ENVE

Twenty6 AM Carbon Wheelset

Unlike its road counterparts, current carbon mountain bike componentry often suffers undue skepticism over its strength based on a not-so-perfect past. That, however, is changing as we see carbon expanding from handlebar and seatpost use to becoming the material of choice for high-performance frames and now, even rims -- like the ones found here on the Enve Twenty6 AM Carbon Wheelset.

Once aluminum matrixes and titanium ruled high-end mountain bike frames, but advancements of carbon fiber composites, manufacturing techniques, and polymers has boosted this wonder-weave's strength and durability to levels that now exceed the traditional constructions. In the case of Enve's carbon AM rims, proprietary molding techniques create full-carbon rims with strength and stiffness that bests most alloy rims. One ride will quickly convince you that carbon fiber provides the best steering precision due to the higher tension and stiffer platform.

The AM Wheelset isn't the lightest of Enve's mountain wheelsets, but they're plenty strong for aggressive trail riding -- while rivaling the weight of some alloy XC wheelsets. That's because Enve uses a special bladder system to increase the heat and pressure while molding the rims. This packs the layers tighter and improves the rim surface, both inner and outer, to reduced stress risers. It also means the construction can be much more precise to avoid adding excess weight.

The AM Rims are made with another proprietary Enve design -- uninterrupted carbon filaments thanks to no post-cure drilling, bonding, or machine processes. In fact, the spoke and valve stem holes are created in-place during the molding process. This results in a final structure with long, intact, and continuous carbon filaments that distribute stress loads over their entire length -- the longer the fiber, the greater the distribution of the stress. This is advantageous and the wheels are able to exceed spoke tension capabilities of other carbon fiber wheels because of it. In effect, higher spoke tension is better for the spokes, and if the rim can handle the loads, the wheel is stiffer.

The Enve AM Twenty6 is built with 32 hole DT Swiss 240 hubs.  They spin on four separate stainless steel sealed cartridge bearings. The ratcheting freehub offers tool-free access for routine cleaning and lubrication, and the freehub body is made of aluminum to keep the package lightweight. It can be converted to use the DT Swiss RWS Thru-Bolt or the X12 Thru-Axle system by using appropriate DT Swiss adapters.

The Enve AM Twenty6 Carbon Wheelset comes with two UST-valve stems and a roll of tape to seal both rims. The rims measure 31mm deep and 24mm wide and are compatible with UST tires.

Note: The rims are covered under the 5 year manufacturer warranty. The hubs and spokes are not covered under the ENVE warranty. We are only able to ship to this product to addresses within the United States.