So I got my first ride in today on the combination of the Enve Foundation 65s with the Specialized S-Works Turbo RapidAir 2Bliss Ready in 28. These are on my Trek Emonda (prior gen, not the one that was just released). I’ve ridden the Emonda exclusively with Bontrager Aeolus 3 TLR Disc D3s (Bontrager Aeolus 3 TLR Disc D3 wheelset review - BikeRadar) with Conti GP 5000 TLs in 28 for most of last season and so far this year, so that’s my basis for any comparison.
One tricky thing in making assessments is that I changed two things, the wheels and the tires, but had no choice given that the 5000 TLs are not on the compatible list for the Foundation 65s.
As I mentioned previously, the S-Works tires installed easily after I taped up the 65s. I still wish Enve would start pre-taping their wheels, but they weren’t hard to tape up with the provided tape. I installed a new set of 160mm Dura-Ace rotors and a new Dura-Ace cassette. I also put on a fresh Dura-Ace chain prepped with Silca’s new wax.
Out of interest I weighed the front wheel with the Dura-Ace rotor installed as well as the tire and Stan’s Race sealant in, and it came out to 2.11 lbs on my Park scale. My Bontrager Aeolus 3 TLR D3 wheel, with the same size Dura-Ace rotor and Conti 5000 TLs was 2.01 lbs, so a tiny bit lighter. The sealant though hasn’t been replaced in a few months, so may be somewhat dried out at the moment.
For today’s ride I inflated to 58 psi (I weigh about 153 lb but carried a 2L USWE back plus 3 bottles on the frame today due to the 90+ degree temps). Plans were for an endurance ride and I last 92 miles, so it wasn’t the fastest ride, but gave me plenty of time to get a feel for the tires and wheels.
The most interesting thing was that for the first 30 - 40 miles or so I thought the tires felt a bit “harsh”. Almost like they were over inflated and transmitting more buzz than expected. My initial thought was that the Conti’s feel much smoother on the road. But then after about mile 40 or 50 they seemed to smooth out. Initially I thought it just may have been a change in the pavement, since the roads I ride are a mix of smoother and rougher asphalt as well as some chip seal, but the feeling persisted right to the end of the ride. Pressure wouldn’t explain it either because if anything the pressure should have gone up a little in the heat. Regardless, nice and smooth rolling after the initial break-in period. Given the endurance pace to the ride, averaging about 20 mph, I wasn’t railing any corners at 40 mph, but any corners I did hit the felt solid and stable. I hit one section of gravel in the latter half of the ride with a lot of loose but small stones and they handled this great too.
With the caveat I’m basing this on just one longish ride, it does seem like the the Specialized S-Works Turbo RapidAir 2Bliss Ready in 28 are a good match for the Foundation 65s. I suspect the 26s would work really well to for crits. I’m very curious if anyone else noticed that the “break in” period that I found today. I don’t tend to flat a lot and I’ve gone two seasons without a flat on the Conti’s, so we will see how they Specialized tires match up as I get more miles on them.
The wheels definitely wanted to go faster than I was going for a lot of the ride. Anytime I pushed above 20 mph, they wanted me to hold the speed. In the drops on the long straight sections of road, once you have them up to speed they do help you hold it. I was doing a bit of high end Z2 and lower end Z3, and seemed to be carrying 1 - 2 mph more than I would on the Bontragers. However below 20 mph there was little difference between the two. In the few sections where I was pushing a bit more speed, you could hear a bit of a whoosh noise as the wheels cut through the hot humid air. It will be fun to take these out for some shorter, more spirited rides.
The free hub sound on the Enve’s is a little louder and coarser sounding than the Bontragers, which I believe use DTSwiss internals. The bearing in the Foundation wheels are a step down from what is in the SES wheels, steel instead of stainless steel. I’m unclear what impact that will ultimately have in the long term, but hopefully they hold up well. The Bontrager hubs have been bullet proof for me to date.
There winds were calm today, so I really can’t comment on cross-wind stability. This is an area I’m really interested to see how they perform given the deep dish but also Enve’s reputation as handling crosswinds well. I rode in some wicked crosswinds in Maui in January when doing the West Maui Loop on the Bontragers, and despite being only 35mm deep, the front wheel was getting knocked around a fair bit. Those wheels are two generations old though now, so I suspect the new Bontrager’s are probably better shaped.
I picked up my Foundation 65s when Westernbikeworks had them on special for $1168. I had been considering them for a while, but when the special popped up a few Sunday’s ago, I pounced. For that price, I do think they are a solid “value”. The Specialized S-Works Turbo RapidAir 2Bliss Ready tires also appear to be a nice option as a tire for them. I’ll post an update as I ride them more and experience some different conditions, but for now I’m definitely really pleased.
