Introducing the ENVE AG25 and AG28 Foundation Gravel Wheelsets
By Stan Portus – 28 January 2021
The ENVE AG25 and AG28 gravel wheelsets are for riders seeking escape, looking to tear it up come race day, and ultimately riding for the fun of it. Part of the ENVE Foundation Collection, the wheels bring ENVE’s world leading tech to even more back roads, bikes and adventures.
The ENVE AG25 and AG28 are for the gravel adventurer, racer, and thrill seeker. As gravel riding begins to blur the lines between all-road riding and mountain biking, the AG wheelsets have been designed to bring the durability and performance necessary for everything from racing to bike packing.
The AG wheels are part of the all-new ENVE Foundation Collection, which was released last year. The collection takes core technology from ENVE’s top wheelsets and opens the ENVE experience up to more riders. The Foundation rims are still made by hand at ENVE’s Ogden, Utah, USA HQ like all of ENVE’s rims.
For the AG25 and AG28, ENVE has looked to its G Series for inspiration. ENVE’s Neil Shirley explains how the AG wheels draw on the ENVE G Series gravel wheels:
“Since the introduction of the G Series line two and a half years ago, we’ve been enjoying the benefits of purpose-built gravel wheels on our local Utah roads and trails, and at events such as Unbound Gravel, Rebecca’s Private Idaho, Crusher in the Tushar, and the Belgian Waffle Ride.
What those wheels have delivered to the gravel rider is a more capable wheel with pinch-flat protection, vertical compliance, and low weight. Bringing those design elements to the AG25 and AG28 is exciting knowing more gravel riders, bike packers, and adventurers will be able to experience a higher level of confidence in their wheels.”
With gravel riding becoming ever-more popular, ENVE has built the AG Foundation Wheels with increased rim widths and strength while delivering a compliant and bump damping ride feel.
“AG” stands for “Adventure Gravel”, and these wheels are designed for just that. The AG25 and AG28 are built in response to more and more riders discovering their sense of adventure and swapping the asphalt for the road less travelled. Equally at home exploring the back country to tearing it up at Tushar, these wheels are ready for anything.
ENVE Foundation AG25 Gravel Wheelset
View details
ENVE Foundation AG28 Gravel Wheelset
View detailsWhat’s the Difference Between the AG25 and AG28?
The AG25 and AG28 use all the same core ENVE technologies but differ when it comes to sizing.
The AG25 is 700c and the AG28 is 650b.The internal rim widths differ too and combined with the “AG” acronym give the wheels their names.
The AG25 has a 25mm inner rim width while the AG28 has an internal width of 28mm. This means that the wheels also take different tyre sizes with the AG25 taking a minimum tyre size of 32mm and the AG28 taking a minimum size of 45mm.
The result of this is that the ENVE Foundation AG collection caters for a wide range of gravel bikes, off road drop bar bikes, and adventures bikes.
Confidence Inspiring and Comfortable Rim Shape
Riding on rougher terrain without suspension brings its thrills, but it can be taxing on the bike and body too. The goal for the AG Foundation wheels was to develop a rim shape that would smooth out the ride while still delivering a confidence inspiring feel when it comes to handling.
To achieve this ENVE tested over a dozen unique carbon laminates with a cohort of test riders while using data acquisition tech to see how the rider’s feedback compared to empirical data.
The test riders found that the slightly heavier laminates provided the best ride feel. The data showed that the final laminate was most capable of absorbing and damping any buzz.
ENVE also found from its data that the final laminate on the AG25 delivers the best balance of weight, impact toughness, and comfort for a wheelset at this price point.
The shallow 21mm rim design also works to improve the ride b further damping any vibration.
Anti-Pinch Flat Wide Hookless Bead
Taking your bike along gravel trails comes with an increased possibility of hitting gnarly debris, or an unexpected pothole. You might even seek out the odd small drop – who could blame you? But with this comes the added risk of pinch flats, where the tyre compression against the rim leads to a puncture.
However, the AG25 and AG28 use core ENVE technology to protect you against such mishaps.
ENVE is the only wheel brand to have anti-pinch flat protection built into the rims. It does this with its patent pending Wide Hookless Bead Design, which is used across the Foundation family including with the mtb AM30s.
The increased width at the leading edge of the wheels dissipates energy and prevent pinching. The rim’s edge structure is designed to absorb energy and improve impact resistance, while the profile and carbon laminate are refined for compliance, weight saving and strength.
