These 45mm deep Enve rims are, in my opinion, the best carbon clincher rim available. They’re American made, extremely high quality, and build up weighing 160 grams less than Zipp’s 404 Firecrest while being stiffer.
Each rim is around 455 grams – approximately the same weight as many shallow aluminium rims but with much better stiffness allowing a lower spoke count to be used. Enve spoke holes are moulded into the rim rather than drilled which increases durability at the most critical point of a carbon rim. The smooth internal surface also makes the wheels easier to build than, say, Zipp where you fight against the plastic bag leftover from moulding and a very high friction rim bed – although this is my problem not yours :-)
For Stuart’s wheels I selected an Alchemy ELF front hub and a DT Swiss 240s rear. The 66 grams ELF is also American made, very light, and the wide flange spacing builds into stiff wheels. Regular readers will know I’m a huge fan of the DT 240 as it’s the lightest (222g) hub which just plain works, isn’t fragile, doesn’t go out of adjustment, runs on large bearings, and has a super durable, zero-maintenance freehub body system.
Spokes are bladed DT Swiss Aerolites with a combination of counter-bored nylock and non-nylock nipples.
These wheels are not cheap but they do represent the best is carbon clincher technology and performance.
