Enve Fray Cyclefit Review

Enve Fray - The Venn Paradox

When we previewed the Fray recently, we made the observation that the Melee and MOG somewhat overlapped on an all-roads venn diagram. And yet Enve felt the need to surgically implant a new model into the same seemingly already water-logged soil.

Imperfectly Drawn?
Does this mean that the current MOG or Melee are imperfectly drawn or that the all-roads category is the new hill to die on, and clustering models in this postcode makes sense? One persons water-logged is another persons fertile ground.

Quality Time
We spend quality time with Enve's newest bike to try and resolve if it hits the centre of the bulls-eye or just another harmless strike at an already heavily pot-marked target?

All Roads Lead To AllRoads

Full disclosure, we come at this subject with a high degree of confirmation bias. We think all-roads represents pure riding gold for many folk, who just enjoy riding their bikes but demand a great deal of flexibility about where and when they do it. But all-roads as a category requires fine judgement and balance. The project authors need to have as strong a vision of how they don't want a bike to ride, as they do.

Frame Design 101
Frame designers seem to fall into two cohorts. One that thinks that tyre real-estate is everything and more is necessarily better, simple. This cohort inevitably by necessity defaults to the argument that the effect of chainstay-length on ride quality is overblown or even illusory.

The Great Chainstay Debate
The second cohort thinks that chainstay-length is pivotal to the way a bike rides on and off road. Longer chainstays tend to feel more stable on the trail at the expense of snappier handling and power-delivery on the road.

A few caveats - firstly, not every rider wants snappy handling anywhere, least of all when they are riding ride off-road. Secondly, it is possible to somewhat offset the effects of longer chainstays by making them stiffer - but additional material means more weight. It is always a trade-off.

Certainly our guiding principle with our LANDRACE Tupelo was that for many of us 'all-roads' more accurately translates into 'mostly roads' despite the loftiest of intentions.

But First The Road

Jimmy's Law states:

"Put your money where the miles are"

Jimmy Wilson occupies our Cyclefit Fit Studio No1 at The Fire Station, and these days probably designs as many custom bikes as myself and Jules. Jimmy is imbued with a priceless combination of experience and pragmatism.

Jimmy's Law is a nasal-blast of fresh coffee grounds, to any of us about to make a bike purchasing category error. It reminds us of the absolute joy of buying the right bike and riding it all the time. And the frustration if we get it wrong.

All Right Notes...
In that context, one can't help thinking that the Fray should have been Enve's first or at the very least, second bike to be launched. It is that pivotal a bike in our opinion.

Like every Enve since their first in 2022, the Fray exudes meticulous quality and attention to detail. The finish everywhere is superb, with Enve's own understated bar/stem/seatpost accompanied with understandable smugness by 3.4 wheels on best-in-class Chris King hubs. I like Enve's bravely minimal branding and adore the Venom colour of our test-bike. Let's hope going forward that Enve manage to keep the swatch-book away from their Muji-monochrome default.

I changed a few things for the test -

• 172.5mm cranks to 165
• Enve saddle to Reform custom
• WTB Expanse (32mm) to Conti GP5000 (30mm)

Well I'll Be Slammed

It's been at least two surgeries since I (comfortably) rode a bike with a slammed stem. But the Fray's geometry is benign enough to allow an old man to join the kool-kids for a couple of weeks. The 56cm Fray is in fact 20mm higher in stack than Melee 56 and 5mm shorter in reach, whilst BB drops from 73mm to 76mm. The geometry is suspiciously LANDRACE-esque (see table). We even landed on the same acceptable maximum 38mm tyre in a 2x format.

Surprising, Unsurprisingly

The Fray is, somewhat unsurprisingly a magnificent bike, even if viewed through a purely road lens. It seems to give very little away in terms of weight and aerodynamics to the usual front-line scratchers that are preferred by London's need-for-speedsters. But it is carried with a sense of class, poise and sophistication none of them can match.

The Fray's truth resides partly in the quality of Enve's carbon technology, but mostly in the common-sense of the architect who dictated what goes where. The Fray's geometry hits a rarefied sweet spot that reflects real people's bodies and aspirations. It neither forces us to pretend that we are twenty-three years old and immortal, or so infirm as to be devoid of style and dreams. It is the master-stroke of a pragmatist. So much so that I would buy a Fray over a Melee even if I had no intention of riding off-road - the geometry and ride just works better for me.

A Road Less Gravelled

There are some gravel tracks in The Chilterns - previously known as roads. Otherwise the off-road terrain is largely dictated by topography - steep and tree-strewn. Our test-Fray was not set-up with this in mind - well for me at least - 32mm WTB tyres and 34/30 lowest gear. So given that I am allergic to having to get off and hike-a-bike, I had to choose my terrain carefully.

On my selected, fairly smooth, forest tracks above Henley, the Fray was absolutely flawless. All the speed, poise and style of the road accompanied a scrunchy soundtrack.

Gears, Tyres, Action!

But every time I tried to stray off the path, I would rapidly run out of gears and traction in the same instant. Which is a bit of a shame because the chassis felt great and ready to push on. If this was my bike I would follow Jimmy's Law and set it up for where I ride most - which could be SRAM with a 33-36 lowest gear or Shimano GRX with 31-36, and something like a WTB Riddler in a 37mm tyre. That way I could happily ride on the road but confident ride off-piste when I see a track I want to explore. The Fray would be hugely fun and effective in that guise. You could easily plan ambitious routes that mix 50% road and 50% gravel/tracks and my expectation would be that Fray would the fastest tool out there for those curated rides.

Frayed Ends

So, does Enve's Fray fall short in any department for the way I live and ride? Well, I can't see myself bolting on a set of mudguards and commuting it relentlessly through the winter. Of course you could and there will be people that will. Neither would I ride this bike on a sight unseen route. I am riding LANDRACE To Brighton next Friday (13th) with Jules and have no idea what to expect (other than the worst). I need a bike for all weather and terrain, so I will be taking one of our LANDRACE Boxer prototypes with 10-50 lowest gear, WTB Riddler 45 tyres and Redshift stem. Enve would argue that the MOG is my Friday 13th bike

Other than that Fray would be a boutique solution to all my all-roads requirements. It is hard to to think how it could be improved. But because I am a pedant I have a couple of suggestions.
Firstly I would prefer a seatpost that clamps rather than wedges. More like MOG than Melee - I am sure they had that chat in Enve in development. I don't see the need for an aero seatpost on an all-road bike.
And secondly, I am not a fan of storage that is built into a bike's tubes. But some folk must love it or it wouldn't happen - it is not cheap to design or build in.

And that really is it. The Fray is my now my preferred Enve model by quite a margin. Great geometry, finish and ride, all delivered with an overwhelming sense of up to a standard and not down to a price.

Thank you to George who made this review possible. You are the best.

Fray Highlights

• Geometry optimized for 31-35mm tyres
• Tyre clearance for up to 700 x 40 (1X Only), 700 x 38 (2X)
• Lightweight and durable carbon construction through ENVE's Material Optimized Design process
  
• Internal routing using ENVE's IN-Route System and components
  
• 1x or 2x drivetrain compatibility
• Threaded T47 bottom bracket
  
• SRAM UDH
  
• ENVE Cargo Box and Bags (in-frame storage)
  
• Mudguard compatibility
  
• Aerodynamic tube shapes and design
  
• A la carte build options
  
• Price - £5500 - including frame, fork, bar/stem seat-post