Enve Melee

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TobinHatesYou
Posts: 12456
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:02 pm

by TobinHatesYou

raggedtrousers wrote:
Wed Feb 01, 2023 9:34 am

That's not quite true, though. While there certainly are other frames that cost this much (Ostro VAM, C68 are 2 that come to mind), there are plenty that are a bit cheaper (Tarmac SL7, Madone SLR) and they really are pretty similar - they are all far east factory made, come in stock geometry, with stock paint.

And hat's kind of my point: I don't see what makes the Melee stand out in that field, and I'd be looking for more than 'it includes the handlebar' as a point of difference. Let's not forget that for not that much more (relative to this very high kind of spend) you can get an Argonaut with custom layup and custom geo.

I'm not arguing it's a bad bike, and if people say that the Melee's point of difference is ride quality, while still retaining race bike speed, fair enough; like I said, I haven't ridden it. But I still don't see what makes it stand out. :noidea:
-

For $4599, you don't get a barstem or a seatpost with the Madone SLR. Once you include both, the Madone costs roughly the same.

The S-Works Tarmac SL7 frameset costs $5500 w/seatpost w/stem but w/o bars.

by Weenie


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pmprego
Posts: 2513
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2019 3:16 pm

by pmprego

TobinHatesYou wrote:
Wed Feb 01, 2023 10:18 am
raggedtrousers wrote:
Wed Feb 01, 2023 9:34 am

That's not quite true, though. While there certainly are other frames that cost this much (Ostro VAM, C68 are 2 that come to mind), there are plenty that are a bit cheaper (Tarmac SL7, Madone SLR) and they really are pretty similar - they are all far east factory made, come in stock geometry, with stock paint.

And hat's kind of my point: I don't see what makes the Melee stand out in that field, and I'd be looking for more than 'it includes the handlebar' as a point of difference. Let's not forget that for not that much more (relative to this very high kind of spend) you can get an Argonaut with custom layup and custom geo.

I'm not arguing it's a bad bike, and if people say that the Melee's point of difference is ride quality, while still retaining race bike speed, fair enough; like I said, I haven't ridden it. But I still don't see what makes it stand out. :noidea:
-

For $4599, you don't get a barstem or a seatpost with the Madone SLR. Once you include both, the Madone costs roughly the same.

The S-Works Tarmac SL7 frameset costs $5500 w/seatpost w/stem but w/o bars.
This was my point.

Additionally, with enve I can pick seatpost setback, stem and handlebar lenght. I can't do this with any other bike from the big manufacturers. Having to swap all this is money sent to the bin.

Lastly, having to basically throw some of this to the bin (not literally but it will never be used again with 99% certainty) it is me buying products that will serve no purpose. It's is inefficient, greedy and polluting. Just the simple fact I can't exactly pick my preferred measures besides frame size it is a no-go for me due to principles.

W.r.t. "ride quality" or whatever ride quality measure one might have, I don't expect the enve bike to better or worse than any of the others.

Karvalo
Posts: 3444
Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2018 6:40 pm

by Karvalo

raggedtrousers wrote:
Wed Feb 01, 2023 9:34 am
That's not quite true, though. While there certainly are other frames that cost this much (Ostro VAM, C68 are 2 that come to mind), there are plenty that are a bit cheaper (Tarmac SL7, Madone SLR) and they really are pretty similar - they are all far east factory made, come in stock geometry, with stock paint.

And hat's kind of my point: I don't see what makes the Melee stand out in that field, and I'd be looking for more than 'it includes the handlebar' as a point of difference.
A Madone SLR costs more once you've bought the bar/stem. Thing is though, why does just the Melee have to stand out? What makes any bike stand out in that field? If it's similar enough, good enough and someone likes Enve more than they like Spesh or Trek, what more do they need?

sigma
Posts: 694
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2018 4:12 am

by sigma

Karvalo wrote:
Wed Feb 01, 2023 2:56 pm
raggedtrousers wrote:
Wed Feb 01, 2023 9:34 am
That's not quite true, though. While there certainly are other frames that cost this much (Ostro VAM, C68 are 2 that come to mind), there are plenty that are a bit cheaper (Tarmac SL7, Madone SLR) and they really are pretty similar - they are all far east factory made, come in stock geometry, with stock paint.

