I’ve long adhered to the mantra that retail is for schmucks and Christmas shoppers. This is not to say that I don’t support local businesses by doing all my shopping online. Quite the contrary, but I go to local businesses for things/services I cannot get online or do not wish to do myself. Such is the case I present below.
I first rode a bike with ENVE wheels four years ago. They felt awesome, but not $2000 (now $3000) awesome. I knew I could do something comparable for significantly less. Short story: After extensive research, I bought Light Bicycle 35 rims, converted a set of Hadley hubs I had to a larger axle standard and had a trusted local wheel builder build my wheels. My cost outlay for this was less than $1000. Still expensive, but not ENVE expensive.
Long story: Those wheels were going on three years when I sold them. In the time I ran them, I never had a rim crack, they never went out of true, I never flatted (running tubeless 24/28 PSI frt/rear) and only replaced a couple of spokes due to an aberrant stick. This is even more impressive when you consider my Clydesdale weight and angry bear riding style. They weighed 1/4-1/2 lb more than ENVE M70’s built with King hubs. I rode them on average 2-4X a week while I had them. Hated to let them go, but new frame with different hub spacing/wheel size necessitates it. That said, I will be building the same wheels again (Industry-9 hubs this time) for the new rig once I get settled into it.
So what’s the point? It’s nice that the big boys are now offering fancy wheels at sub-stratospheric prices. However, doing some smart shopping you can still do better.