Enve/Edge wheelsets - buy new or used?

[GuyGadois]

I am entertaining purchasing a new wheelset. Enve is at the top of the list given their ability to handle a, cough, larger rider (I'm 195). The cost for used wheelsets is significantly less but there is no warranty. Enve is now giving a 5 year warranty on new rims.

So, my question is, does the 5 year warranty justify buying these wheelsets new or should I save the money upfront and buy a used set without the warranty?

Interested in hearing some opinions.

Cheers,

GG

[rnhood]

Even if you weighed 175 I'd still recommend a new set. The warranty, the customer connection, the wheels will be new, etc. Its an easy decision.

The only way I'd think about a used set is if they were 40% or less of retail, less than 1k miles, and the owner let you pay after you receive and inspect the wheels.

[oldguy00]

What kind of price are you getting?
I don't get why people pay the premium for the Enve wheels.
If you are looking at their 'smart' system wider rims, you can get wheels like HED Stingers for quite a bit less if you hunt around.
If you are looking at their classic 'normal' rim shape, I'd just go with a set of Easton EC90 Aero's.......in fact, I just did. Got a new set with warranty from Nashbar for under 1k.
.02

[GuyGadois]

What kind of price are you getting?
I don't get why people pay the premium for the Enve wheels.
If you are looking at their 'smart' system wider rims, you can get wheels like HED Stingers for quite a bit less if you hunt around.
If you are looking at their classic 'normal' rim shape, I'd just go with a set of Easton EC90 Aero's.......in fact, I just did. Got a new set with warranty from Nashbar for under 1k.
.02

I believe the HED's are tubular only and offer only a 2 year warranty. Not sure about the Easton's. I'll check those out.

GG

[tuscanyswe]

Id buy used. Just have to find a seller you trust sells a product that is as advertised in the price range you want. Theres a bunch of great sellers on this board alone.

How long do you tend to keep highend wheels is another thing i would consider. I tend to own wheels for maximum 2 years but usually just a season so new with 5 years warranty isent justified in that scenario. Can usually resell with very little loss if bought used.

But if money wasent an issue id ofc buy new. As with most things..

[jimcav]

I have or had 8 sets of edge/enve over the years: 1.38, 2.68 and 65/45 set, 1.45, and 1.45 clincher (3 of these came from buying bikes here). All these have now gone on to others. I now have 3.4 clinchers, 6.7t, and soon will get 8.9t. I only had 1 issue--Jake at Enve didn't even ask about receipts, gave me a RA#, told me ahead of time that they did not have spokes to match, and that they would do my other wheel at crash replacement cost so they would match--so rear, free, front crash cost--like $240 or something. The incident was a fluke thing that damaged the brake track so wasn't related to materials/workmanship, etc.
Having been down the "warranty" road with topolino and zipp wheels i bought new and had receipts, well, that warranty only had as much use as toilet paper--in 3 cases they just denied warranty saying it was impact damage--which if you saw the roads involved would make you piss yourself laughing...at the time i had 3 sets of topolino and 2 sets of zipps. I got rid of all of them and will never buy another wheel from either--sold my zipp cranks too (no issues, i was just pissed). Inbetween was corima, who honored their warranty, it just took awhile.
I had good luck with reynolds wheels (in the sense i had no issue of any kind), they sell a pretty cheap crash policy too.
Enve hands down, they are great, for me they have been worry free.

I am entertaining purchasing a new wheelset. Enve is at the top of the list given their ability to handle a, cough, larger rider (I'm 195). The cost for used wheelsets is significantly less but there is no warranty. Enve is now giving a 5 year warranty on new rims.

So, my question is, does the 5 year warranty justify buying these wheelsets new or should I save the money upfront and buy a used set without the warranty?

Interested in hearing some opinions.

Cheers,

GG

[regularguy412]

I've had good luck with Easton warranty work. Broke a spoke on a rear EC90SL tubular after less than 1,000 miles. I paid shipping on it to be shipped out there and they replaced the spoke. Turns out, they had a bad run of rear, drive-side spokes. I ended up breaking another one on the same wheel less than a year later. I typically avoid pothole issues, so it was really a defect. Second replacement,, they paid shipping both ways and basically sent me a new wheel , complete with a new free hub spline.

That replacement has been good for over a year now and I have no suspicion that anything else will go wrong.

Great wheels and great service.

Mike in AR:beer:

[kgreene10]

I've ha three pair of Easton wheels and although the rims and front hubs have always been good and customer service is great (real life racers manage the wheel service center), the rear hubs have all given me problems, even after Easton's retrofit drift kit.

I now have a pair of Reynolds on DT Swiss 240s and HED's in CK R45 and both have been worry free.

I bought the Reynolds used and dd have to get them rebuilt. The prior owner lived back east and may not have know that salt had corroded the spoke nipples. They have been great since the rebuild.