And hat's kind of my point: I don't see what makes the Melee stand out in that field, and I'd be looking for more than 'it includes the handlebar' as a point of difference.
A Madone SLR costs more once you've bought the bar/stem. Thing is though, why does just the Melee have to stand out? What makes any bike stand out in that field? If it's similar enough, good enough and someone likes Enve more than they like Spesh or Trek, what more do they need?
I bought one for the following reasons: first, I like their products in general and especially their customer service. I am based in Utah for part of the time so there is some bias here, but I got to see and ride one before release. Enve also sponsors our bike club, so we have a close relationship. I have had situations over the years where I have crashed in gran fondos / road races destroying braking tracks and sent the wheel off to Enve for repair only to have them send me an updated new wheelset for free. They won my loyalty through repeated great customer service.

It's as good a road bike as any I own - fast, responsive, light, and suprisingly aero to my unscientific measurement. I will post up the build and pics in a couple of weeks as I am switching around a few things. More importantly, I have found myself doing over 50% of my solo rides on mixed terrain between road and gravel. Not super technical gravel which I first imagined I would be doing when I began to ride gravel bikes (Open UP was my first) as I have discovered I actually like to have a real front shock for that (hardtail at a minimum) but packed down I am fine with a 34-35mm type tire gravel. I do this because the area I live in has had an explosion of population growth and the newer drivers are much less accustomed to cyclists on the road, so the number of accidents has sharply climbed. Riding mixed let's me get out of town easily onto better and safer roads and the melee gives me a great road bike experience when I move back to the tarmac yet has plenty of clearance for when the gravel + mud equation is far too much for a nice road only bike in terms of clearance. I ride my pure road bikes for the club days, but the Melee is a good bike for how my cycling is evolving.

For similar reasons, I will probably switch to something like this for the time I am in the midwest though the wider tires there will be used to handle the terrible Chicago roads! Costwise, I bought my Melee frame (not through my club as I found a better deal) at a third discounted online. I added a pair of 4.5 and 3.4 wheels at both 30% from web sales. That's pretty good value compared to the SL7 frame which is never discounted as far as I can see (yet). Additionally, I was able to select the exact handlebar, stem, and seatpost I wanted as Enve supplies these to the dealers, so no swapping downstream. In this way, Factor, another brand I like, is also great. Specialized is still on the " you get what you get" model on the full builds, but one can of course piece together exact specs. That is certainly going to be much more expensive than the Melee. Once the snow melts out here, I will post up more thorough reviews of the ride quality.
Lots of bikes: currently riding Enve Melee, Krypton Pro, S Works Crux, S Works Epic Evo, SL7.
In build: SW SL8

raggedtrousers
Posts: 416
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2020 9:29 pm

by raggedtrousers

sigma wrote:
Wed Feb 01, 2023 5:17 pm

I bought one for the following reasons: first, I like their products in general and especially their customer service. I am based in Utah for part of the time so there is some bias here, but I got to see and ride one before release. Enve also sponsors our bike club, so we have a close relationship. I have had situations over the years where I have crashed in gran fondos / road races destroying braking tracks and sent the wheel off to Enve for repair only to have them send me an updated new wheelset for free. They won my loyalty through repeated great customer service.

It's as good a road bike as any I own - fast, responsive, light, and suprisingly aero to my unscientific measurement. I will post up the build and pics in a couple of weeks as I am switching around a few things. More importantly, I have found myself doing over 50% of my solo rides on mixed terrain between road and gravel. Not super technical gravel which I first imagined I would be doing when I began to ride gravel bikes (Open UP was my first) as I have discovered I actually like to have a real front shock for that (hardtail at a minimum) but packed down I am fine with a 34-35mm type tire gravel. I do this because the area I live in has had an explosion of population growth and the newer drivers are much less accustomed to cyclists on the road, so the number of accidents has sharply climbed. Riding mixed let's me get out of town easily onto better and safer roads and the melee gives me a great road bike experience when I move back to the tarmac yet has plenty of clearance for when the gravel + mud equation is far too much for a nice road only bike in terms of clearance. I ride my pure road bikes for the club days, but the Melee is a good bike for how my cycling is evolving.

