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Factory Tour: Celebrating 10 years with ENVE’s new facility in Ogden

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In the past ten years, a lot has changed for ENVE Composites. Their name changed from EDGE to ENVE, facilities have changed as they continued to grow, but one thing remains the same – ENVE’s carbon rims are still made in the USA. That poses a problem for a rapidly growing company as production begins to be limited by the space allowed by their building. Just in time to celebrate their 10th anniversary, ENVE completed work on an all new facility in Ogden, UT. A clean sheet design built specifically around product design and manufacturing, ENVE has doubled their space and even has the option of expanding in the future if business continues to flourish.

Even from the outside, the new ENVE facility is an impressive structure with spectacular views of the nearby mountains. Blending the modernity of composites engineering with Ogden’s history through the remnants of the old Ogden Trackline, ENVE is right at home in their new digs. Roughly 73,000 sq ft, the increase from 35,000 seems greatly welcomed by the employees, and concrete footings have already been poured to allow for future expansion. Capable of producing some 120,000 rims annually, current production is somewhere around 40-70k.

As you walk in the front door, to your right is a studio space with bike storage and enough room for a number of activities. During their 10 year anniversary celebration, the space was being used as part of the Speedvagen fitting tour, with Sacha White continuing on to Texas afterwards. The tour is a chance for potential Speedvagen owners to be properly fit, meet Sacha, and get a look at the bikes first hand. Naturally, there were a number of Speedvagens around the ENVE HQ during the celebration.

In addition to a number of bikes fitted with ENVE components and autographed jerseys of ENVE sponsored teams over the years, there were a few things about the new space that are uniquely ENVE. Like these carbon hand rails. Apparently, when the building was being constructed the contractors wanted to use wooden railings, and that just wouldn’t do when ENVE could make their own railings from carbon fiber. Plus, the staircase is so much lighter now. Like most great facilities, a comfortable lounge butts up against the lunch room with mountain bike videos playing on the walls.

A big part of the new facility is increased manufacturing space, but it also means more breathing room for engineering and sales staff. ENVE currently employs six design engineers along with a few manufacturing engineers, and it was clear that they were enjoying the newfound space.

Moving into the manufacturing area, ENVE has a full machine shop to make anything from fixtures to molds for each rim. Most of the molds ENVE uses are aluminum with an anodized surface for increased durability. Steel molds are more durable in the long run, but they’re super heavy and more expensive to make. ENVE’s aluminum molds are lighter, easier to manufacture, but have about a 500 wheel lifespan. ENVE is capable of going from a model to a finished mold in 24 hours and laying up their first part, whereas they claim that lead time is typically 6-8 weeks. With over 500 molds in house, ENVE has gone from 4 to 54 rims in their catalog.

As ENVE’s Director of Marketing and Product Management Jake Pantone invites us into their cold storage for carbon fiber, you can enter the refrigerator on one side, and exit directly into their Class 10,000 clean room on the other side. Maintained at a strict 36 percent humidity and 68°f, the conditions are ideal for keeping the raw carbon pliable but not sticky. Using mostly Mitsubishi fiber with a Newport resin system, while the Japanes carbon fiber is similar to what many other companies use, ENVE says the key is the resin system which is from a company in Newport Beach. Fiber is stored in the fridge until it’s ready to use, and then typically it sees a 24 hour out time for consistency.

Moving from a batch system, ENVE now uses a single piece flow methodology which has allowed more flexibility in the manufacturing process. Every operator can now build every wheel, which are made up of pieces of carbon that are cut by hand from the large rolls, then cut with an automated plotter. Every piece of carbon is labeled with a control number, and every rim since 2009 is tracked in a database which includes every piece that was part of the layup. The long tray on the table above is filled with all the pieces to build a rim, with the exception of a few additional pieces for the rim channel.

