Enve G23 or DT Swiss CRC 1100 Spline 38T Wheelset?

Hi - Looking for some help in deciding between two wheel sets for my Open UPPER build. I know both will be excellent. I was leaning toward to Enve G23, but some friends have expressed concern that everything is done in house (or Chris King hubs) with Enve. I was going to pair these with Compass Barlow 38 mm tires.

I have G23's and absolutely love them; no issues of any sort, mine have the alloy Enve hubs. I have had numerous Enve road wheelsets over the years and I have had nothing but trouble free/no truing or whatever experience with all of them. I'm not light, ~#185, so I am not a delicate rider..

What are the "in house" concerns? Yes, Enve makes their rims, they have great builders and use quality hubs; not sure what there is to be concerned about??

I would also consider the Bontrager Aeolus Pro 3V's. As someone who's owned Enve, Campy, Zipp, Mavic, Bontrager XXX, road wheels, these Aeolus gravel wheels are at the same level quality for a lot less money.

Thanks for both of your posts. SWGraveler, I am reassured by your comments as I am the same weight as you. This is what my LBS said about ENVE and why I was asking the question  "enve no longer does anything but their own hubs or chris king and I have no knowledge of their hubs and I dont think their rims are any better than DT".

Happy to share my $.02. 

I do have a few thoughts on what your LBS person said. Ironically until about 20 years ago, all DT Swiss made was spokes and nipples, not exactly a complicated product, especially back then when spokes were a lot less complicated/diverse. They bought a company, Hugi, who made hubs and DT Swiss was born as Hugi was a Swiss company. I don't know if DT manufactures their own carbon rims but Enve does. As to Enve having their own line of hubs, well not surprisingly these started appearing about a year or so after Enve was purchased by the holding company that owns Mavic. Mavic made reliable hubs long before wheelsets were a thing.The quality of their olde 571 hubs is legendary.  Given that a questionable hub would cost Enve tons given their reputation and their warranty, I really see no reason to be skeptical. Enve does still offer CK and I9 hubs; I respect not offering a bunch of choices as it just complicates things in terms of spokes/inventory/etc. At the end of the day, while people study hubs, they are not the most exciting thing and basically they just need to spin. Other than cheap stuff, do they really cause issues any more? Look at Zipp/Hed/Shimano; they don't offer anything but their own hubs.

Totally subjective here but with the understanding that I was in the bike industry for about 15 years; those comments cause me to think this person either has an issue with Enve or the margin is better on the DT wheelset. I believe DT is still distributed by QBP; their terms make large purchases easier for small shops. 

Are DT wheels raced at the top level in any discipline? I'm honestly asking; I know DD races Enve wheels at the World Tour level.. Lots of Ironman victories as well.

I had a pair of Bontrager XXX2's as gravel wheels and they were also great for me.

Pick one and ride the crap out of them and see what you think.

SWGraveler wrote:

Are DT wheels raced at the top level in any discipline? I'm honestly asking; I know DD races Enve wheels at the World Tour level.. Lots of Ironman victories as well.

At the top level riders are sponsored and ride whatever they are paid to ride, it’s really pretty irrelevant to us “normal” people.  If the hubs are junk they don’t care because they probably get a new set of wheels for every ride.  

The Enve G23 wheels are IMHO the pinnacle of gravel wheels. I prefer them with the Industry Nine hub option if you’re getting a complete wheel set from Enve.  Super light and bomb proof.

The DT Swiss CRC 1100 Spline 38T wheels are for sewup tires. This is a cross set of wheels. Not gravel.

I have ENVE AR Disk 4.5s, DT Swiss 240 hubs, on my S-Works Diverge with Compass 35s in extra light. These measure out to 37.5. This is a very fast setup and has been ridden very hard, hitting potholes at great speed, with zero negative effect. I have probably 10,000-12,000 miles on these wheels. For knobby tire needs, I also have the Stans Avion Pro wheels formerly with Compass 38 Steilacoom extra lights (that measured out to about 38.5) and now with WTB Resolutes (which measure out to 44.5 and barely fit). These wheels have also been excellent, hitting potholes at speed. They have maybe 5,000 miles on them.

My girlfriend can vouch for the ENVE G23s and G27s, on I-9 hubs, as well as the new AR Disk 3.4s on ENVE hubs. While these do not have the extreme mileage as my wheels, nor the punishment (she is very light and doesn’t hammer rough roads quite like I do), I can tell you from using them on occasion that they are VERY light and fast. I just used her G27s, mounted with Compass 48 Juniper Ridge (which measured out to 50.5) to great effect in a race, where the flotation got me through sand (which I suck at navigating) and the light weight helped me attack (and get a gap) on a rise just before a quick series of downhill turns before the finish line. And, I might add, the slicks let me sizzle the asphalt corners faster than is possible with knobs. Without those wheels and tires, I’m pretty sure I do not finish as well.

If you get the I-9 hubs, don’t distress if they seem tight for a while. The seals take some wear in.

Thanks everyone for your comments, especially SWgraveler, velogeorgia and thegreatdelcamo. Your comments and experiences with your ENVE G23's have cemented my choice to go with them. Thanks again.

Awesome; enjoy them and let us know what you think after some rides..

Any opinions or familiarity with  Bontrager Aelous 3V's at $1,300 (since price is an issue) compared to say the ENVE AR 3.4 at $2,300. Currently riding DT Swiss 1600 alloy on Warbird and looking to go bombproof carbon.

For the question of DT Swiss racers, Nino Schurter and Kate Courtney both race on them for Scott, yes they're sponsored, yes they're good wheels.  ENVE had some issues with the "open tubular" style clinchers on their road this past year and didn't handle it well (blamed Vittoria, basically) the inside of the rims is a little bit more sharp edged and in that case cut the tire sidewall.  I'm with @automa1971 above, I have some DT350s/Xrays/CN rims (mine are from far sports, very reasonable:  https://www.wheelsfar.com/grevel/35mm.html and have been trouble free.  My aluminum rims are DTSwiss prebuilts CR1600 and have also been trouble free, nice thing is (like the Thesis ad) it takes 90 seconds to swap wheels when you have the same hubs.  All the choices mentioned are good, however