Irrespective of the cost, what are your thoughts on comparing the 2 wheels?
Which one would you like on your ride?
I don’t have any personal experience with either brand.
I’ll bite. I’d go with the NSW just because of the effort that they put into the brake track.
Me too. I’ll go with NSW purely because of the name is badass and looks like the wheels have been designed in some top secret lab 
On a serious note I think you would need wind tunnel data to see the performance difference between them. Looks like rock solid picks for a dirty fast wheel set. I doubt you would be able to tell any difference.
The brake surface is interesting on the NWS though as already mentioned.
I would make my decision based on the following
- What is your average speed and how windy are the conditions you would encounter. The Zipp might be better in windier conditions and at lower speeds. ENVE for calm conditions and 25+ mph.
- How wide a tire do you plan to ride? I think the Zipp has a wider internal distance between the brake tracks, so it would be better with wider tires (25 or wider)
- Warranty on the ENVE is better. If you ride on roads with lots of potholes you might appreciate this.
- While Zipp has a new hub design, the hubs on the ENVE wheels have always been always been sort of the gold standard.
- Zipp probably wins the wet weather braking battle.
The Enve’s seem much lighter that the Zipp 808 NSW.
I posted this elsewhere and thought to ask it here:
Enve 7.8 weight (per set): 1552g
Zipp 808 NSW (per set): 1810g
Are the Enve’s really 258 grams lighter than the Zipps??!!
Definitely the ENVEs. I’ve ridden & raced their 3.4, 6.7, & 8.9 and am very excited about the 7.8 – they look super comfortable and fast. Their 5-year warranty and the engineering behind it, along with the hub choice make them hard to beat. The braking is great on the “older” SES wheels, and it looks like the 7.8’s have the newer molded-in brake track. ENVE customer service has always been fantastic. Zipps are nice too – nothing against them – but ENVE would be my choice.
Zipp NSW for me. I love my Zipp Firecrest 808 and Super 9. Zipps reputation, engineering, and customer service is outstanding. The new wheels look great
I would make my decision based on the following
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How wide a tire do you plan to ride? I think the Zipp has a wider internal distance between the brake tracks, so it would be better with wider tires (25 or wider)
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Zipp probably wins the wet weather braking battle.
Not that I really prefer one over the other (except that I find the weight of the 7.8 impressive for their depth/width but a quick correction :
2. Enve website says internal width for the 7.8 is 19mm front and rear, whereas Zipp 808 NSW is 17.25mm, so it is actually the opposite, Enve have wider internal width. Not that it makes a huge difference, 15 to 17mm makes a difference, 17 to 19mm is not such a big deal anymore with a 23mm clincher tire.
- I trust the Zipp new braking surface (as also seen on 404 firestrike) is excellent, it seems Enve also has a new brake track (same as on the 2.2 ?). I have 404 Firecrest and Enve 6.7 and both brake well so that long as new 808 and 7.8 offer an improvement to something that already work well enough to me then I don’t see how I could not be happy with one or the other in term of braking
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All that being said… I’m like you guys, very interested in both but will have to make a choice. Aero comparison would we awesome but I guess it’s not coming very soon 
ENVE:
*The SES 7.8 features asymmetric rim geometries front to back. The front rim is 71mm deep and 29mm wide while the rear rims is 80mm deep and 27.5 mm wide. The dissimilar rim geometries improve the efficiency of the airflow in the system of bike frame and wheels. Because running 25mm tires is now standard, the SES 7.8 was designed with larger tires in mind. *
Interesting, but not very helpful: NSW review https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUdC3mrHcc8
The Zipp’s do look pretty awesome.
correction.
ENVE = 1552g grams with the carbon hub =$3500.
ENVE = 1657g with the standard hub = $2900.
Zipp NSW for me. I love my Zipp Firecrest 808 and Super 9. Zipps reputation, engineering, and customer service is outstanding. The new wheels look great
X2 on Zipp… Tried lots of wheelsets and the best one that I truly love, works perfectly and great people do deal with are ZIPP WHEEL.
I have Zipps on the tri bike, Enve on the road bike (Campy v shimano set-up so don’t switch them up). I find the Enve’s roll smoother. Zipp, of course, has higher resale value because of reputation, but Enve’s really are smooth
I have had firecrest 404s and 808s. I ride Enve 6.7s now and wouldn’t go back. Reliable and look great. I have had a few issues with zipp hubs in the past, but haven’t tried their latest two hub generations.
Pre-ordered my 7.8s last week - I did consider the new 808s but almost everyone I know who has ridden 404s on a consistent basis has cracked one or both of them. The 5 year warranty, crash replacement deal and the fact that a few people I know ride them daily were what convinced me to go with Enve. First race on them (providing they arrive in time) will be Taupo 70.3 on Dec 12.
I have Zipps on the tri bike, Enve on the road bike (Campy v shimano set-up so don’t switch them up). I find the Enve’s roll smoother. Zipp, of course, has higher resale value because of reputation, but Enve’s really are smooth
If both are 11-speed you should be able to switch the wheels between the bikes - Shimano and Campagnolo (and SRAM) 11-speed has the same cog spacing.
This picture confirms the 7.8 has the new brake track as seen on 2.2.
Does ENVE sell just the front wheel? Everything I find is the entire wheelset.
I don’t know I’m afraid - but I think the “sell as a pair only” idea is likely because the profiles are engineered to either avoid a particular interaction with each other or to maximise the aero benefits from doing something else. I suspect Enve would advise against mixing a newer profile wheel on one end of the bike with an older one on the other (if that’s what you’re considering).
Well that sucks and leaves me out in the cold. I already have a nice rear wheel disc with a powertap, so I just need a front. Was looking forward to getting an ENVE front. That’s kind of a dumb and annoying sales tactic, in my opinion.
I’m sure my friend Rich @ wheelbuilder.com can do something for you : front wheel only option here → http://www.wheelbuilder.com/custom-enve-ses-7.8-front-wheel.html
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