For similar reasons, I will probably switch to something like this for the time I am in the midwest though the wider tires there will be used to handle the terrible Chicago roads! Costwise, I bought my Melee frame (not through my club as I found a better deal) at a third discounted online. I added a pair of 4.5 and 3.4 wheels at both 30% from web sales. That's pretty good value compared to the SL7 frame which is never discounted as far as I can see (yet). Additionally, I was able to select the exact handlebar, stem, and seatpost I wanted as Enve supplies these to the dealers, so no swapping downstream. In this way, Factor, another brand I like, is also great. Specialized is still on the " you get what you get" model on the full builds, but one can of course piece together exact specs. That is certainly going to be much more expensive than the Melee. Once the snow melts out here, I will post up more thorough reviews of the ride quality.
They seem good reasons to me! I hope it gives you many happy miles.

FactoryMatt
Posts: 1014
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2015 4:35 am

by FactoryMatt

anyone have time on one of these as well as an ostro vam? curious which feels stiffer in the seatpost, steerer, and hoods (a good thing imo). curious how tolerances and general build quality compare.

thank you.

sigma
Posts: 694
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2018 4:12 am

by sigma

FactoryMatt wrote:
Wed Feb 15, 2023 7:37 pm
anyone have time on one of these as well as an ostro vam? curious which feels stiffer in the seatpost, steerer, and hoods (a good thing imo). curious how tolerances and general build quality compare.

thank you.
I can give you a comp to the Factor One and Vam 02 in terms of build quality against the Melee. I would say it's comparable with all being fairly high (an order of magnitude better than Cannondale of a few years ago and Open). The tolerances on the Melee are excellent so far - after having a nightmare with the BB area of another bike where I had to do a lot of facing to get the carbon cleaned out, it was nice to feel things go through cleanly and smoothly. I test rode it before buying but I will have some time on both an Ostro and my Melee in a few weeks when I head to Southern Utah.
Lots of bikes: currently riding Enve Melee, Krypton Pro, S Works Crux, S Works Epic Evo, SL7.
In build: SW SL8

FactoryMatt
Posts: 1014
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2015 4:35 am

by FactoryMatt

that's great feedback thank you. funny to hear about Open in the cannondale bucket. i've had a couple (giant-made) Treks that were also pretty terrible.

markdjr
Posts: 250
Joined: Sun Sep 17, 2017 10:21 pm

by markdjr

FactoryMatt wrote:
Thu Feb 16, 2023 8:06 pm
that's great feedback thank you. funny to hear about Open in the cannondale bucket. i've had a couple (giant-made) Treks that were also pretty terrible.
Quality of Open is great and ride quality is excellent. The made in CA Open MIND is my current favorite road bike.

sigma
Posts: 694
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2018 4:12 am

by sigma

markdjr wrote:
Fri Feb 17, 2023 3:42 am
FactoryMatt wrote:
Thu Feb 16, 2023 8:06 pm
that's great feedback thank you. funny to hear about Open in the cannondale bucket. i've had a couple (giant-made) Treks that were also pretty terrible.
Quality of Open is great and ride quality is excellent. The made in CA Open MIND is my current favorite road bike.
I can't speak to the Made in CA MIND since it's obviously a very different breed than their regular production and not surprisingly excellent given it's the same factory that produced the RCA frames for Cervelo. My N=1 experience with the U.P. was that the build quality was not very good - seat tube issues (there was a pinch which created s pocket of space when the seatpost was inserted) and not great BB tolerances when measures professionally and by me while attempting to install. I recognize it's N=1 but I am unlikely to repeat. Congrats on the MIND - it's good to hear the RCA factory is still churning out great bikes.
Lots of bikes: currently riding Enve Melee, Krypton Pro, S Works Crux, S Works Epic Evo, SL7.
In build: SW SL8

bendbikeski
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Apr 11, 2023 7:25 pm

by bendbikeski

markdjr wrote:
Thu Nov 24, 2022 8:50 pm
Another new Melee owner with slipping seatpost. I used carbon paste and torqued to 9nm to hedge my bet, still slipped. Anybody have any suggestions other than more torque?
I'm another Melee owner with slipping seatpost. Original bolt indicated torque to 9nm, but that slipped (with carbon paste). Received a warranty seatpost and bolt (this one with 6 nm stamped on it) but still slipping. Tried plenty of carbon paste. Thoughts?

Skwermo
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Mar 07, 2023 9:35 pm

by Skwermo

I had seat post slipping isuues and realised it was because the seat post bolt untightened itself. So cleaned everything and put some loctite 275 on the seat post bolt this time around. No more slippage.

