The ENVE Fray makes a good case for itself being the best all-road bike, but does it make sense?
There’s nothing like your mates for keeping you grounded. “You’re not good enough to ride a gold bike!” was Rich’s only comment when I turned up to the ride on the ENVE Fray. Harsh, but fair really, although I’d argue that the shiny ‘Venom’ paint job is more green than yellow.
The Fray is ENVE’s all-road bike, sitting between the MOG gravel bike and the Melee road machine. All three bikes are only available in the UK as a ‘chassis’, which includes the stem, bars and seatpost (all from ENVE, naturally); however, in the US, you can buy just the frameset without the other components. Currently, the UK gets three colours as opposed to the seven available over the pond, although this may well change. Clearly, with so many colour options, the Fray has been a success for ENVE, which has used its extensive carbon know-how well in its succinct range of frames.
Light off-road is no problem on the Fray, even with road tyres
The thing is, though, that the Melee, ENVE’s most road-orientated bike, already has 35mm tyre clearance and mudguard mounts - so where does that put the Fray?
The Fray finds its niche by offering a slightly more relaxed riding position, with a higher stack and shorter reach, along with a gravel-compatible tyre clearance of 40mm and the all-important modern accessory that no self-respecting bike should be without these days, it seems: down tube storage.
A sort of 'all-road plus' bike perhaps.
Silhouette-wise, the Fray is pretty standard-looking. The carbon frame has dropped seatstays and a sloping top tube with very little in the way of overtly aerodynamic features apart from a few D-shaped tubes. The graphics are subtle, with one nice touch being the inclusion of the frame size, reach and stack figures in small writing near the bottom bracket.
As well as the bottle cage mounts and hidden mudguard attachment points, there are also bosses under the down tube and on the top tube for extra carrying capacity. On that subject, the down tube storage is reasonably well executed, with two zipped neoprene sleeves included, in which a tube and tools can be carried.
ENVE's Cargo Bay storage includes two neoprene sleeves for tools and tubes
The frame’s numbers are, unsurprisingly, not a million miles away from other rapid all-road bikes such as the Pinarello Dogma X and Cervelo Caledonia-5, with the 56cm test bike having a reach of 389mm and a stack of 591mm. The 172mm head tube might seem a bit on the long side, but the design allows for a very low stem, so in practice it isn’t as long as the numbers suggest. Elsewhere, the wheelbase is 1008mm and the chainstays are the regulation all-road 415mm long. Seat tube and head tube are 73.5° and 72.6° respectively - a touch slacker than the Caledonia-5 and Dogma X.
Design allows for the stem to be run very low, and the bars and stem are premium ENVE components
Frame weight is given as 950g, which is pretty good considering it has the ‘Cargo Bay’ in the down tube, and only a couple of hundred grams more than most pedigree race bikes. Indeed, I weighed the whole bike at 8.04kg (without pedals), which, given the 36mm tyres fitted at the time, is very decent.
A good chunk of the UK chassis price is made up by the fact that the stem and bars retail for over £800 together, and although both are beautifully made, that is a lot of cash. At least they can be separately selected for optimum fit, unlike many one-piece systems. The inline carbon seatpost is also a premium-priced item if bought independently, with a D-shape for aerodynamics.
The final ENVE component is the carbon SES 3.4 wheelset, which uses a 39mm deep front rim and a 43mm deep rear. As standard, these come with ENVE hubs and cost £3,350 with a claimed weight of 1,390g, but our wheels had Chris King hubs, pushing the price of them well over £3,500. These rims are notable for their very wide internal width of 25mm.
The ENVE SES 3.4 wheels pushed the price of the bike up a fair bit
Initially, the bike was fitted with 36mm WTB Exposure tyres, which should be a good all-round option for mixed surfaces; however, as the rim’s width caused the tyres to measure up at a whopping 39mm, we decided to fit the smaller 30mm version. Even so, these still came up at 33mm when inflated.
Much has been written about Shimano’s 12-speed Ultegra Di2, the tl:dr of which is that it is every bit as good as Dura-Ace, just 300g or so heavier. There is no need to dwell on this area, save to mention that the Fray frame is compatible with both 1x and 2x drivetrains and that our bike had a road-biased 52/36 chainset and 11-30t cassette fitted.