Once the pieces of carbon are laid up into the molds, the two halves are connected with a twin spindle connector borrowed from the auto industry which speeds up the process and keeps even tension on both sides. The molds are then loaded into the ovens where an internal bladder filled with nitrogen compacts the carbon from the inside. There are also a few 250 ton presses for compression molding of stems and other parts. Once the carbon is set, the molds are loaded into chill presses to cool them down so they can be opened.

Out of the mold, rims head for the sanding and drilling area, where one of ENVE’s longest standing employees watches over the process. The story is that years ago, Emiliano was promised a clean environment for what is traditionally very dirty work of sanding and drilling carbon fiber. With the new facility, that’s finally a reality as this area was immaculate considering the operations involved. Now mostly automated, the large yellow robot picks up rims and takes them through numerous sanding operations to remove any flash from the molding process. Then a modified lacing robot drills holes in the rim* with laser precision. *ENVE notes that their spoke holes are molded into every rim they make as well as a conical seat for the nipple, the drilling process shown above is punching a hole through the tire bed to give access to the spoke hole for wheel building. 

A number of finishing processes like decals and anodizing are done off site, but painting is still done in house. This isn’t your average paint booth though, as ENVE wanted a finish that doesn’t require sanding after the final coat. After hiring Serotta’s old painter, a new downdraft paint booth was installed, and PPG qualified water based paint is applied with a solvent clear coat after each hub or stem is sanded by hand to remove any flash. ENVE mentioned that a bit part of this process was ensuring that the factory including the paint process would meet environmental standards for the next 20 years.

Completed rims head to this house made storage facility that allows ENVE to practice first in – first out. The racks have storage for 10,000 rims but they say rarely is it even close to full before they get built into complete wheels or sent out the door as rim only.

ENVE also still produces carbon tubing for small frame builders. A number of mandrels and tools are shown here.

We weren’t able to snap any photos, but ENVE also has a complete R&D facility within the new building which is capable of completing most of the entire process without leaving the room. They use this area for finalizing layup, tooling, and fit, form, function, and ride testing of new prototypes before they enter production.

Rims are built into wheels in the center of the building with a lacing machine and tensioning robot getting things rolling. Every wheel is finished and brought up to final tension by a human, as well as trued and prestressed. The deepest rims are still laced by hand since they won’t fit in the machine. From there it’s straight from the stand, to the decal application, to the box.

Wheels are boxed up, then placed in towering racks before shipping to dealers, OEMs, and customers.

Like any quality manufacturer, ENVE has an advanced testing facility capable of running every standard industry test along with a few of their own. When testing, a single rim has to go through every test in the lab which includes a max tension “dummy” build, lateral stiffness testing, max. load to failure, brake track testing, max. inflation (1.5x tire psi rating) testing, and finally impact testing to break the rim. Then it’s cut into pieces and they pull a spoke through every spoke hole – which requires stronger spokes than what they’re built with. Apparently, the spoke holes can withstand more force than a double butted spoke can. ENVE also tests hubs with 1600 watts through the freehub, as well as general fatigue testing.

Upstairs, above the busy manufacturing floor below, a selection of the EDGE/ENVE history was on display. Based on what we saw in Ogden, it won’t be long until ENVE has to make room for more memorabilia when the time comes for their 20th anniversary.

 

 

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33 Comments
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Flatbiller
Flatbiller
7 years ago

The irony is that we love ENVE product because they’re made in the USA. If more people felt the way I do, then that would have to change, almost by manufacturing/sourcing/supply chain/logistic definition.

If Trek/Specialized/Giant gave them a call for some OE spec, you can bet your Mormon butt that they’d be flying from Ogden to Asia to secure some manufacturing headroom.

See Fox Racing Shox: Formerly Made in the USA, until the realities of supply chain caught up with them (sending Taiwanese parts to the USA for assembly then back to Asia to their OE customers did not make one bit of sense, if only to appease the small subset of jingoistic customers who must have an American flag on their fork, even though the rest of the bike is made in Asia).

