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EB15: ENVE’s Outrageously Light Full Carbon Road Hubs

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Enve carbon road hub super light-4

Carbon rims are already pushing the boundaries of light weight, so how do you make your wheels lighter? In many cases, you could turn your focus to the hub. Utilizing carbon fiber is usually a good way to reduce weight, but building a hub out of it? Not so easy. Because of that, most manufacturers simply use a carbon hub shell with aluminum flanges which can handle the stress of the spokes. That still leaves a lot of weight on the table though which is why ENVE invested the time into a full carbon shell.

Several years in the making, ENVE is finally ready to launch their insanely light hubs to the world which are sure to equally lighten your wallet….

Enve carbon road hub super light-5

Enve carbon road hub super light-6

In order to create a full carbon hub shell that would hold up to their torture testing in the grand tours and over 100k miles of total testing, the flange of the hubs needed special attention. Using a continuous fiber construction and molded rather than drilled spoke holes, the patented process has gotten the green light. Utilizing DT Swiss internals, the only difference in construction on the inside is bonded in drive rings rather than threaded. The DT Swiss parts allow for Shimano, Campy, and SRAM freehub bodies which are easily serviceable.

Enve carbon road hub super light-3

Enve carbon road hub super light-2 Enve carbon road hub super light

The result of those Made-in-Utah carbon shells and DT Swiss internals is a staggering weight of 232 grams for the pair. That includes the Ceramic Speed bearings as well.

Enve carbon road hub super light-9

Enve carbon road hub super light-10 Enve carbon road hub super light-7

Offered in hubsets in 20 F/24 R spoke counts, the hubs will also be available built into complete wheels with ENVE’s rims. The price of admission comes at an equally staggering $1350 for the hubs alone. At that price the wheels built with ENVE SES clinchers at $3500 or the ENVE tubies at $3300 seem like a bargain. Available soon.

enve.com

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Rixter
Rixter
9 years ago

I think we need to start pricing components base on the cost-per-gram

I know that helps me when I’m in the grocery store!

Unravelled
Unravelled
9 years ago

$350 for 50g lighter than dt 180 hub set. Hmmm…..

lukee
lukee
9 years ago

yum yum yumyum yum yum yumyum- i want these right now please

$3300 in tubular will make a sub 1000 gram wheelset that won’t break over the first pothole

Eyal
Eyal
9 years ago

I definitely want these on the upcoming SES 2.2 clinchers, wow!

bc
bc
9 years ago

Very curious how the bearings are captured in the hub shell. Press fit? If so, do they have a plastic carrier, similar to a PF BB? If they are a slip fit, this may lead to wear of the bore fairly quickly. Will be interesting to see them broken apart in future reviews.

Brian S
Brian S
9 years ago

And all the weight weenies rejoice. Me I’m holding out for carbon bearing grease before my weight weenie needs are met.

anonymous
anonymous
9 years ago

“In many cases, you could turn your focus to the hub. Utilizing carbon fiber is usually a good way to reduce weight, but building a hub out of it? Not so easy. Because of that, most manufacturers simply use a carbon hub shell with aluminum flanges which can handle the stress of the spokes. That still leaves a lot of weight on the table though which is why ENVE invested the time into a full carbon shell.”

And somehow they come out to be heavier than some aluminum hubs. A set of extralites are half the price, and the hubset weighs as much as just the rear ENVE hub. These aren’t even that much lighter than a set of bitex hubs which come in at 260g front and rear and cost 1/10 the price.

MissedThePoint
MissedThePoint
9 years ago

The way Zach wrote this article proves how sales strategies like this work on such consumers…

Veganpotter
Veganpotter
9 years ago

Awesome looking hubs. I’d be curious how the hubs will react to years of spoke head stress…I don’t think brass washers would do much good here. There are still lighter hubs though but I can imagine these are way stiffer than American Classic 55s with their tiny flange and the boutique hubs from AX lightness and a few other small companies

John John
John John
9 years ago

Who pays over $3k for a wear item on a bicycle? Kids these days….

