When I reviewed the original Enve Melee, my headline was: “You had me at fender mounts.”
That probably wasn’t the sentence Enve expected to define its race bike, which was aerodynamic, responsive and raced at the Tour de France by TotalEnergies.
But gravel pro Alexey Vermeulen took it even further when he won the 2022 Belgian Waffle Ride San Diego on one, muddying the bike’s identity before it had even reached customers.
Latest Videos FromCycling Weekly
But those fender mounts pointed to something important: the Melee was a serious road racing bike, but it didn’t demand that every ride, or rider, be quite so serious. With 35mm tyre clearance and wet-weather practicality, it was remarkably easy to live with. Rode beautifully, too.
The Melee V2, unveiled today, is markedly different. The mounts are gone, official tyre clearance has shrunk to 33mm and the front end is lower. The frame is lighter and every millimetre seems to have been revisited in pursuit of speed.
Enve has made the Melee V2 pointier, sharper and more overtly race-focused. The Utah-based company says that is exactly the point.
Lately, the bike industry seems intent on trading its well-loved Swiss Army knives for surgeons’ scalpels (RIP Crux 4). But before we lament the loss of another beloved and versatile bike, here’s why the Melee V2 makes perfect sense for Enve, and why I’m stoked to test it once I get my chassis built up.
(Image credit: Anne-Marije Rook)
The original Melee had to do everything
When the first Melee arrived in 2022, it was Enve’s only production road bike beyond the made-to-order Custom Road.
“We were a little more conservative with it, and it kind of needed to be the road bike for everyone,” Enve’s Neil Shirley told Cycling Weekly.
The Fray changed that calculation. Despite its more upright position, clearance for 40mm tyres, in-frame storage and fender mounts, it still feels very much like a performance road bike, only with more versatility. It is for riders who may no longer pin on a number every weekend but haven’t lost the urge to go fast. A bike that, in my opinion, most of us should be riding.
“For most people, including us, the Fray is probably the bike that we really should be on,” Shirley agreed.
With the Fray now available to carry Enve’s all-road and real-world responsibilities, the Melee no longer needed to serve such a broad spectrum. However, it also created a bit of a problem for Enve as the three models on offer sat rather closely together. Now the range is clearer: the MOG is the gravel bike, the Fray is the fast, versatile all-road bike, and the Melee is the race bike.
“That [distinction] really allowed us the ability to take the Melee V2 more extreme in terms of the fit,” Shirley said. “We have the full range of drop-bar bikes now. Let’s really sharpen this one.”
And they left no stone unturned.
(Image credit: Enve Composites)
The TotalEnergies bike that arrived too late
Unfortunately, Enve has produced its most uncompromising race bike at a time when it finds itself without a top-tier team to race it.
Enve’s two-season relationship with TotalEnergies ended before the new bike was released, but the team’s influence is embedded in it, Enve says.
“We were halfway into our first season with TotalEnergies when the development process really began,” Shirley said. “By the time we weren’t working with them anymore, that bike was done.”
Development was driven by requests for a lower position, less weight and better aerodynamics without losing the original’s ride quality. I asked Enve directly whether this was the bike it wished it had been able to give TotalEnergies.
“One hundred percent,” Shirley replied. “That’s really where so much of the development comes from.”
Due to its agreement with UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Enve does not expect to outfit another top-tier road team with its frames in the foreseeable future.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG has exclusivity, focusing Enve’s racing development on components and wheels only.
The Melee V2 won’t be absent from competition, however. Enve continues to support a broad roster of athletes and smaller programmes across road, gravel, triathlon and mountain biking.
The head tube is slimmer and deeper, using smaller headset bearings similar to those we’ve previously seen on bikes such as the Specialized Venge.
(Image credit: Anne-Marije Rook)
Faster by subtraction
The Melee V2 is a purebred racer. You can read our launch story for the details, but here are the key figures:
- Enve claims a 791g frame in a size 56, around 60g lighter than before, and says the complete system is 17 watts faster.
- Frame surface area is down a claimed 7.5 per cent.
- Enve says the two Melee frames are not meaningfully different in measured stiffness, although the original’s thicker, more mid-modulus laminate may filter slightly more road buzz. The company believes the Melee 2’s thinner seatpost and wheels help compensate.
- The head tube is slimmer and deeper, using smaller headset bearings similar to those we’ve previously seen on bikes such as the Specialized Venge.
- T47 has given way to a BSA bottom bracket.
Perhaps the most welcome change for long-time Enve users is a lighter, two-bolt saddle clamp replacing Enve’s current divisive design. Jake Pantone acknowledged that the existing system has been a “love-hate” feature for some customers and suggested the new hardware could eventually spread across the range.
“At some point, the answer is probably yes,” he said. “There’s nothing currently being done with that at the moment, but it’s likely that we’ll be migrating away from that wedge design.”
All in all, Enve says the Melee V2 feels “more pointed”, “more racy” and “a little snappier” than the first Melee.
Those are Enve’s impressions, not mine. At least not yet. On paper and standing in my garage, however, the bike looks like a rocket ship.
The minimal finish is gorgeous, too, allowing the carbon construction rather than layers of paint and graphics to do the talking. It looks purposeful from every angle. I can already identify the weakest component in my eventual build: its rider. Me.
If the frameset shows how far Enve was willing to go, the cockpit demonstrates that no watt was considered too small to chase. The cockpit features thin, airfoil-shaped drops and ships with optional pads for added comfort. Meanwhile, exceptionally minimal “aero tape” is intended to save 1.5 watts over conventional bar tape. The frame even comes with aerodynamic, frame- and position-specific bottle cages.
Considering handlebar tape as an aerodynamic liability may be the clearest indication of the new Melee’s priorities.
(Image credit: Anne-Marije Rook)
But what about us fans of the OG Melee?
It would be easy to frame the missing fender mounts and narrower tyre clearance as losses. I loved the original because its well-roundedness and thoughtful details added comfort and convenience rarely found on race bikes. It handled like a charm and was, if you will, a race bike for the people.
The new bike gives some of that breadth away. And yes, the Melee V2 may leave some fans of the original behind. But Enve hasn’t abandoned those riders; it has given them the Fray. And the Fray is by no means a consolation prize. As mentioned, it is arguably the better proposition for riders who don’t pin on numbers. The Melee, meanwhile, can pursue all-out road-racing performance.
I won’t prejudge a bike for being honest about its purpose. On looks and intent, the Melee V2 is exciting: focused, impressively light and unapologetic about the rider it wants.
I may miss the fender mounts (we’re nearing autumn, after all) but I’m also very keen to find out what Enve gained by leaving them behind.