User avatar
wheelsONfire
Posts: 6283
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2014 8:15 am
Location: NorthEU

by wheelsONfire

sigma wrote:
Fri Feb 17, 2023 4:39 pm
markdjr wrote:
Fri Feb 17, 2023 3:42 am
FactoryMatt wrote:
Thu Feb 16, 2023 8:06 pm
that's great feedback thank you. funny to hear about Open in the cannondale bucket. i've had a couple (giant-made) Treks that were also pretty terrible.
Quality of Open is great and ride quality is excellent. The made in CA Open MIND is my current favorite road bike.
I can't speak to the Made in CA MIND since it's obviously a very different breed than their regular production and not surprisingly excellent given it's the same factory that produced the RCA frames for Cervelo. My N=1 experience with the U.P. was that the build quality was not very good - seat tube issues (there was a pinch which created s pocket of space when the seatpost was inserted) and not great BB tolerances when measures professionally and by me while attempting to install. I recognize it's N=1 but I am unlikely to repeat. Congrats on the MIND - it's good to hear the RCA factory is still churning out great bikes.
Open and BB tolerance is true!
Bikes:

Ax Lightness Vial EVO Race (2019.01.03)
Open *UP* (2016.04.14)
Paduano Racing Fidia (kind of shelved)


Ex bike; Vial EVO D, Vial EVO Ultra, Scott Foil, Paduano ti bike.

DHG01
Posts: 718
Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2020 7:14 pm
Location: Madrid

by DHG01

jackie wrote:
Fri Sep 23, 2022 9:53 am
dropping in with my melee
had it for about 3 weeks now. build it with campy Ekar and campy WTO wheels
Very different build from most of the folks and
Dist that bring in the bike said i am the only one with campy 1x that he saw
size 54,
Detail as follow
40cm bar with 100mm stem and 30cm spacer ( the new stem is very heavy)
Non setback seatpost 350mm
Ekar 170mm 40t crank
Ekar 9/36 cassette
Campy WTO 33
Pirelli cinturato velo tyres, ( heavy as hell)
Favero powermeter ,
Enve bottle cage ,
Enve wahoo mount
bike weigh in at about 7.4kg
Build finish of the bike is great
i could lower the weight with a change in lighter wheelsets and tires.
20220916_082713.jpg20220916_084026.jpg
Didn't realize this bike could accommodate mechanical. I am particularly interested in the Melee as a light gravel bike. Any special requirements for Ekar? Is the shifting fine?

Overall, are you happy with the bike?

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
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kode54
Posts: 3749
Joined: Tue May 23, 2006 9:39 pm

by kode54

pmprego wrote:
Wed Feb 01, 2023 11:41 am
TobinHatesYou wrote:
Wed Feb 01, 2023 10:18 am
raggedtrousers wrote:
Wed Feb 01, 2023 9:34 am

That's not quite true, though. While there certainly are other frames that cost this much (Ostro VAM, C68 are 2 that come to mind), there are plenty that are a bit cheaper (Tarmac SL7, Madone SLR) and they really are pretty similar - they are all far east factory made, come in stock geometry, with stock paint.

And hat's kind of my point: I don't see what makes the Melee stand out in that field, and I'd be looking for more than 'it includes the handlebar' as a point of difference. Let's not forget that for not that much more (relative to this very high kind of spend) you can get an Argonaut with custom layup and custom geo.

I'm not arguing it's a bad bike, and if people say that the Melee's point of difference is ride quality, while still retaining race bike speed, fair enough; like I said, I haven't ridden it. But I still don't see what makes it stand out. :noidea:
-

For $4599, you don't get a barstem or a seatpost with the Madone SLR. Once you include both, the Madone costs roughly the same.

The S-Works Tarmac SL7 frameset costs $5500 w/seatpost w/stem but w/o bars.
This was my point.

Additionally, with enve I can pick seatpost setback, stem and handlebar lenght. I can't do this with any other bike from the big manufacturers. Having to swap all this is money sent to the bin.

Lastly, having to basically throw some of this to the bin (not literally but it will never be used again with 99% certainty) it is me buying products that will serve no purpose. It's is inefficient, greedy and polluting. Just the simple fact I can't exactly pick my preferred measures besides frame size it is a no-go for me due to principles.

W.r.t. "ride quality" or whatever ride quality measure one might have, I don't expect the enve bike to better or worse than any of the others.
With the Factor Ostro VAM, you can specify bar length/width...seatpost setback or zero setback.
- Factor Ostro VAM Disc
- Factor LS Disc
- Specialized Aethos Disc
- Sturdy Ti Allroad Disc
- Guru Praemio R Disc

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