Michael
Michael
9 years ago

I believe enve stuff would work with no problems.
But, well, price of the hubs can almost buy a pair of new Bora One.

Archer Swift
Archer Swift
9 years ago

(deleted)

Archer Swift
Archer Swift
9 years ago

THE SAME PATENTED PROCESS THAT IS USED BY DOZENS OF WATCH MANUFACTURES
AND COMPONENT MANUFACTURES. THE ONLY THING ENVEIOUS ABOUT ENVE IS THEY HAVE THE BALLS TO PROMOTE A $1350 HUB SET WITH DT SWISS INTERNALS. WOW GROUND BREAKING.

Tobias L
Tobias L
9 years ago

Well, not that light really, you can already get aluminium/carbon hubs from German brand Tune that are lighter than that, 46g front and 164g rear =210g total for their MIG45 and MAG 150 hubs.
Just saying…

Bostrow
Bostrow
9 years ago

What wasn’t mentioned is how much flange strength and lack of bearing degradation there is in that amazing piece of engineering!

Allan
Allan
9 years ago

Er…the Tune Mag 150/Mig 45 will be around 200g FOR THE PAIR, and close to half the cost.

These are beautiful hubs tho…

Chasejj
Chasejj
9 years ago

I thought standard hub ENVE pricing was crazy. I make a lot of money and there is NO WAY I would spend anywhere near what these cost for wheels.

Kernel Flickitov
Kernel Flickitov
9 years ago

@Archer Swift – Nothing wrong with DT hub internals. Star Ratchet is one of, if not thee most desired hub mechs on the planet, and for eons now! I don’t hear anybody complaining about those old DT made Bontrager hubs, do you? If ENVE didn’t use DT it would’ve been King or somebody else. ENVE is CARBON MANUFACTURING, NOT HUB INTERNALS!

EPO Forever
EPO Forever
9 years ago

Do these have the same spacing between Shimano and Campy as do DT240, allowing swapping between Shimano and Campy freehubs without redishing?

Mike
Mike
9 years ago

Surely crank up the hyperbole a little more? Black jewels . . . Black pearls? 🙂

Rider weight limit? 65kgs? “

Douglas F Shearer
Douglas F Shearer
9 years ago

> the only difference in construction on the inside is bonded in drive rings rather than threaded

In A DT hub the drive rings need to be unthreaded to replace the drive-side hub-body bearing. Is that same bearing expected to last the lifetime of this hub?

Andy
Andy
9 years ago

I think i’d choose wheels from lightweight at this pricepoint.

Mac
Mac
9 years ago

That bonded drive ring sounds very troubling. If it’s bonded to the body with splines to keep it in place, then you’d never be able to replace the bearing behind it. If there are no splines and the epoxy breaks then you’ll have a long walk home.

blantonator
blantonator
9 years ago

Tune Mig/Mag are a 10g weight penalty but save $800

Will
Will
9 years ago

Does this have an aluminum freehub body? Who cares about carbon, I’ll keep buying Dura Ace and T11 until they go Ti.

Hermann
Hermann
9 years ago

Nice and black, but’s thats all. Pretty much same weight as Tune Mig70/Mag170 combi, only the good stuff from germany is way cheaper. Real lightweigt is aleady on teh market with hubs like Tune Mig45/Mag150 or the extralites. So whats this news about except for another black enve product with a overly huge price ticket ?

thesteve4761
thesteve4761
9 years ago

@Mac, Douglas, etc.- The bearing sits inside the ring nut and is replaceable. It is not constructed exactly the same as a traditional DT hub.

Jim E
Jim E
9 years ago

I’ll be curious to see if they transmit road buzz differently. Should theoretically be more muted than aluminum.

PTymn Wolfe
PTymn Wolfe
9 years ago

@Jim E. — We can only hope they reduce road vibration! Excessive road buzz transmitted through my aluminum hub shells has prevented me from riding for the past several years. I’ve been longing for this day and it’s finally here.

Chriso
Chriso
9 years ago

Weight may be one thing but surely ENVE have some data on stiffness and deflection? Why would they manufacture a hub that isn’t capable of supporting their relatively high spoke tensions? I know they measured tread size and deflection for their HV rims so surely they have something for these hubs? If not then their losing their edge.

