ENVE Melee

[HowardCosellsPR]

Is fair to compare the defy to the enve? Could one assume similar quality?

Cuz... the geometry and weight of the defy seem pretty darn ideal for my use case.

[Upcountry]

I'm really impressed by the new Defy. I'm in no way the target for that bike, but it looks like a bike that many people would be well served by! A bit of the "endurance" geometry that seems to be underserved, but with the looks and touches of a modern super bike. I don't think I'd compare it to the Melee though... Melee is certainly a bit more of a "race bike", but with some tire clearance and perhaps a bit more ride feel optimized than an all out aero race bike. Geometry is a bit different, but not drastic. You'd be hard pressed to get more bang for your buck than you will with any Giant bicycles, and their finish and QC is amongst the best.

[rnhood]

I've always liked the Defy and this new one looks like a pretty good bike. James Haunge provides a pretty thorough review and cites the good and bad...which leads me to say as always, ride one before buying. I think most dealers will allow a person to demo a bike for a long weekend.

The short of it: Giant’s fifth-generation premium carbon fiber endurance road bike, updated with a lighter chassis, additional tire clearance, and a more refined ride quality.
Good stuff: Impressively lightweight, composed ride quality, quick handling, some semblance of cockpit customization, looks brilliant.
Bad stuff: Composed-but-not-cushy ride quality, handling is arguably too quick, questionable wheelset spec, still a proprietary stem.


https://escapecollective.com/2024-gi...vanced-review/

[19wisconsin64]

I have a 58 cm Enve Melee that was ordered for me after a proper bike fitting from Signature Cycles in Greenwich, CT. They built it up with an electronic 12-speed Ultegra Shimano groupset and a Dura Ace wheelset. The bars, stem, and seatpost are all Enve. It was one of the earliest frames made and only came in the gray matte paint.

Overall, I've noticed the bike is great handling, is not sluggish at all, easy to climb with, and good with comfort. The Dura-Ace wheelset is fast, but only has a 21 mm internal rim width, and set up with 28 mm tires is good, but not as comfortable as I'd like for broken roads. I'm having a carbon wheelset built with Onyx hubs and 25 mm internal width wheels so ai can run 32 to 37 mm tires on a variety of road and light gravel rides.

The bike fit was key to the comfort, as was the addition of a 3-D printed saddle which is very comfortable and absorbs a lot of road vibration and bumps.

The only issue I had was a slight seatpost squeak, which was fixed by adding more carbon paste to the seapost.

Without a doubt I found this frame to be the best carbon frame road bicycle I've ever ridden. It's smooth and fast, and you can use it for a lot of things. The highest praise I can say is that it makes me want to ride it...even when I'm off the bike.

Reasons I bought- fast, comfortable ride, made in the USA (locally), purchased from a local vendor that supports the local cycling community, and it seemed fairly priced when compared to everything else (custom, high end other brands). It's super expensive, for sure, that is the only downside! With all of that being said, I've heard pretty much similar praises from Everybody who purchased a custom bicycle.

Good luck!

[Upcountry]

Originally Posted by 19wisconsin64

Reasons I bought- fast, comfortable ride, made in the USA (locally), purchased from a local vendor that supports the local cycling community, and it seemed fairly priced when compared to everything else (custom, high end other brands).

Good luck!

Insert *Cringe* emoji.....
"The frame of the Enve Melee is made in ENVE's TAIWAN factory, however the moulds for this new ENVE bike are built in the USA, ensuring a perfect finish. "

[Baron Blubba]

Originally Posted by Upcountry

Insert *Cringe* emoji.....
"The frame of the Enve Melee is made in ENVE's TAIWAN factory, however the moulds for this new ENVE bike are built in the USA, ensuring a perfect finish. "

Yeah, that's true. They are Taiwanese made, but I feel like Enve is a relatively small and USA based company. I'm not saying I'll never purchase a Big Bike Industry bike again, but the fact that these are still just regular guys making a living doing what they are passionate about was a significant contributing factor in my recent decision to update my stable with a MoG and Melee.

Their East Coast sales rep is a close friend and a wonderful guy -too nice and too honest to be a sales rep!- and he tells me they are definitely some of the nicer and more 'real' people he does business with.

***

In other news, I think that James Huang/Escape Collective Defy review is one of the most balanced and thoughtful bike reviews I've ever read, and probably the prime example of EC's 'we're independent and on no one's payroll' manifesto.

