Renamed the EnviLiv, Liv Cycling the women’s specific wing of Giant completely overhauls their top-level Envie aero road race bike. The new bike features sleek aero integration and disc brakes, much like you would get on the Giant Propel, but takes those shapes to the next level in its own design…
Liv EnviLiv women’s carbon disc brake aero road bike
Designed as a pro-level aero road bike for the like of Marianne Voss and her Women’s WorldTour CCC-Liv team, the EnviLiv is Liv’s new top carbon road race bike geared towards the sprinter. The redesigned EnviLiv actually had an early debut without a huge amount of fanfare last autumn, but is now actually available to cyclists looking to speed up in a new race season.
At first glance the most obvious change is the addition of flat mount disc brakes & 12mm thru-axles, but the highlights of the bike got much beyond that adapting technologies developed on the Giant Propel and reapplying them in Liv’s women-specific data-driven Fit, Form & Function approach. The result is claimed to be a lighter frameset, while stiffer in both frame & fork. That especially goes for improved lateral stiffness in the thin, oversized fork legs for more precise handling. And all of that while overall taking aerodynamics one step sleeker.
Integration also really gets taken to the next level, with the new separate aero bar, aero stem & special spacer stack that tuck all shift wires & brake hoses completely internally, out of the wind. The stem itself is quite interesting from a fit & finish perspective (the same as on the Giant Propel) as its main structural body uses a slight amount of rise to allow reasonable bar height positions, but then an integrated top cap & ‘stem-cap’ sits on top providing both access to internal routing and a nicely horizontal profile in the wind.
Frame tube shaping is pretty standard truncated aerofoils like you see on most aero bikes these days, with some unique to the EnivLiv sharp edges leading from the headtube, back along the top & downtubes. Then you get a dropped seatstay rear end just like on the Propel. There are a lot of similarities in the two bikes, but Liv designers say that while technology & expertise are shared between the two brands, the EnviLiv was designed on its own.
The bike is made from Liv/Giant’s top-level Advanced Composite carbon layup, and features a 1.25″ tapered steerer, an integrated ANT+ speed & cadence sensor in the chainstay, a BB86 bottom bracket, and a hidden integrated wedge-type seatclamp for the aero Vector seatpost. The EnviLiv comes spec’ed at each level with tubeless 25mm tires, with room for 28s but not much more, keeping with the race day mindset.
The EnviLiv has some great looking standard paint jobs on offer (with cool reflective & color changing details) without ever screaming that it is a women-specific bike…
But what actually drew us in at the Taipei Cycle show was that Liv was highlighting their custom color possibilities on the new bike. It is unclear if the full finish customization program will make it to Europe or North America, but in Asia it looks like users will be able to pick from a wide range of available colors, mix-and-match color details, and create some great looking, sparkly paint jobs.
The Liv EnviLiv is generally available for 2019 in five sizes (XXS-L) and three stock builds as the $5600€ EnviLiv Advanced Pro 0 Disc with Ultegra Di2, the $4300€ EnviLiv Advanced Pro 1 Disc with Ultegra mechanical, and the EnviLiv Advanced Pro 2 Disc with 105 mechanical. No new rim brake model is being offered, but the 2018 Envie with rim brakes is still available.
Marianne Vos’ Liv EnviLiv race bike
We are a little surprised that Liv hasn’t been more vocal about the new EnviLiv, as it is the current aero race bike of legend of women’s pro cycling Marianne Vos. Part of that I think comes down to the fact that Liv as a brand promotes a sense of fun and inclusion for women cyclists first, even while their bikes are being raced at the highest level.
It looks like Vos hasn’t yet taken a win on the new bike (having stuck to winning Trofeo Alfredo Binda on the lightweight Langma Advanced SL instead), but we expect to see this bike ridden to some race wins soon.
