ENVE Melee
 

Anyone have ones of these?
It appears to have pretty much everything I’m looking for.
35mm tire clearance
Fender capable
Geo is spot on
Almost zero logos

Little expensive. I may have to wait for a Black Friday sale. But I could honestly sell all my road bikes for this (and maybe the gravel bike).

Are dissenting opinions allowed? Can’t get past the aesthetics.

Any and all opinions, of course.
I haven’t seen one in person. But for good/bad, it looks like about every other road bike from other companies. Sort of “bland”. Which I am perfectly fine with.


https://www.rennrad-news.de/news/wp-...l-1024x576.jpg

I had one briefly - I bought it on eBay for just over $2k so I kinda took a flyer on it even though I didn't need another bike. I thought it was really darn good, but it was a 60cm and it turns out I was better suited to a 58cm so did a catch and release to Clean.

It felt fast and efficient, especially in flat/rolling terrain. Kinda meh styling, even in the new bright blue color, but certainly proficient. The integration is pretty slick - easy to live with and adjust. I think you'll be able to land a used one for $3kish. Pros Closet just had one in a 52 that I think sold for that: https://www.theproscloset.com/produc...2-enve-melee-m

Melee
 

I have one and I like it for all of the reasons that you mention.
It is a neutral and nice riding bike.

You can PM me if you want to get deep into the weeds ;)

The Melee geo is real agreeable for me, but I couldn't get over the $5500 frameset price.

My local shop offered to put me on Dogma F for cheaper. The geo is almost identical, almost as if Enve lifted the chart from Pinarello.

I can't recall Enve ever doing a Black Friday sale on their bikes. I could see myself on a Mog, but not at $5,500.

If any year will be different I feel like it'll be this one

I rode one and have one on order. Keep in mind that the $5500 includes seatpost, bar, and stem. Those alone would run you ~$1000.

I’ll go into more detail about why I chose this bike in a longer post tomorrow.

Ohhhhhh this should be interesting!

Guy on our Tuesday night chaingang has one. Says it's fast and comfortable. Looks nice if kind of pricy for what it is, notwithstanding the bar, stem and post are included. Might change my mind if I rode it; who knows?

Never ridden a Melee. But it's price is so close to a custom Pursuit that I imagine I would swing for a Carl Strong venture rather than the Melee.

Hey John. I bet a lot of folks would be interested in your thoughts :D Would love to hear them, especially compared to some of the other bikes you’ve had. :)

:) Guessing you are not paying retail for that bike...

Melee
 

1.) Fit is spot on. I find that many race bikes have low enough stack where I would need to run more spacers than I like, or consider riding a 56 instead of a 54. The 54cm Melee fits me great with 10mm of spacers and a 110mm stem.
2.) I don't consider the bike to be too stiff or too sharp in terms of handling. I can relax on descents. I like this more than aggressive handling or really stiff bikes.
3.) Tires. I run 28, 30 and 32mm tires. All have adequate clearance.
4.) Bars. I was already using the SES AR bar- It comes on this bike. It is really my favorite bar. Drop and reach are perfect. Has a wing shape- But the wing is not too wide. The wing is also centered. Some bars are offset front or rear.
5.) Easy to work on. Even though the bike is full internal, the rear brake hose runs free of the bb shell so no faffing with trying to get the hose around the bb.
Just need to get the disc hoses to the right length. If they are too long they will rattle. Even with a sleeve on.
6. Aesthetics. I know that some don't like the flat grey paint or the sloping toptube, but I really like it. The bikes says "ride me!"

Negatives? The only negative I can think of is the way that the frame shape is near the bottom bracket. It sort of tapers out to the bb. It uses an "internal" T47 so there is not much room between the outer bb and some cranksets. Took some time to figure out what spacers the SRAM Dub cranks needed to work perfectly.
If I had my choice I would want a BSA bb or an "external" T47.
Also, because I run SRAM I use a K-Edge chain watcher. Have not had issues with chain drop.