[Upcountry]

I'm not opposed to overseas manufacturing, but I just hope that 19wisconsin64 wasn't sold a bill of goods when he was looking at the Melee...

And as far as Enve being a small USA based company... they were bought buy Amer Sports a few years back, same European company that owns Mavic, Salomon, Wilson, and others... Again, I'm fine with it and own a bunch of their stuff, but perhaps they are no long the "mom and pop" operation that they once were.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by Baron Blubba

Yeah, that's true. They are Taiwanese made, but I feel like Enve is a relatively small and USA based company. I'm not saying I'll never purchase a Big Bike Industry bike again, but the fact that these are still just regular guys making a living doing what they are passionate about was a significant contributing factor in my recent decision to update my stable with a MoG and Melee.

Enve might have started that way, but not anymore, and not for some years. They are currently a part of Amer Sports, which is a Finnish based multi-national sports equipment manufacturer. Amer Sports operates several big brands, including Salomon, Atomic, Wilson, and Arcteryx. Amer also used to own Mavic, but they sold that brand a few years ago.

Amer itself is owned by an investment consortium, which includes the ANTA sports, a China based company that is the third largest largest manufacturer of sports equipment in the world (after Nike and Adidas). Do you remember the Chinese boycott of the NBA after the Houston Rockets re-tweeted a tweet in favor of Hong Kong protests? That was led by ANTA sports.

[rnhood]

James Huang is a first rate individual and provides a complete picture when he reviews stuff.

Most anything manufactured in Taiwan will be top shelf, from a quality of manufacture perspective, whether it’s sailboat, bikes or what have you. This is nothing new, it’s been this way for years. A lot of the success of Specialized bikes can be traced to the generally excellent quality coming out of Taiwan.

[19wisconsin64]

....... I was duped. Same thing happened to me years ago when I purchased a "California" badged Kestrel Evoke frame.....also made in Taiwan. I'm a sucker for trying to buy something made in the country I live in!

Well, this past weekend took the family upstate New York to do some apple picking....at least that's made here still!

Yikes!!! (insert embarrased emoji)

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted by Upcountry

I'm not opposed to overseas manufacturing, but I just hope that 19wisconsin64 wasn't sold a bill of goods when he was looking at the Melee...

.

From Enve:

We’re proud to manufacture our rims and wheelsets by hand in Ogden, Utah, USA but not simply out of patriotism. At ENVE, everything related to our rim and wheel production is under the roof of our new state-of-the-art facility: manufacturing, assembly, design, R&D, our test lab, customer support and the business team. These capabilities under one roof give us unmatched levels of visibility, control and connectivity that would be impossible under any different circumstances.

So apparently that level of control is not possible for the frames.

[Philster]

Originally Posted by 19wisconsin64

....... I was duped. Same thing happened to me years ago when I purchased a "California" badged Kestrel Evoke frame.....also made in Taiwan. I'm a sucker for trying to buy something made in the country I live in!

Well, this past weekend took the family upstate New York to do some apple picking....at least that's made here still!

Yikes!!! (insert embarrased emoji)

Do you mean you were “duped” by the folks at Signature or that you made the wrong assumption? Please clarify.

[callmeishmael]

I thought the general consensus was that the better factories in Taiwan were probably as good as literally anyone at large scale cf manufacture? As someone mentioned, Spesh are a case in point. They really aren't cheap but it's hard to argue they don't make good stuff (if that's your bag), qc is better than most and they are good about warranty.

Of course, if something is marketed, even by implication/association, as US made, but is actually out of Taiwan, that's an issue (not saying that's how the Enve frames are marketed, as I don't know). Perhaps not for quality reasons, but because some people legitimately want to support businesses in their own country or have question marks about the ethics and factory practices of some far eastern corporations.

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

From Enve:

So apparently that level of control is not possible for the frames.

ENVE makes the Custom Road in the USA - but it's significantly more expensive.. and I doubt they could fill as many orders for the Melee and Mog if they were #MadeHere. It is what it is. We live in a global society and unless SRAM/Shimano/Campagnolo open factories in the USA, you're not getting a MUSA bike anytime soon.

Having just built a Melee, I can say the construction quality is top notch and the bike itself is filled with many design details that set it apart from xyz other carbon bike on the market, made here or otherwise. I seriously dig its understated vibes.

And if my heart wasn't so set on an Argonaut, my head, legs, and lungs would have been perfectly happy with the Melee (and at a fraction of the price).

[Baron Blubba]

Clean, what about the Argonaut has so captured your heart?