ENVE MELEE

BEST ROAD BIKE PRICE $5,500 (FRAMESET) WEIGHT 16.2 LBS (52CM, AS TESTED)

- Dan Chabanov

WHEN YOU HEAR THE NAME ENVE, YOU PROBABLY think first of fancy U.S.-made carbon wheels, forks, and bars. For the past 15 years, these parts found their way onto some of the most drool-worthy custom bikes. Enve built its reputation in the world of bespoke bicycles and used that foundation to grow its business from a niche company to a more mainstream presence in cycling.

In 2021, Enve returned to its boutique roots with a product that few outside the company saw coming, a custom carbon road frame manufactured at Enve's Utah headquarters. That bike, simply named Custom Road, is constructed from several uniquely molded carbon pieces. Enve cuts each frame part based on customer fit data and assembles them into a finished product. It's a labor-intensive process that takes over 40 hours per frame.

The whole point of the Custom Road is that it is custom-built; it requires an incredibly high degree of attention from a dedicated production team. Enve's second road model, the Melee, was built on the foundation created by the Custom Road. But, it would be simplistic to say that the Melee is the stock version of the Custom Road.

The differences between the two bikes are more subtle and run deeper. For starters, the Melee uses a monocoque construction method versus the more labor-intensive processes of bonding carbon tubes and then wrapping with more carbon. The monocoque frame results in a lighter, more aerodynamic frame. The process is so different that it would have been unrealistic to produce the Melee alongside the Custom Road in Utah. Instead, the Melee is made in the same factory in China that Enve uses to manufacture its forks and handlebars.