As you might imagine, the (effectively) 39mm WTB Exposure tyres kind of dominated the first few rides. With that much rubber and such a large volume of air, the bike certainly felt super comfortable, shrugging off small imperfections and large cracks in the road surface with impunity. Even off-road, the bike managed perfectly well on smoother, flatter trails of the Peak District, but it was hard to get much of an impression of the frame’s characteristics.
Before a week’s riding in Spain, I switched the tyres for some 30mm ones, albeit still the endurance-orientated Exposure model. These were great for long, steady rides around Denia, taking in the local highlights such as Coll de Rates and Val d’Ebo. I never felt that the bike or tyres lacked pace, and my Strava times up these hills broadly matched my previous efforts (if not those of Tadej Pogacar…). It was great not to worry about the odd unsurfaced section or gravelly back road, thanks to the tyres and the bike’s relatively forgiving nature.
30mm tyres made the bike a bit more suitable to long road rides in Spain
Once back in the UK, I was keen to try the bike with a quicker tyre to help me in the competitive crucible of the Sunday club run through the Peak District, so I swapped to a pair of Scribe’s impressive Core 50 SL+ wheels, which had 28mm Hutchinson Blackbird tyres fitted. This turbo-charged the ride thanks to the lighter, faster rubber, and actually didn’t reduce compliance as much as I’d anticipated. The narrower Blackbirds have more supple sidewalls than the Exposures despite less volume, and also allowed the Fray’s carbon layup to absorb more of the buzz, knocking the edge off the vibrations whilst giving the bike a much livelier feel.
You certainly shouldn’t think that the Fray is a soft, slouchy kind of ride, though. I’d say it is slightly more direct/less compliant than the Cervelo Caledonia-5 and much more responsive than the Ribble Allroad Ti, for example. 80-100km rides were dispatched without bother, and I have no doubt that the bigger the ride, the more the Fray’s long-legged character would come to the fore. The front end just about went low enough for me to feel racey whilst the wheelbase was still short enough to feel rewarding without ever crossing over into race-bike twitchiness, and I liked the centred position afforded by the inline post and slightly lengthened chainstays.
The Fray is plenty quick enough on the road
There were some things I was less keen on, though. The Cargo Bay rattled when empty, a trait which I think is a bit unforgivable at this price point, and as the test ENVE MOG also suffered from this, it clearly isn’t a one-off. I also couldn’t make the storage work for me - it didn’t fit my usual set of tools and spares, so I simply stuffed a windproof jacket into it to keep my pockets emptier and the rattle silenced.
I also didn’t get on with the flare of the expensive SES AR Road In-Route Handlebar and found it awkward, and although the width on the tops was welcome, the lack of round 31.8mm bar for lights etc, made life a bit difficult. The In-Route stem, however, was a thing of beauty, and it was great to have been able to spec a long enough unit for me to feel comfortable rather than being saddled with the manufacturer’s spec.
My overall impression of the Fray was one of utter competence. This might seem like an odd word to use, but bear with me. It is quick, direct and reasonably comfortable, depending on tyre size, of course, and performs admirably on both good and bad road surfaces. Put skinny knobbly tyres on it and explore lanes, trails and tracks without worrying about the surface or stick some lightweight tyres on and travel very nearly as fast as a race bike. Load it up for bike packing trips or fasten on some mudguards and enjoy riding it year-round. It will happily do most things that you are likely to ask of it.
Clearance for up to 40mm tyres makes the Fray very versatile
It is a great bike (Cargo Bay rattle excepted), and one I would gladly spend many miles on, but it is an awful lot of money for a generalist machine. It would be possible to knock a few quid off by speccing more prosaic wheels, but with a chassis price of £5,500, opportunities for saving money are limited.
The Fray is a lovely looking bike that rides well, but it is expensive
There is little doubt that ENVE has nailed the brief and produced a consummate all-road, all-rounder type bike. What I struggle with, however, is its place in the market. For the £12,000 retail price of the test bike, I’d imagine most potential buyers would be better off with £7,000 road bike (still equipped with Ultegra Di2) and a £5,000 gravel bike, or even a road bike, gravel bike and an all-road bike, splitting the budget however you like.
I am giving it 4.5 stars because it is perhaps the ultimate iteration of a versatile all-road bike and that is exactly what it sets out to be, but, personally, I would struggle to spend that kind of money on a bike that doesn’t have a purer purpose.