According to ENVE’s testing, the results of this design are:
• 60%+ improvements in pinch flat resistance
• 30%+ improvements in impact strength
Moulded Spoke and Valve-Stem Holes
ENVE has been moulding spoke holes since its very beginnings. Why? Simple. Compared to drilling spoke holes, moulding spoke holes keeps the carbon fibres from being cut and leaves them intact for a lighter, stronger rim structure.
Another benefit is that ENVE can control the shape of the rim at the spoke/nipple interface with greater precision. ENVE rims feature a conical nipple seat that prevents premature spoke fatigue while also ensuring wheel-build reliability.
The consequence of this technology is that ENVE rider’s find that their wheels require very little maintenance and fewer broken spokes.
Wheelset maintenance is minimised, and ride quality is maximised with the AG25 and AG28. This is because as all ENVE Foundation wheels are made by hand at Saddleback’s bespoke wheel building facility, ensuring the quality that can only come from hand-built wheels.
ENVE Foundation Hubs
The AG Foundation wheels use the ENVE Foundation Road Hub.
The Foundation Road Hub features ENVE’s core hub technologies. The hub shell uses simplified machining without compromising flange geometry and wheel build stiffness. The drive mechanism uses Instant Drive 360 technology and a 40t ratchet to deliver responsive engagement, minimal drag, and low maintenance performance. The bearings are premium full contact sealed NTN steel bearings. The Rotor attachment is center lock. The hub is available in Shimano or SRAM XDR.
The AG25 and AG28 are also available with the Industry Nine 1/1 hub. This is a great hub for the Foundation Collection as it balances high performance and is function first. It is the hub ENVE use for the Foundation AM30. The 1/1 has 90 points of engagement at 4 degrees and has a dual phased-pawl mechanism.
Lifetime Incident Protection and Five-Year Warranty
ENVE products are designed so you can ride and race with confidence. But ENVE has your back too.
The AG25 and AG28 come with ENVE’s Lifetime Incident Protection. This means that if any mishaps lead to damaged wheels, ENVE will replace your AG’s to keep you rolling on your best set of hoops.
The 5 Year Warranty protects you against any defects in materials and craftsmanship.
Key Features
- ENVE Foundation gravel wheelsets
- Available in 700c or 650b
- New rim shape tailored to the demands of gravel riding
- Anti-pinch flat Wide Hookless Bead
- Moulded spoke and valve stem holes
- ENVE Foundation Lifetime Incident Protection and 5-year warranty
- Rims handmade in America and wheels hand built at Saddleback
AG25 and AG28 in Detail
| AG25 | AG28 | |
|---|---|---|
| Rim Diameter | 700c | 650b |
| Inner Rim Width | 25mm | 28mm |
| External Rim Width | 33.5mm | 36.5mm |
| Rim Depth | 21mm | 21mm |
| Rim Weight | 360g | 372g |
| Wheelset Weight | 1460g | 1460g |
| Minimum Tyre Size | 32mm | 45mm |
| Recommended Tyre Size | 36mm – 50mm | 47mm – 57mm |
| Hub Model | ENVE Foundation Road or I9 1/1 | ENVE Foundation Road or I9 1/1 |
| Free hub options | S11, XDR | S11, XDR |
| Rotor Attachment | Center Lock | Center Lock |
| Spokes | Sapim CX Sprint | Sapim CX Sprint |
| Nipples | External brass (black) | External brass (black) |
| Hole count | 24 | 24 |
| Tubeless Compatible | Yes | Yes |
AG Foundation vs ENVE G Series
The AG Foundation wheels benefit from ENVE’s experience developing and riding the world’s premier gravel wheelset, the ENVE G Series.
This is how the AG25 and AG28 stack up against the G Series G23 and G27 Wheels when it comes to rim width, weight, impact toughness, stiffness and price.
| AG25 | AG28 | G23 | G27 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inner Rim Width | 25mm | 28mm | 23mm | 27mm |
| Weight | 1460g | 1460g | 1287g | 1257g |
| Single Side Impact Toughness (inches) | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
| Double Side Impact Toughness (inches) | 10 | 10 | 8 | 10 |
| NDS Lateral Stiffness (ft-lbf) | 209 | 270 | 201 | 249 |
| DS Lateral Stiffness (ft-lbf) | 198 | 266 | 196 | 240 |
| Price | £1850 | £1850 | £3050 | £3050 |
