By now everyone knows that these rims are available. Widths, weights, pricing, etc... are all on the ENVE site.
I wanted to start a thread to share some info that is quite pertinent to the ENVE rims, but that you won't find on their site.
For starters, I built 4 of these wheels today. Most noticeable and most impressive: The tension balances are as good as can be gotten with human hands and eyes-really, really nice.
Next, I wanted to know how well these rims aired up tubeless. Essentially, I installed and attempted to inflate each of these tires using only a floor pump.
Maxxis Ardent 2.4 EXO
Maxxis Ikon 2.2 EXO
Bontrager FR-3 TLR Team
Bontrager 29-3 TLR Team
Bontrager 29-4 TLR Expert
Specialized Purgatory 2.4 Control
Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.4 Tubeless
All of them went on easily without a tire lever. They all also came off easily without a lever.
I used no suds, no sealant, no voodoo--just the supplied tape and valve. My reasoning for doing it this way is simple: If a rim/tire combo needs a compressor in order to seal up tubeless, then it is very likely (almost a guarantee) that I'll be able to burp air out of it or completely peel it off the rim at some point. This experience was learned early on and has been reinforced over the last ~8 years. If I can inflate it with only a floor pump, the chance of burping or peeling drops drastically.
On the first go-round I was only able to get the Racing Ralph to inflate and seal up. Nothing else. That was kind of surprising. I noted that some of the tires were coming close to getting the beads to 'pop out' into the hooks, but with a floor pump it just wasn't happening. This is fairly common with many of the other tubeless-ready rim/tire combos on the market, and is easily 'fixed' by adding a second layer of tape to tighten up the tire fit. I do this on my own personal tubeless wheels as it also substantially decreases the chance of a tire burping or peeling off.
So I added a second layer of tape, spent a few minutes evenly mooshing it down into the rim cavity, then started again with the tires.
On the second go 'round, The Maxxis Ikon was tight going on-not so much that I needed a tire lever, but close. I needed a lever to get the Ikon back off. Everything else went on and off by hand.
Also on the second go 'round, neither of the Maxxis tires would inflate. Not even close. But *everything* else went right up to pressure and stayed there without audible leaks. Pretty sweet.
No doubt sealant will be needed to keep these tires inflated week after week, but that was beyond the scope of my 'bench test' today.
So there you have it.
Questions? Your own experiences? Feel free.
Cheers,
MC
I wanted to start a thread to share some info that is quite pertinent to the ENVE rims, but that you won't find on their site.
For starters, I built 4 of these wheels today. Most noticeable and most impressive: The tension balances are as good as can be gotten with human hands and eyes-really, really nice.
Next, I wanted to know how well these rims aired up tubeless. Essentially, I installed and attempted to inflate each of these tires using only a floor pump.
Maxxis Ardent 2.4 EXO
Maxxis Ikon 2.2 EXO
Bontrager FR-3 TLR Team
Bontrager 29-3 TLR Team
Bontrager 29-4 TLR Expert
Specialized Purgatory 2.4 Control
Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.4 Tubeless
All of them went on easily without a tire lever. They all also came off easily without a lever.
I used no suds, no sealant, no voodoo--just the supplied tape and valve. My reasoning for doing it this way is simple: If a rim/tire combo needs a compressor in order to seal up tubeless, then it is very likely (almost a guarantee) that I'll be able to burp air out of it or completely peel it off the rim at some point. This experience was learned early on and has been reinforced over the last ~8 years. If I can inflate it with only a floor pump, the chance of burping or peeling drops drastically.
On the first go-round I was only able to get the Racing Ralph to inflate and seal up. Nothing else. That was kind of surprising. I noted that some of the tires were coming close to getting the beads to 'pop out' into the hooks, but with a floor pump it just wasn't happening. This is fairly common with many of the other tubeless-ready rim/tire combos on the market, and is easily 'fixed' by adding a second layer of tape to tighten up the tire fit. I do this on my own personal tubeless wheels as it also substantially decreases the chance of a tire burping or peeling off.
So I added a second layer of tape, spent a few minutes evenly mooshing it down into the rim cavity, then started again with the tires.
On the second go 'round, The Maxxis Ikon was tight going on-not so much that I needed a tire lever, but close. I needed a lever to get the Ikon back off. Everything else went on and off by hand.
Also on the second go 'round, neither of the Maxxis tires would inflate. Not even close. But *everything* else went right up to pressure and stayed there without audible leaks. Pretty sweet.
No doubt sealant will be needed to keep these tires inflated week after week, but that was beyond the scope of my 'bench test' today.
So there you have it.
Questions? Your own experiences? Feel free.
Cheers,
MC