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Announced today, the follow-up to ENVE’s OG mountain fork is their new Boost Mountain fork. This fork has a few clever details, with some welcomed additions that make it a great ally for your bikepacking setup. Read on below for a deep dive using John’s Sklar 29+ desert rat rig as a model…
With the pandemic putting a halt to NAHBS and our post-NAHBS framebuilder ride/showcase in Sedona this year, we decided to pull something together with our friends at ENVE to commemorate their new Foundation AM30 MTB wheel launch. When ENVE moved into its new carbon manufacturing and testing facility, they worked hard to push the progression of carbon wheel design and manufacturing. Over three years later and thousands of hours developing, today they launched their Foundation Collection, a completely new wheel line that marks a new milestone in wheel design. In short, for those of us who aren’t interested in graphs or projections, ENVE launched a $1600 made in the USA wheelset and to help showcase these new wheels, we pinged three frame builders to showcase these wheels. The last in the series is Retrotec with a beautiful Funduro 29er.
With the pandemic putting a halt to NAHBS and our post-NAHBS framebuilder ride/showcase in Sedona this year, we decided to pull something together with our friends at ENVE to commemorate their new Foundation 45/65 wheel launch. When ENVE moved into its new carbon manufacturing and testing facility, they worked hard to push the progression of carbon wheel design and manufacturing. Over three years later and thousands of hours developing, today they launched their Foundation Collection, a completely new wheel line that marks a new milestone in wheel design. In short, for those of us who aren’t interested in graphs or projections, ENVE launched a $1600 made in the USA wheelset and to help showcase these new wheels, we pinged three frame builders to showcase these wheels. The second in the series is Speedvagen with their OG Disc with a special introductory offer…
ENVE will always have their high-end wheelsets but to make the brand more accessible, they developed the all-new Foundation Wheels. These are their second-tier pricepoint products, made to the same standards as all their wheels, but with a few key differences. Think of them like the Force, or the Ultegra, when compared to Red or Dura-Ace on the road side and the XO1, or XT, to the XX1 and XTR on the mountain side.
These are still made in the USA, but feature external nipples, plus a pinch-flat resistant lip, and are backed by the same lifetime warranty as their standard wheels. On the mountain bike side, there are the new AM30 wheels (all-mountain), and on the road/gravel side, the 45 & 65 wheels.
These wheels have molded spoke holes, where the carbon weave is not penetrated, offering continuity in the structure, versus drilling, which ultimately weakens the material. During our discussions, we worked out launching these wheels on three framebuilder bikes, starting with a Falconer. Over the next few days, we’ll look at two more US-made bikes showcasing the new AM30, 45 and 65 wheels… For now, check out more information at ENVE and see the road launch video below!
Have you always wanted to finish the DK but you missed your chance to get an entry to the race?
This morning, ENVE launched their Dirty Kanza Giveaway. You can enter to win a highly sought-after race entry to the Dirty Kanza gravel race on May 30, 2020. In addition, the grand prize winner will receive a package from ENVE including a G23 Gravel Wheelset and their amazing Gravel Handlebars.
To enter, all you’ve got to do is follow the link below and fill out the form between February 4th and February 18th, 2020 and subscribe to the ENVE newsletter. It’s as simple as that. Ten lucky winners will be notified by February 21st. Winners can pick the course of their choice, including the DK200, DK100, DK50 and DK25.
November 23rd, 2019 brought the absurd to Santa Clara, Utah with the Single Speed Cyclocross World Championships. Less about racing, and more about chaos on a bicycle, the SSCXWC travels to a different destination every year to showcase a variety of terrain and whatever shenanigans the host city decides to throw at racers.
ENVE has pulled together quite the SSCXWCUT recap video!
“Oh, the Single Speeder. Heroic, Athletic, Stout, Bibilous, and Brave. Each year SSCXWC brings together the greatest well-rounded riders in the world to test their mettle through Feats of Strength and the most demanding cyclocross courses known to man. The red rock deserts of Southern Utah played host to this mythical event for 2019, introducing St. George to a cyclist it has only ever heard of in storybook legends.”
Hats off, team!
Starting today, cyclists can trade in their old carbon wheels for a credit towards the purchase of a new ENVE wheelset. Non-ENVE carbon wheel trade in’s will receive a $600 credit, while old ENVE carbon trade in’s receive a $900 credit.
The process is as follows:
-Customers interested in trading in their old carbon wheels will fill out the required fields on the landing page. There will be navigation to this page from ENVE’s homepage tomorrow morning.
-Once completed, ENVE will provide the customer with a unique coupon code towards the purchase of their new wheelset
-At the time of purchase, an authorization for the trade-in credit will be placed on the customer’s credit card at checkout. These funds will be released back to the customer when their trade-in wheels are received by ENVE
See more at ENVE
This bike is the direct result of many experiences, beginning with my 44 Bikes touring bike and culminating with the Moots Baxter I spent a great deal of time on last year both fully-loaded and set up in what I could call expedition mode. After a lot of back and forth, I realized that I like 29+ bikes for bikepacking and yeah, titanium is really nice for desert riding. These mental musings came to the full realization after spending some time talking with Adam from Sklar Bikes this summer in Bozeman.
