It could be that the Enve's flex more. Maybe Trek CS just wants you to buy Bontrager wheels.

For what it's worth I tried fitting my 404 NSWs on my Speed Concept once and it was tight and I think those are ~26.5 at the brake track. The issue wouldn't be with fork clearance up front but whether the brakes could open wide enough. SwissStop makes thinner brake pads to give you a bit of extra clearance.

Edit: but I wouldn't bank on it

A buddy has ENVE 7.8 set on his SC and everything is fine.

Don't have any first hand experience but I think they will fit. You will definitely need to move all flat washers to the other side of the brake arm. And you may need to use the thin enve brake pads/holders that come with the wheels. I believe they are much thinner than the bontrager pad holders which will open up more clearance. Then you have the small centering screws on each side of the brake arms for a little more clearance.

Thomas Gerlach rides enve 7.8's on his speed concept I believe. Perhaps he can confirm.

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Good info everybody. I bet it works but it will be tight. Just dont hit a pothole and get untrue. Hoping some other people chime in with real world experience.

I went to gerlach website and looks like hes pushing HED, maybe he switched over to HED?
Enve rep said he hasnt heard any issues but thats just one rep and who knows.

Ill just ride w/o front brakes and its settled. Ha.


JF

I use them. No problem. It is close.

I hit up Thomas Gerlach in a pm and he said it will work. Man, 29mm is w i d e !. I havent seen them in person but when I look at my 25mm ones currently I cant imagine how thick its gonna look.

ENVE rep said the brake tract tapers slightly as it goes outwards by about .5mm each side. Not sure if thats what you guys seeing also. So Im guessing effective actual brake tract will be about 28 ish mm but thats a guess.

Wonder why they dont say that on the specs section of the wheels. Im guessing many would like to know...

JF

I have two seasons on my SC Gen2 with Enve 7.8 rims. The only precautions are:

• Use the "shaved" brake pads on the front brake (8mm) versus the full width (10mm) for the rear. The extra clearance is good for adjustability.
• Don't expect exceptional braking performance with the 7.8 textured surface and the SC brakes when wet. The SC brakes are "average" when dry and go to hell with carbon rims when wet. Give yourself time and distance. It is a known issue specifically with SC brakes and textured rims at Enve.

Other than that, the brakes sound like a jet engine when slowing down, it's a pretty cool sound.

As for the flexing, I have the Powertap version of Enve 7.8's so cannot speak to other hubs. The rims aren't the problems of flex, nor lacing or tight spokes. It is the location of the brakes relative to the frame which puts some movement into the system. You're going to get some rub when powering up hills, usually standing and climbing with rocking the bike. Expect to tinker with the rear brake width adjustment slightly (the 2mm adjustment screws on the brake arms) to get them close enough for comfort to the rims without too close for some rubbing when climbing.

EDIT to add: You'll get both sets of brake pads with the wheels, the standard and thinner versions, and really nice valve extenders with a rubber sleeve on the extenders.

Rubbing? On hill climbing...? You say only when really torquing it up the hill. How about torquing it in the flats, have you noticed anything.

How much space do you currently have b/w the wheel and pad for front and back? 2mm 3mm?

Rubbing only on hill climbing when I'm cranking out more watts and rocking the bike. Doesn't rub on flats unless I'm sprinting for a town sign, which means never on the TT bike (road bike group rides/races only).

I don't know the gap so a couple of MM's only. You'll experiment but it isn't enough so that the gap is SO wide that grabbing a brake leaves you with nothing. But I don't snug the brake up to the wheels either.

So, yeah, maybe 2-3 mm.

Thx. Did you do anything different with the washers on the brakes? Seems like they will def have to be on outside. As a matter of fact...I just took a look at the trek manual. They say to put them on outside for rims 24-28mm. Yes, 28mm. Ha ha. Customer Serv said widest is 26.4mm.

Also noted that they rec'd 2mm of space b/w the wheel/pad. Sounds like thats what you have...so sounds do-able.

Not to beat a dead horse but the HED Jet Black rims are really the way to go. From an aero perspective, I'm not aware of them giving anything up to anyone and the braking is phenomenal.

Heading to HED website now...hahaha.
Will take a look.
I also looked at the Bonty 7 and 9 combo...

They're well-built, strong, and aero but with abysmal braking. The first time you use them in wet weather you'll regret buying them. No so with the HEDs.

Roval CLX are 29.9mm outer diameter. Thats the spec for the rim brake...wow.

Keep in mind that sometimes manufacturers spec brake track width and sometimes they spec the width at the widest point of the rim. HED Jet+ rims are 25mm at the brake track but bulge closer to 27.5-28mm at their widest point. I can't imagine the CLXs are 29.9 at the brake track... practically no conventional caliper brakes/pads would work with them.

So the Roval are far wider than the 7.8 and the Roval fit with plenty of room to spare in my 1st year Gen 2 bike. There are a couple of keys. There are some washers that may be used to push the pads closer to the rims, those need to be on on the outside not the inside. Moving to the inside will move the brake pads in a couple of mm. You also may need to adjust the brake lines depending on how they were setup by you or the shop. You basically want to widen everything out as far as possible, back out all the set screws, and then set the cable stopper so the brakes are fully open. You should have plenty of rim if you do this but if you don't you can always use thinner pads as well.

But yes, I am a huge fan of the HED JET+ that are now sold out at CC. At $800 or whatever was the final price they were a no brainer. I do like the Blacks but they are quite a bit more expensive but the braking is incredible. I was messing around with Roval CLX 64 that has Ceramic Speed Bearings, a Enve 7 with Ceramic Speed Bearings, and a HED JET+ Black. Tire weight and weight distribution is pretty close but not exact. All mounted in a SC front end and the Roval went for about 90 seconds, the Enve about 3 minutes and the HED JET+ Black with the non-ceramic bearings at 5 minutes. They are all used and broken in. Was just testing this because a troll was talking about how bad HED bearings were. Crazy how silky smooth their non-ceramic bearings are. I have said this a couple of time in different threads but HEDs strong point hasn't been in marketing but they make darn nice wheels.

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Yep. Wide load.
I agree though, some sites publish the max width and the brake tract width. Others do not. When I called ENVE they said it looks like it tapers down but I'd like to think that they would have that spec ready if someone asked. It's not listed on the website as two measurements.
Jf

Good info. Thx.