Kernel Flickitov
Kernel Flickitov
7 years ago
Reply to  Flatbiller

To take it even a bit further; how much sense does it make for their stems, bars, and forks to be made in Asia with molds they make here in the US? I’m no fan of their products but apparently they seem to be doing just fine without our help.

JNH
JNH
7 years ago
Reply to  Flatbiller

Fox moving production to the far east had more to do with their being bought out by private investors than economies of scale. Those same new owners and the pressure they brought to maximise profit immediately were responsible for the push-fit together cheaper than cheap CTD fork damper as well.

Jono
Jono
7 years ago
Reply to  JNH

I’m not sure I see a difference between ‘economies of scale’ and ‘private investors [who want to] maximize profit’. No matter who owned them, increased scale demanded the move.

Anonymous
Anonymous
7 years ago

ENVE already makes things in Asia.

david
david
7 years ago

Is not all their bars and stems not made overseas now? Price has not dropped on those products.

Greg
Greg
7 years ago
Reply to  david

I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure nothing but their rims were ever made in the US

Kernel Flickitov
Kernel Flickitov
7 years ago
Reply to  Greg

The rims have always been US made, the rest hasn’t.

Kernel Flickitov
Kernel Flickitov
7 years ago

In the early days some of the other bits were made here. Didn’t last.

Heffe
Heffe
7 years ago

I don’t love ENVE products because they’re made in the USA.

Pillbug
Pillbug
7 years ago

I don’t love Enve products at all. Same as Chris King. Overpriced, ridiculous, appearance-before-function pieces aimed at rich assholes. I’ll take Reynolds and Cane Creek any day.

Kernel Flickitov
Kernel Flickitov
7 years ago
Reply to  Pillbug

No fan of ENVE rims but, Easton EC90 $2799, Enve 4.5 with DT 240s $2899. If someone is spending over $2k on a wheel set I don’t think anyone in their right mind could come up with the rant you just did. I think you simply forgot to take your meds this morning.

Kernel Flickitov
Kernel Flickitov
7 years ago

Oops, Reynolds. Ok, no problem. AERO 46DB $2599. My statement still stands.

Stendhal
7 years ago
Reply to  Pillbug

??? I didn’t particularly like the previous-generation ENVE wheels that came with a bike I purchased (they were a bit too stiff) and hence sold them, but the stem and standard road bar on the bike are great, as is an ENVE road fork that came with another frame I purchased. More importantly as it pertains to your post, the appearance of each part is non-ostentatious and functional. Each is black and without extraneous markings, protuberances, or attention-getting frills. The fork, in particular, is as straight and normal width (neither built-up nor pencil-thin) as one can imagine, and does not even have a recognizable logo (it’s black on black). It’s not as if there are tail fins, weird logo thingies (think of the front-facing V in Pro stems) cut-out stem faceplate logos (3T), cetacean inspired humps and bumps (I’m looking at you, Zipp 454), waves (Onda forks, of which I have the newest), slits (Ridley Noah forks), aero paint (same), slots (see the Lapierre Pulsium fork), monster clamps or adjusting parts (the recently recalled Look Aerostem), built-in lights or horns, glitter paint, or other out of the norm or look-at-me features. The parts are as functional in appearance and design as can be. Each is also competitively light in relation to competitors’ equivalent parts. And they actually function, unlike the Reynolds carbon wheels I rode from 2010 to 2012 that heated up when I used the brakes on steep descents. (My only “Cane Creek” parts at present are the eecycles brakes they now manufacture…kudos to both companies for teaming up to make the brakes available again. I have used and like CC headsets.)

In short, your criticism of ENVE has no basis in reality. I can’t speak to Chris King, so you may have a basis there…I leave that to others.