This year’s Chris King Open House chose 18 builders from all over the world to display their new colors for 2020: Bourbon and Violet. Thanks to ENVE, Santa Cruz Reserve, SRAM, Brooks, and Spurcycle. these bikes were built out appropriately for such a showcase. Below is a gallery of half the bunch, in alphabetical order for your enjoyment, with each builder’s description of the bikes. Make sure you comment on your favorite because there is some gold in these galleries!
The Old Growth Classic took place this past weekend – 500 riders took to a grueling 55-mile course through coastal redwoods and old-growth groves. At the end of the day over 8,000′ of elevation gain would be throbbing through the legs of every person that crossed the start and finish lines. I had planned on bringing my Sklar with me to ride and photograph the course, but Ibis reached out and asked if I’d like to ride their Hakka MX with Shimano’s GRX drivetrain and a new ENVE spec build. Here’s what I thought about the build kit on this bike, specifically GRX…
Last month’s Open House at ENVE was a bit of an experiment. The brand wanted to explore possibilities of showcasing framebuilders that have been building with ENVE wheels and components over the years, while offering up an option to ride in Ogden, Utah where they’re based through an event they’re dubbing Grodeo.
ENVE has been supporting frame builders, both in the US and internationally for years now and has developed a symbiotic relationship with these artisans, who choose to put their forks, bars, and wheels on customer’s build kit lists. With this catalog of talent at their fingertips, they decided to have an Open House to celebrate not only their factory and offices in Ogden, Utah but the frame builders who choose ENVE to build out their complete bikes.
Continuing yesterday’s coverage are Beautiful Bicycles from Sklar, Falconer, Sarto, Sage, Argonaut, Moots, Retrotec, Legor, Bastion.
ENVE has been supporting frame builders, both in the US and internationally for years now and has developed a symbiotic relationship with these artisans, who choose to put their forks, bars, and wheels on customer’s build kit lists. With this catalog of talent at their fingertips, they decided to have an Open House to celebrate not only their factory and offices in Ogden, Utah but the frame builders who choose ENVE to build out their complete bikes.
Over the next two mornings, we’ll look at a list of 20 frame builders’ bikes, in galleries filled with so many Beautiful Bicycles it’ll leave your mouth watering. Up first is Prova, Holland, Alchemy, Salt Air, Mosaic, Pursuit, English, Speedvagen, Bingham, and Allied.
I’m up in Ogden, Utah for the ENVE Bike Builder Open House and Summit, shooting all the custom bikes on display. If you’re able to come to the event on Friday, be sure to say hello. You can register (for free) for the showcase at Eventbrite. Check out the low-down below! See ya there!
Downieville is a sleepy little town in the Lost Sierra. It was first known as “the Forks” due to its geographical location at the confluence of the Yuba and Downie rivers. Like many towns in the area, Downieville was founded in 1849 during the Gold Rush. Later, it was named after the town’s founder, Major William Downie. As you might imagine, this place has a sordid history during the lawless heyday of gold mining, including being the location for the only hanging of a woman in California history. Josefa Segovia was a pregnant Californio resident of the town and was lynched by an angry mob, accusing her of killing a miner in July 1851.
Nearby, in the Sierra Buttes, the largest gold nugget in California history was found in 1869. It weighed a whopping 109.2 pounds. Gold has always been on the lips of those who flocked to Downieville. Still, to this day, don’t be surprised to see active mining claims and people panning for gold at the confluence of the Yuba and Downie rivers.
Since 1995, the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship has thrown a special little event in this town. The Downieville Classic features an XC race on Saturday and a Downhill on Sunday. The terrain is rocky, steep, and silty, making for a tough day on the bike no matter what you’re riding. While they’re by no means rare, seeing people riding and racing hardtails always causes a stir. So this year, I set out to photograph some of these bikes, including Curtis Inglis from Retrotec‘s own Funduro, a shining, gold nugget of a bike.
Most cyclists, and even non-cyclists, who enjoy the type of bike racing that involves going up and down hills know the name Eddy Merckx and of course The Tour de France. Road racing, and the companies associated with it, do a great job of embracing its European heritage and consistently reminding us of how the sport evolved into what it is today. This makes it easy easy to get pulled into the romanticized parts of road racing when companies like Campagnolo, Colnago, and Bianchi do such a great job of celebrating their places in what makes the sport special.
Remember that Horse Cycles Shop Visit that Ian and Kevin from ENVE worked on for the Radavist last year? It featured Kevin’s Horse Cycles all-road that was an homage to the late Ezra Caldwell – may he ride in peace! Well, Kevin was just in Bozeman for the Swift Campout – which unfortunately got snowed out – so he made the best of the 7-hour drive up from Salt Lake City and spent the extended weekend riding MTB trails on his newly converted Horse Cycles.
