Enve 3.4 SES 2015 Review vs Zipp 303/404 Firecrest 2014

Posted in: Blog, Cycling | Sep 23, 2014 at 2:18 PM

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INTRODUCTION

I have been in the hunting process for an excellent all-rounder wheelset. To me all-rounder means:
– Have some aero capabilities. I’m not a big fan of a shallow ie. 22-24mm wheel somehow with my type of pedaling I just can’t get a good power out of them.
– Very stiff for climbing. I have ridden various wheels from Shimano Dura Ace C35 2012, Chinese wheels, Mavic R-SYS SL 2012, stock Bontrager Race, stock Bontrager Race Lite TLR to Zipp Firecrest 2014 303 front/404 rear and I have to tell you (details later) that not-so-stiff wheels will make climbing very-very difficult especially when you are standing a lot.
– Does not feel heavy on the rear while climbing.
– Not affected (or slightly affected) by crosswind especially on flats and descending.
– Rear hub rolls well.
– ~1500gr max weight.
– I won’t need that much effort to change tires. This is a biggie for me. Some wheels I’ve had, depending on the tires you choose, are either difficult or very-very difficult (ie. blisters level difficult) to put tires on especially if you put on non-folding endurance tires eg. Gatorskins.
– Braking is a priority but not that important for me as my speed ain’t that great anyway.

Comfort is definitely not a big priority for me.

SPOILER ALERT

Let me tell you upfront that I can confidently say that the Enve 3.4 SES 2015 is the best all-rounder wheelset I’ve owned so far and definitely tick all the criteria I mentioned earlier. But let me go into more details.

RIDER PROFILE

Height: 170cm
Riding type: Commuting daily, weekend short or long hill rides. Never race.
Riding frequency: Commuting 40km 5 days a week. Short hill (~80km) or long hill (~130-150km) on either Saturday or Sunday.
Weight: 70-73.5kg (depending on season).
Strength: 200watt @ 160bpm.
Starting cycling: October 2010.
Bike: Trek Madone 7 2014 53.5cm top-tube.
Total bike weight (with Enve): 7.02kg
Total bike weight (with Zipp): 7.04kg

ENVE 3.4 SES 2015

I have been wanting to ride Enve since few years ago. The only reason why I never bought one was the cost! But now looking back I should have bought them anyway rather than wasting my money on other wheelsets that in the end don’t cater for what I’m looking for. So my wheel hunting journey continued and finally I purchased the Enve 3.4 which I am very content about right now and I can see myself riding it for a long time.

I purchased the Enve through a local Perth supplier who sourced directly from USA. Just in case you’re interested his name is Ben – 0420 982 695. Very nice guy and I have to admit that his price was the cheapest compared to other Enve online listings I’ve found. I bought them for $3000 while if you would have purchased them from online shop or LBS would have cost you $3400-$4000. All items are original with warranty and all that so I have no problem whatsoever purchasing from him.

The Enve came very profesionally packaged. It came with one box that catered for the 2 wheels instead of one box per wheel. Within it was also the Enve pouch that contained valve extender, Enve brake pads and user manual.

Rim tape was already applied on the wheel when I opened it.

The hub is Chris King R45. It is pretty loud with that unique bee-buzzing sound on freewheeling. I love it especially during descend. I did a short hill ride last week and my friend reckoned it sounded as if there was a motorcycle coming! And yep it’s that loud.

INSTALLATION

The front is 35mm deep and 26mm wide and the rear is 45mm deep and 24mm wide. Installing them on the bike was very straight forward except I had to take off some brake spacers for the front especially for it is a fairly wide wheel. Also with my Trek I only need to tighten the brake adjustment very-very little or else rubbing may occur due to the width of the wheel.

The rear one is slightly narrower so I could leave the spacer as it was on the bike originally.

Putting tires were very-very easy! It was as easy as – if not easier than – the Zipp wheel. I’m currently using Gatorskin 25mm for both front and rear.

RIDING EXPERIENCE / REVIEW vs ZIPP 303 FRONT/404 REAR

So how do they ride?

Flats

As I mentioned before, I prefer a deeper wheel than 22-24mm because somehow I can’t get the riding feeling I want out of the shallower rim.

With the rear one, the Enve gives a bit of weight but not heavy. The Zipp 404 rear on the other hand felt a bit heavier. I have not tried using the 303 rear but the 404 definitely felt a bit heavier than the Enve. Especially when there is a strong crosswind, the 404 just felt a lot heavier. What does this translate to my cycling? The Enve was easier to pedal with higher cadence than the 404. Does it mean that I’m faster? Very slightly (talking about 0.1kmh faster) – although my legs are less hurting since I can pedal with higher cadence. I think the 404 is better for time-trialing and when the wind is not that strong.

The Enve front feels lighter than the 303 and a lot less affected by crosswind since it’s a shallower rim.

Sprinting is also easier with the Enve. These wheels are very stiff and you don’t lose any energy when sprinting. The Zipps were supposed to be as stiff but somehow felt a lot duller on the sprinting especially that 404 rear. I’m just not a big fan of that 404 rear. It felt a bit heavier and jumping out of the saddle didn’t give you that immediate reaction. It’s like that turbo-lag on car with diesel engine.

On cross/yaw wind and headwind is where I think the Enve shines. I think this wheelset is very suitable for breakaways or leading at the front. It rolls really well and pedaling in the wind is a lot easier compared to the Zipp.

Climbs

I never understand what wheel stiffness truly means until I put my Bontrager stock wheels on. The stock wheels were only 100gr heavier but somehow they just didn’t respond on climbs. Pedaling felt soooo hard especially if you were off your saddle standing. I could definitely feel the flex difference on the stock wheels compared to the Enve and Zipps! They hurt my legs more.

Anyway, I didn’t feel any flex at all with the Enve. I could stand for an a lot longer period of time compared to my stock wheels. Compared to the Zipps the Enve was a lot snappier. Again, this could be caused by the 404 rear. The 404 felt a bit heavier and felt as if it was dragging you down while you stand on the climb. Did it make you faster on the Enve? Absolutely not. But they definitely made your legs pedaling more efficiently and smoother. I guess on a longer climb you would be less beaten down with the Enve.

Descending

This wheel is very-very fast on the descend. Was going down with 20-30kmh crosswind on the descend on my last hill climb and there was only a very-very tiny nudge on this wheel. I put on PB on the particular descent in Kalamunda, Western Australia. Check out the ride below from my Strava:

http://app.strava.com/activities/194129740

Braking

Now braking performance is what I’m not too impressed about. I was using Black Prince with my Zipps and the braking performance was on par if not better than alloy. With Enve, I have to use Enve’s own brake pads (or else the warranty is void); and to me they suck. On dry the performance is already way less impressive than the Zipps. It just feels so dull.

With the Zipp and Black Prince, you hit the break, the wheel just slows down so quickly. But not with the Enve and the stock brake pads. I’m not sure if it’s the surface or the brake pad but it just doesn’t give me the stopping power I need.

I’m yet to try it on wet conditions.

CONCLUSION

The Enve is definitely the best all-rounder wheelset I’ve ever owned. I’m only let down by the braking but I’m still curious to use Black Prince on it. Maybe I’ll do that when the warranty is running out anyway (but that would only happen in 2-5 years from now). So for the moment I’ll just stick with the Enve brake pads.

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