you $12,500 (approx £9,100). You’ll need to put down a $250 deposit just to pre-order, and pay half the rest up front to initiate production.
But if that doesn’t put you off and you’re willing to pull out the credit card anyway, don’t bother – not if you’re reading this in the UK anyway. Sadly, for now, the Enve Custom Road will only be available in the US.
We sincerely hope the project does make it across the Atlantic – for those paintjobs alone if nothing else.