Robius
Robius
9 years ago

@PTymn Wolfe Thank you for making me LOL.

LOLWUT
LOLWUT
9 years ago

My DT 180s are a whopping 48 grams more!!!! (deleted)

bbb
bbb
9 years ago

Weight aside, if I was spending this kind of money on hubs I would at least expect them to look good…

These look like some mid range OEM or noname far East hubs made of plastic.

hellsheadbanger
hellsheadbanger
9 years ago

Tune mig 45 plus mag 170 weigh 220g for the pair and cost $630 on fairwheel. Dash has already made full carbon hubs including the flange and they weigh as little as 136g for the pair and cost $1200 on zencyclery.com. Enve is definitely relying on consumer ignorance with this one.

greg
greg
9 years ago

Dash hubs always had some metal. Their “most carbon” rear hub still had titanium right “flange” that also served to hold the ratchet ring. That said, it was still pretty nice.
Extralite are definitely lighter, but not quite everyday-bombproof like these potentially are with their DT guts.
The right hub shell bearing could be a smaller O.D. bearing to fit within the ratchet, double row or similar to make up for reduced ball size.
Although it would be nice if they came out a little lighter or a little cheaper or both, I have little doubt in their design, engineering, and durability.
Now if they would just start putting the spoke nipples on the outside…

Kingsprinter
Kingsprinter
9 years ago

These hubs are build to last, unlike Dash and Extralite. Also remember that the Ceramic Speed bearings are not exactly cheap!…

Joe
Joe
9 years ago

I’m a buyer if they make stiffer wheels than the DT hubs, and don’t need preload adjustment. Function over looks… They don’t look particularly good nor bad, they just look like hubs… For those posers who think they don’t look like 1350$ hubs, just leave the price tag on them and sit your bike by the wall at the coffee shop… For those riders who prefer the incognito look, buy and enjoy?
1000gr is a mental line for a wheelset for many cyclists. 1150gr for a 2500$ wheelset I would hesitate. 980gr for a 3000$ wheelset I would click buy now… its just psychologic

Jake
Jake
9 years ago

After reading through these comments there seems to be a few questions regarding why this hub is novel or special. The hub is lightweight yes. ENVE is not saying this is the lightest weight hub on the planet. The ENVE Carbon Road hub is an engineering accomplishment and it is pushing the bar of what is possible with quality composite engineering. DT Swiss internals were chosen for their durability. The hub’s purpose is to be the ultimate intersection of weight savings and durability. The hubs on the market that are lighter weight performed horrendously in our drive mechanism tests and bearing durability tests. So yes, there are lighter, and less expensive, but nothing close to the durability and reliability that this new hub achieves. Also, there is not a bearing behind the bonded drive ring and the hub is entirely serviceable. Finally, the hub carries ENVE’s standard 5 Year Warranty and Lifetime Crash Replacement.

alex
alex
9 years ago

If you’re willing to put up with 50 more grams (0.11 pounds) on your wheelset, you can get a set of handbuilt in the USA Ares 3 Rolf Prima carbon clinchers, with ceramic bearings, Titanium freehub, and a USA made hub, and save $1,200.

RGRHON
RGRHON
9 years ago

After eight sets of cracked aluminum wheels and ruined Zipp rim with pulled spoke hole in my first 20,000mi, I finally bought Enve Smarts for my road bike after a guy who once worked for a competitor recommended them. So far they’ve outlasted everything prior and are perfect and look like new after 7000mi. I’d bet the tiny extra weight from molded spoke holes translates into radical reliability, as with all their products. I want a pair so bad I’m counting my savings as I write this. So far the only complaint I’ve ever heard from an actual Enve owner is about cost, and even that fades when you consider the cost over the life of the product. Yes there are slightly lighter and way cheaper options, but when I ride in the middle of nowhere you can bet what I’m on. I only had one problem with a decal I messed up, and Enve sent me one free the next day! I’m sold!

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