Only a few years ago there were distinct classifications when it came to the best road bikes available. If you were light and you spent your time climbing then you’d choose one of the best lightweight bikes available. On the other hand, if you lived where the roads were flatter and your passion was outright speed then you’d choose one of the best aero bikes. There was even an option to choose one of the best gravel bikes as some gravel bikes lean towards all-road and make for a perfectly capable all-around bike with just a wheel and tyre swap.
Those choices continue to exist, made obvious by our buyer’s guides, but as technology has progressed the differences have begun to shrink. Specialized might be the poster child for this merging. It once had the highly aero optimised Venge only to later see it disappear as the Tarmac got aerodynamically faster. Enve is taking things even farther.
The Enve Melee is the first production bike from the American brand that isn’t custom. With the Melee, the Enve vision of what a modern road racer looks like is coming into its sharpest focus yet. It’s aerodynamically optimised, lightweight, and it sat at the top of a gravel race podium shortly before release. If you are looking for something from a brand that’s a little different, and perhaps a little more unique, with the capabilities to go anywhere a modern road cyclist is likely to go, keep reading.
Design and aesthetics
There are a lot of complaints about modern aero bikes all looking the same. I would argue that’s not really true, but if you want to dive deeper into why there are such similarities, and if it matters, we did run a recent article on aero bikes’ data-driven design convergence. One of the bigger points in that article is that if your goal point is singularly aero driven then that will dictate a look. That flows into this discussion because the Enve Melee looks a bit different despite being aero optimised.
As with other aero bikes, like the Orbea Orca Aero, there are certainly some similarities. The most shared design feature of this modern aero style has to be the dropped seatstays. They aren’t as low as something like the Cannondale Topstone, and don’t look so drastic thanks to the sloping top tube, but they do make for a small rear triangle. What you won’t get however…
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