If you’re paying close to £300 for a setapost, you’d want it to be flawless. And the Enve post isn’t far off. The construction and the finish are suitably high-end, while the styling really separates it from other posts, most notable due to the elegant clamp design. But the clamp isn’t just good looking; it really did make securing and adjusting the saddle very simple indeed. As for the ride, it’s a comfy post that dampens and absorbs a treat, making it well-suited to on and off-road adventures. If you can get past the cost, the Enve seatpost is a real winner.
Reasons to buy
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Great construction with a beautiful finish
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Patented clamp works a treat
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Absorbs road and trail buzz
Reasons to avoid
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High price tag - £290
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Not the lightest in its class at just over 200g
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Enve is known for its beautifully-turned out and reassuringly expensive carbon components. This seatpost is no exception. It’s visually appealing, with some great performance-led features and an exorbitant price tag to match.
Enve carbon seatpost - the construction
The Enve carbon seatpost is available in 25.4, 27.2, 30.9 and 31.8mm diameters. You can chose between zero or 20mm setback but the post only comes in one length, 400mm. Our post was the 27.2 model with zero setback.
I get the feeling that if Q presented James Bond with a road bike it would be dripping in Enve bits. The US brand has carved a niche making high-end carbon components that are subtle yet high-performing, with plenty of in-built technological treats.
The seatpost certainly fits the billing. It’s typically understated in its looks. It features a pleasing shape; the smooth, natural lines are helped by the fact there is no bonded aluminium clamp here. Instead Enve have opted for one-piece carbon construction, with the twin-bolt clamp mechanism sitting inside a circular enclosure. Even the wedges that comprise the clamp have softened edges. Its look is completed by the now-ubiquitous stealthy graphics. If a seatpost was ever required to double-up as a piece of art, then the Enve post would be it.
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(Image credit: Luke Friend)
On my scales it weighs 202 grams. Light but not exceptionally so. At this price point seatpost you might expect it to be lightest in class. But Enve has built its reputation on more than just making objects for those preoccupied with reducing the weight of their bikes. Take this seatpost’s clamp design, for example.
Seatposts by nature are simple beasts. Dropper posts notwithstanding, the clamp is the only mechanism. Most posts have adopted versions of the same system for years, with a variation in the number of bolts often the only difference.
Enve have chosen to take a path less trodden, creating a patented twin-bolt design to clamp the saddle rails in place. It’s straightforward to use once you’ve figured out the principle (or indeed watched Enve’s installation video). Essentially, the clamp is made up of an upper and lower rail clamp and two opposing wedges that sit below and are tightened to first adjust the position of the saddle and then to hold it firmly in place
(Image credit: Luke Friend)
It works a treat. You get two upper clamps so you can run 7x9mm carbon rails or 7mm round alloy rails. The lower clamp can be reversed depending on your desired saddle angle in relation to your frame’s geometry. Once the saddle rails have been inserted in between these two clamps it's just a case of tightening the titanium bolts with a 4mm allen key. Micro adjustments are possible once the saddle is pretty much in place: tightening the front bolt will lower the saddle, while tightening the rear will raise it.
Getting a saddle straight in the clamps can, at times, be a minor faff. Too often the clamp mechanism can be slow to react or overly sensitive to the tightening of the bolts. Not here. I had my saddle set and tightened almost immediately. It really was that simple. Once on, the seat looked reassuringly solid in its level position. I trusted it would remain so once I got riding…
Enve carbon seatpost - the ride
I’ll be honest, when it came to Enve, there was a time when I wondered what all the fuss was about. Then I rode a set of its gravel wheels. My expectations of its products were forever raised by this syrupy smooth set of hoops. I had high demands for the seatpost.
After a few rides, both on road and off, I was seriously pleased at just how quiet the Enve post was. Vibrations from the roads and the dirt tracks were minimal, evidence that the seatpost was helping to absorb plenty of buzz. As the miles ticked away I actually stopped thinking about the post and just enjoyed the smoothness of the ride. And as for the clamp? It was as strong and as reliable as I’d hoped.
(Image credit: Luke Friend)
Reviewing bike parts is somewhat subjective. So to better try and evaluate the performance of the Enve seatpost, I swapped in another expensive carbon seatpost by way of comparison. I did this again with a high-end aluminium model.
The results were as I might have expected. All the posts performed really well. All of them helped reduce chatter. The carbon posts had a little more ‘give’ in them. But ultimately it would be tough to say that any of them outperformed the other by any serious margin.
Enve products are always going to appeal to those with deep pockets. You can definitely find cheaper carbon seatposts. You’ll find lighter ones too. And, in all honesty, you’ll probably find ones that perform comparably albeit not with such an ingenious or stylish clamp.
But bikes and bike parts are more than just functional items. We’re drawn to bicycles and components that not only appear to fit our performance criteria but also our eye. Enve makes lovely looking parts, including this seatpost, that no doubt provide joy to those who shell out their hard-earned cash for them. And in the end, it’s hard to argue against that.
Luke Friend has worked as a writer, editor and copywriter for twenty five years. Across books, magazines and websites, he's covered a broad range of topics for a range of clients including Major League Baseball, the National Trust and the NHS. He has an MA in Professional Writing from Falmouth University and is a qualified bicycle mechanic. He has been a cycling enthusiast from an early age, partly due to watching the Tour de France on TV. He's a keen follower of bike racing to this day as well as a regular road and gravel rider.
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