JNH
JNH
7 years ago
Reply to  Pillbug

Well somebody fell out of bed this morning. My decade old Chris King ISOs with13’000 miles on them say you don’t know what you’re on about, which was unexpected since they usually just say BZZZZZZZzzzzzzzz….

mac
mac
7 years ago
Reply to  Pillbug

Chris king actually invented something unique. Enve hasn’t done anything but stroke boutique builders so surgeons would buy all their stuff to go on their custom frame. Then they doubled down with the ridiculous name when they had to change it.

d
d
7 years ago

I thought the spoke holes were molded in, not drilled?

Greg
Greg
7 years ago
Reply to  d

the hole where the nipple sits is molded in. The hole at the inner wall to give you access to the nipple is drilled.

ELEVEN_g
7 years ago

I can’t get past the name…

blah blah blah
blah blah blah
7 years ago

2 rims 800 grams $2000 say ,expensive bullshit, but 800 gram top notch frame for 2000 bargain and i reckon rims would pose just as much challenges as frames to manufacture. if not more

1up smelly
1up smelly
7 years ago

I saw what about all of the super hero movies coming out…. crazy right?

Dustytires
7 years ago

regardless of the half lie of Made in USA with really only their rims made here, the photos of that facility are f*ing impressive! The whole EDGE/ENVE story is impressive, who else has done that in the last decade in the bike business? I would be great to see door knobs and wash machines etc made by the millions in USA again, but our addiction to cheap runs a couple generations deep. What I don’t get is why almost every ENVE rider I see, most who would claim that Made in USA is important to them, rolls on a Chinese made bike? Plenty of bad ass frames of all types made here, so why don’t the ‘rich assholes’ as Pillbug calls them, buy MORE product made in USA? Is it Made in USA that is really important, or just more marketing influence same as all those chuckle heads buying whatever the World Cup/World Tour racers are paid to ride? maybe the rich ass holes are no different than the lowlife dickheads in how they make their decisions for new bike stuff? baahhhhhh goes the sheeple, with that thought I would say ENVE is one of the top dogs in the marketing / image management sectors.

Dave
Dave
7 years ago

You know you’ve got a strong brand when the comments section on BR light up like its a post about a new high-end Specialized.

Robin
Robin
7 years ago

I can’t find the motivation to generate any faux anger to spray across the comments section, so I’ll just Enve sure makes some nice rims. Nice article, Zach. Are you going to be posting the video you secretly shot for the length of the tour?

Robin
Robin
7 years ago
Reply to  Robin

…just say Enve sure makes…

Rich W.
Rich W.
7 years ago

It is total BS that they continue to foster confusion re: “Made in the USA.” They seem more than happy to perpetuate and exploit it in all their marketing, ads, press releases, etc. (I really don’t care where it’s made, but being misleading is not cool.)

JasonK
JasonK
7 years ago
Reply to  Rich W.

The rims, hubs and two of their mountain stems are made in the US. The rest of their products are made elsewhere. What’s misleading?

I just don’t see any attempt to “foster confusion,” as you put it. Where do you get that?

Rich W
Rich W
7 years ago
Reply to  JasonK

Hanging up a sign that says “made in USA” and then displaying all your stuff under it would be one such example.

yosemite
yosemite
7 years ago

what a bunch of loserss here hating

Bikeryder
Bikeryder
7 years ago

I have never bought and will probably never buy ENVE stuff, but mainly because I’m on a beer budget…no matter what you think of them, what they have done in ten years is amazing, they have created a niche for themselves and created jobs for others. Impressive facility, and as stated above, impressive article. Good job!

GreatCoast
GreatCoast
7 years ago

Agree in part. The business model/ramp up is impressive. The half truth of their constant “Made in the USA” drumbeat is nauseating and disingenuous.

Amer Sports Corp. bought them for $50 million in 2016 however, they still have trouble with fulfilling rim orders.

In the fast paced world of want it now “rich folk” and their mental catalog fueled by the internet and pro cycling mags a 6-8 week lead time on rims isn’t going to cut it?

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