It's been just over a full year since Enve entered into a sponsorship agreement, or partnership as the brand is quick to point out, with UAE Team Emirates. Today the brand is adding Team TotalEnergies to the roster and I had a chance to sit down and talk to Enve director of marketing, Neil Shirley, and Design Engineer, Kevin Nelson, to hear what that means for the American brand.
What it does not mean is any change to the agreement with UAE Team Emirates. Call it a sponsorship or a partnership but either way, it's proven successful. Enve is responsible for wheels while Colnago and Continental handle the bikes and tyres respectively which Enve also makes. Over the course of the time this sponsorship has been active, Enve is also quick to point out that the scope has grown. Sometimes Enve describes that as a "component relationship" and sometimes as a "one off handlebar R&D project" with "Tadej Pogacar and the team requesting a one-piece version of Enve’s SES Aero Handlebar." To hear it from Shirley and Nelson, the important piece in either regard is that Enve was able to respond to a request and engineer a product quickly.
The Team TotalEnergies relationship is going to go farther than just wheels. For the 2023 season you will see the team on Enve wheels, bikes, cockpits, and even Enve tyres. From the Enve point of view this is a big opportunity to transition the brand in a very public way from a wheels and components brand to a bike company. We can all see how that benefits Enve but does it benefit the consumer? What about the sponsored team, can Team TotalEnergies expect something different compared to a sponsorship from another brand?
From the team perspective, all we have are the glowing remarks of Team TotalEnergies Manager Jean-René Bernaudeau who said, “We already knew their wheels, defined as the best in the world, and it made us very curious. October was full in discussions with their engineers at the Team headquarters. Our technicians and riders were impressed by the responsiveness of Enve. The tests carried out by our riders were more than positive and everyone, unanimously, recognized the very high technology of the bikes.
“I am delighted to associate our team with this innovative brand. We have many things to learn from our structures and have the same motivation to get great results through an important R&D work. Between our two companies, this collaboration will contribute to future victories. It’s a beautiful and ambitious collaboration which is starting. Enve lives in modernity and innovation like us. I’m sure that we will write a beautiful story. Our performance division and their Research and Development sector will work together over the next two seasons. I can't wait to start the season.”
How much does a Tour de France bike cost?
Peter Sagan's Bike: The Team TotalEnergies S-Works Tarmac
I dove a little deeper with Enve though and what Shirley and Nelson both explained was that the real point of sponsoring a team wasn't branding. Of course every company will tell you that but in this case the two pointed back to the 2016 Dimension Data sponsorship as a partial example of part of what Enve has in mind. As it turns out, that's when the seeds of the Enve SES 4.5 were born and even now that design, both hookless and high-volume, is controversial. In 2016 absolutely no one was asking for anything like that but Enve made it anyway. It solved a problem for the race team and only later made sense for consumers.
What Enve is looking to do with Team TotalEnergies is more of the same. According to Shirley and Nelson, "Enve isn't necessarily developing things for commercial success. The focus is to learn and help the team go faster." That's why the two often fall back on the term "partnership" and love to reference the one-piece handlebar as an example of the best case scenario. In that instance Enve didn't expect there to be commercial interest but when a product landed, there was demand.
Getting specific about TotalEnergies, Enve told me the team started giving them ideas and direction immediately and that's the point. Enve doesn't really represent the little guys anymore but even the biggest bikes brands aren't that big and Enve still does a large portion of the brands manufacturing at the Ogden Utah headquarters. Beyond that, Nelson touched on how his team is still small enough that they can remain nimble and they want to put that to work. The engineers want to solve problems and make things then see where it takes them. Rather than starting with an idea to sell something then putting it in front of the consumer via WorldTour racing, Enve is looking to start at the other side and hope it works out.
If that still sounds like marketing, I'm sure it is. I expect that had I been sitting down with another brand I would have heard something similar. There was something else I heard though, a concept no one said but seems to be lurking beneath the surface and a concept that many athletes can relate to.
As I talked with Enve about the specifics of what the brand hopes to gain from this opportunity, I also heard something of a plateau. Enve is proud of what the brand has done with the Melee but it also sounds like there's a search for what comes next. As I listened to Shirley understandably talk up the greatness of both the SES 4.5 wheels and the Melee frame, I didn't hear a clear direction for the future. It's unlikely I have the full picture but it sounds like part of what is happening is that Enve is hoping to have the Melee put to the test. Through a sort of baptism of fire, a nucleus will hopefully form and provide a clear path forward.
Beyond that, another layer and theme that I heard throughout our conversation was something that Enve referred to as "WorldTour problems." Meaning that even though Enve does extensive in-house testing there are certain things that only racing brings to light. This is actually something I heard from Look as well when I asked the team about details of the latest Look 795 Blade RS. Enve shed a bit more light though by explaining how bikes basically go through an accelerated torture test during a race season.
The sheer volume of washing and changing components on a bike isn't the kind of thing that a consumer bike will ever experience. Things like how constantly changing between a 54 and a 56 chainring means you need enough room on a front hanger but also how it will sometimes deform over time. That kind of information is something that a brand would otherwise never know to even look for. In that same category are any number of small changes a consumer might never notice but make a race team more efficient. Details like leaving the outside of a thru axle unshielded for ease of switching wheels even though it exacts a small aero penalty. It might make for a better bike but, again, a brand would never think of it until asked to solve an efficiency problem.
As we talked through what Enve was looking for by bringing on Team TotalEnergies as a sponsorship partner, these are the types of details that emerged. Of course not everything will make it to market but the point is to listen and problem solve. Also, the point is to put the best wheels, tyres, and frames that Enve has available through a baptism of fire.
From a consumer standpoint, it's also interesting to see how WorldTour racing technology has come full circle. More and more we are seeing brands racing on the same products we use when we head out for a weekend ride. Team TotalEnergies will be riding the Enve Melee frame and Enve cockpit in the same configurations available to consumers. Under those bikes the team will have the full complement of SES wheels to choose between but it sounds like you can expect to see the SES 4.5 wheels as a frequent choice.
Perhaps one of the more unique details I heard on the tech front was about tyre size. While consumer tyres have gotten wider over the years, race teams have been slower. Many teams continue to use 25 or 26mm tyres but Enve expects we will get to see Enve 29mm tyres on the wide and hookless 4.5 wheels. If you've ever been in a debate about the benefits, or not, of wide tubeless tyres, this year might be your chance to continue that debate as it plays out during this year's race season.
