Spied this modern classic in What MTB’s long term test bike section (Orange 5 RS).

“Most Important Upgrade?
ENVE M60 wheels £2600
Super pricey and a touch on the narrow side but their stiffness gave extra accuracy in nadgery lines. The Freehub bearing needs a fettle now”

Decode:
“A complete and utter rip off because they are too narrow, no stiffer than a decent alloy rim, the freehub bearings are knackered, they cost £2200 more than a decent Mavic/Stans/Hope wheelset or we could have bought 6.5 Mavic/Stans/Hope wheelsets for the same price”.

Sold.

Shirley, if you need to spend £2600 on a new bike to upgrade it the bike must be pish.

You would have to be mega rich or sponsored to justify spending £2600 on a set of wheels, wouldn’t you?

I’m not against spending decent money on bike stuff and do not necessarily think 4 to 5k is too much to spend on a bike but £2600 for a set of wheels? Do they fly?

I’d never spend that much on wheels, but I did get a chance to spend a day abusing the Enve AM rims on a DH uplift and they feel great, they felt stiff, tracked better than my 521s and were lighter. I’d love a pair but I will never be that rich. Best wheels I’ve ever ridden to be honest. Think they were laced to Pro 2s.

Tom KP

Do they fly?

Of course – package them appropriately and send by air mail.

Not the first mega wheel essential upgrade I have seen in a bike mag. it may even be the same mag who upgraded a whyte hardtail with carbon wheels that cost a similar amount to the original bike.

Original bike £4200 + Enve Wheels £2600 = £6800 for an Orange 5

Just had a look at the article- it’s not saying this is essential or a recommendation for owners, it’s just that they all picked out 1 upgrade that they’d done to their longtermer and in this case, it was those wheels.

duir – Member
£4200 for an Orange 5

FTFY

FTFY

I’m 41 so I had to google what that means………thanks.

£4200 for an Orange 5

At that spec pretty much any bike will be expensive – especially a boutique bike.

You may not consider an Orange as a boutique bike, but they are – ie manufactured in Europe (or US), sold in small numbers, highly configurable at point of purchase, manufacturer-supported demo’s, constantly evolving etc and loved by their owners (I’m not one).

a boutique bike = overpriced. the standard bike is 3900 and comes with cheap ass EN323 rims. being made in the UK or Europe doesn’t equal quality

being made in the UK or Europe doesn’t equal quality

No, but it does mean it’ll cost more.

Just to be clear, my original post wasn’t about the price of Orange 5’s or how good they are or if they are boutique. My post was about paying £2600 for a set of wheels, then saying they are too narrow, the free hub needs fixing and claiming they make “nadgery” (is that a real word) terrain easier to ride more accurately.

I think I would prefer to buy a really sorted rear shock (£400) and have a couple of spare wheelset/tyre (£800/£200) combinations for different riding.

£400 + £800 + £200 = £1400

That leaves £1200 to pay for a couple of amazing holidays with your new bike!

Still each to their own.

i find my light bicycle rims (likes enves only wider and with nicer graphics) can be a bit punishing in nadgery terrain (if nadgery means rock gardens)

2.6k on a wheelset is a bonkers

I’d agree with northwinds summary- it reads as though the best upgrade he had was an expensive set of wheels given to the rider to test. Obviously a £2600 wheel upgrade should have a massive impact on the ride. Making it very important. I don’t think it reads like they are saying you should get that upgrade yourself.

I think the £2600 might be a misprint, every ENVE wheel upgrade I’ve seen is £1600 (SC and intense)

Whether you think that is worth it is another matter.

FTFY

I’m 41 so I had to google what that means………thanks.

It can mean a couple of things…

Fixed That For You or… F*^€ That F*^€ You…

Original bike £4200 + Enve Wheels £2600 = £6800 for an Orange 5

Minus the value of the wheels that were on it.

Something some folk need to realise in the classifieds, you can’t just as the value of upgrades to a bike and say that’s it’s worth now.

But yeah £2600 on some wheels is pretty ridiculous, even more so when they are too narrow.

Having now read the article I agree it’s not suggested but just the best bit he used. Still, £2600 for wheels is mental.

Nadgery = awkward shitty corners with no flow.