I have a tough time believing they are happy with their sales given the nature of how the company was sold.
Well, ENVE has been for sale for quite awhile, primarily because it was a rounding error for AMER. It just wasn’t a good fit. At this point, I don’t think we know the terms of the actual sale. So it may be premature to say what the nature of the final sale was.
However, none of that negates my point re: a premium sales strategy. Not every brand / product is sold with the idea of doing “maximum” volume. Moreover, you can be unhappy with your current sales but still believe in a premium sales strategy.
Case in point - our primary product category is dominated by private label products (~65% of the units sold). The national brand, however, uses a premium product pricing strategy. They don’t go below a certain price point, despite the massive sales volume potential. In addition, they decline to participate in opportunities to supply retailers with private label products. They have done an excellent job of developing a brand, its value and the associated higher retail prices (and margins) that go with that strategy.
My guess is that the impact of overseas sourced, D2C brands were a large driver of ENVE’s Foundation wheel line. Those wheels dramatically reduced the cost of acquiring ENVE wheels, at the expense of a minimal amount of weight and reduced branding.
So now the choice is a set of Foundation wheels for ~$1200-1400 or D2C Chinese wheels for a little less than$1k.
As for their main wheel lines, the industry has shown time and time again that there is a significant market for premium priced products.
I see this a lot in the guitar industry. Boutique builders who are happy to build a few premium priced guitars, market them as exceptionally high quality, and not flood the market with cheaper product.
In fact, I’ve seen a couple who decided to make cheaper builds from sourced parts in order to fill increasing demand, and as a result, completely undercut the market for their premium product…and ended up going out of business as a result.
As long as one turns a profit, or at least breaks even. Losing money over the long term is not a good business plan, except in the rare cases where some operations are run at a loss to offset or can be carried by more profitable ones. The pictures of ENVE’s operation looks like they have invested in a lot of very expensive equipment that needs (needed?) to be paid for but also be maintained and profit would be needed to be upgraded at some point and innovation costs too. Growth can also be double edge sword.
I suspect that ENVE is profitable in its current form but not “enough” for a company like Amer.
At this point in the market, I don’t think the naming of “ENVE” is much help. I’m sure there was a time when people had actual envy seeing others ride ENVE wheels. And during that time, it was a great name. But with all the high-quality competition at less than half the price, I see their wheels, all I can think is “OVERPAID”
Well, yeah….no business survives without profit. 
As noted above, and in the articles posted, ENVE’s total business was basically a rounding error for AMER. My guess is they had visions of creating a cycling mega-portfolio, but as so many “business” people discover, the bike industry is a different beast altogether. What can look like easy pickings is actually very difficult to achieve.
I think “Proud to buy something designed and manufactured in America”. I get that there are a lot of cheap Chinese alternatives and I don’t judge people who buy them, but I do think there is a market for people who want to support a local company and who are willing to pay a premium for that product.
That’s always been my feeling on the branding - I’ve always found the name kind of off-putting. I guess “Conspicuous Consumption” was always going to be too long, though.
And @Pbase - totally agree on buying American/local when possible. But my issue is as much with the name as the price, since it seems more targeted to someone who wants it very clear how much they spent.
Well, a lot of the issue with the name goes back to the origins of the brand, when it was named EDGE and had a similar logo that was the same, backwards and forwards.
They were forced to change the name due to trademark issues and settled on ENVE as the name (4 letters, starts with “e”) and revised logo made for an easier transition than coming up with a whole new branding strategy.
I thought it stood for Expensive. No, Very Expensive. 
Huh, that’s super interesting. I remember Edge Composites - had no idea it was the same company. Definitely makes sense from a design perspective. But I’ve always found the name just a little bit gross.
It’s an interesting take. I’ve honestly never even thought about it. Now I am going through names. Why are GIANT bicycles normal size? Why are Specialized bicycles genericized? Why doesn’t anyone ever go on long and difficult hikes with their Trek?
ENVE isn’t the first wheel brand to use the name. I’ve been re-watching the American TV series “The Wire” while doing my indoor rides. The series is set in inner-city Baltimore. Some scenes are filmed in the shop of an over-priced car wheel seller. On the wall hangs chrome car wheels branded “ENVY.” The popular series originally ran from 2002-2008.
Top 5 series of all time!!
2 Likes
Oh, this is entirely my issue. I grew up very close to my grandmother who lived through the Depression. She was EXTREMELY disapproving of anything even a tiny bit ostentatious.
I’ve honestly never associated the name ENVE with the word envy interestingly enough. It always looked to me like a restylized EDGE, and it always gave me the impression more of an acronym.
I have never been a super fan of their products in general though. I have some of their bits on various things and most are just meh.
Relating ENVE to “envy” had never occurred to me either.
Re competing against cheap mass-market stuff, it can certainly be done. Brands can truly earn a premium for their products in many ways, whether that be in objective qualities, subjective qualities, or totally intangible things like trust.
I trust Nikon with my cameras because I believe their product quality is superior to much cheaper brands. I pay BMW a premium because their products are “reliable enough” (my prior cars, a dozen Hondas and five Teslas, were all more reliable than my Beemers) but the product experience (driving experience, fit/finish/interior, performance, tech, etc.) are superior. Premiums are earned (or not!) in different ways.
I know that the Chinese people, as a society and culture, are capable of marvelous attention to detail and impeccable quality in fabrication. But I also believe that most mass-produced Chinese products are either of lower-than-promised quality, or low-but-as-promised quality, and I HAVE NO IDEA whether their the safety margins, research/QA, and other intangible things that make me trust their products are great, slim, or nonexistent.
On something like bike wheels, where ONE fall and serious injury will cost me tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills and at least tens of thousands of dollars in lost income, you can bet good money that I’m looking at the best-known and -reputed Chinese brands as options… but I’m strongly pulled by the “trust” factor in the direction of brands whose positioning and history is of high engineering quality and a premium product/support.
Sometimes a much higher price is overpaying. Sometimes you’re paying for better engineering, design, testing, customer support, longevity, and other intangibles.
Yes Im sure some people wont go with the overseas brands for the reasons you mentioned but I also think Enve is getting squeezed on the other side by the high quality house brands of Trek and Specialized that can be bought aftermarket or just come with the bike. And those wheels are also optimized for the frame. So I think their market will continue to shrink from both. There is the made in USA aspect and you see them being specced on US built frames like Litespeed. Thats a reasonable niche but Im not sure how much more market there is.