New wheels

reme-luke

First off sorry for another what wheels thread!
I'm looking for a new set of 'best wheels' and would just like people's advice, I think finally narrowed it down to two sets

Reynolds assault slg
enve 45 with dt350 hubs.(tubular)

A bit about me,weight wise I hover around the 78kg mark all year round. Cycle for pleasure but thinking about doing a few races this year but wouldn't necessarily use the new wheels for racing.
Current best wheels are hed Belgium plus on dura ace hubs, which are great just fancy some deeper wheels as well. The new wheels would be used for trips to majorca and the like but not the alps.
I know the reynolds are clinchers and the enve are tubs but I'm not really put off by either as have experience of tubs.

Just looking for peoples experiences of either set really.

Thanks.

sloppyschleckonds

Enve's are £1200 at Merlin at the moment. The Reynolds would have to be something special to chose over Enve.

ugo.santalucia

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Enve's are £1200 at Merlin at the moment. The Reynolds would have to be something special to chose over Enve.

I did build a couple of Enve sets (older narrow ones) and I didn't get the impression they were out of this world in terms of manufacturing and finish. Zipp rims did seem better manufactured and better finished, Mavic C40 did appear to be better assembled rims too. Is there a logic behind the status of Enve products or it's mostly some kind of "Rapha effect"?

Is it a can of worms? :roll:

reme-luke

Ugo that's what got me thinking, I couldn't really find any reviews of the enves in question so didn't want to be spending my hard earned on them just for the name, where as the reynolds do seem to be quite well thought of through reviews and peoples experiences.

ugo.santalucia

Lots of people rave about Enve, but lots of people rave about other makes too. I think the important point is that you want modern wide rims, high Tg resin and a mid profile and both seem to offer that (if you go for the newer Assault). As for the rest, they both use pretty much the same spokes and Reynolds used to come with DT hubs, although I understand this is no longer the case.
What's the difference in price?

reme-luke

Price difference is £50 with the reynolds being the cheaper of the two.

ugo.santalucia

reme-luke wrote:

Price difference is £50 with the reynolds being the cheaper of the two.

How much would the Reynolds be in tubular equivalent?

reme-luke

The only places I could find the tubular version of the assaults with shimano hub were CRC and fat birds. With the price at fat birds matching the enve 45's. But the tubular version appear to be an older model than the clincher slg version?

ugo.santalucia

reme-luke wrote:

The only places I could find the tubular version of the assaults with shimano hub were CRC and fat birds. With the price at fat birds matching the enve 45's. But the tubular version appear to be an older model than the clincher slg version?

If you don't mind riding tubulars, they are better wheels for the same money... I'd go that route... so Enve...

sloppyschleckonds

ugo.santalucia wrote:

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Enve's are £1200 at Merlin at the moment. The Reynolds would have to be something special to chose over Enve.

I did build a couple of Enve sets (older narrow ones) and I didn't get the impression they were out of this world in terms of manufacturing and finish. Zipp rims did seem better manufactured and better finished, Mavic C40 did appear to be better assembled rims too. Is there a logic behind the status of Enve products or it's mostly some kind of "Rapha effect"?

Is it a can of worms? :roll:

I'd agree the finish on the rims is far from perfect, but performance in cross winds, ride quality, stability and stiffness without being harsh make them a very good wheel.

reme-luke

Thanks for the advice think I'm going to go with the enves.