Lots of Brands Make Great Gravel Bikes — But This One Nailed It on the First Try

We hit the trails to see if ENVE’s expertise in carbon-fiber components carries over to the MOG, its first full gravel build, and … wow.

By Steve Mazzucchi

Published August 9, 2024

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Updated August 9, 2024

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“A dynamic collection of riders that creates the world’s best carbon fiber products.” Those words, from an ENVE Composites promo video, sum up the company pretty well.

I came to appreciate that description first-hand a few years ago, during an eye-opening Arizona gravel camp that unveiled Evil’s controversial gravel bike, the Chamois Hagar.

The version we got to test ride was outfitted with lightweight, high-performance ENVE gravel handlebars and wheelsets (carbon, of course) that enabled this neophyte writer to survive a couple of up-and-down days under a blazing desert sun.

“We’re transitioning from a component manufacturer to a complete bike brand. But then on the other side of it, we’re gravel riders. With all of the ENVE products, we generally try to just make things that we wanna ride ourselves.”
— Jake Pantone, VP of Product and Consumer Experience, ENVE

But having seemingly mastered the construction of wheels and components for everything from road to mountain and everywhere in between, the Ogden, Utah-based company has graduated to a more … comprehensive ambition: full bikes.

After successfully entering the market on smoother surfaces (via the Custom Road and Melee), the brand had a twofold reason for the project that followed, explains Jake Pantone, vice president of product and consumer experience.

“We’re transitioning from a component manufacturer to a complete bike brand,” he says. “So there’s just sort of that logical business decision, if you wanna be a relevant player in this industry, you have to make a gravel bike. But then on the other side of it, we’re gravel riders. With all of the ENVE products, we generally try to just make things that we wanna ride ourselves.”

From that combination of passion and logic emerged the aptly named MOG (Mother of Gravel), a full-carbon off-road bike clearly designed and engineered by hardcore riders. After putting in a bunch of miles on this rig over rocks and dirt and sand, I’ve got some (mostly positive) thoughts.

ENVE MOG: What We Think

Let’s be honest, a lot of companies have been launching a lot of gravel bikes over the past few years, and it takes something extra to stand out in a crowded marketplace. So what gives ENVE an edge?

ENVE MOG (Frameset Only)

$4,450 at The Pro's Closet

“The cool thing we were able to do with the MOG is that, because we 100-percent manufacture the Custom Road bike here in Ogden, we were able to use the custom road tubing and take our gravel forks and things like that and build prototypes,” says Pantone. “So we tried a range of head tube angles, fork rakes, offsets to achieve a geometry that allows it to be a stable and easy-to-ride bike for big long days in the saddle, to riding gnarly single track. We were able to strike a really good balance.”

ENVE MOG (Complete Bike)

$7,900 at ENVE

That balance is definitely one standout feature. Others I came to appreciate are that it’s pretty freakin’ light, it can accommodate bomber tires and it boasts a host of rider-friendly little touches that boost convenience and versatility.

The result is a fast, fun bike on paved roads and light trails that can also tackle technical terrain or load up for a weekend bikepacking adventure. There’s a lot to like … and just a little to not.

The MOG’s geometry and weight are fast friends

As noted above, ENVE put a lot of research and development into the MOG’s geometry, optimizing it to tackle a variety of terrain. The frame itself is available in six sizes, and you can work with an ENVE retailer to select your handlebars, stem and seatpost, ensuring it fits you just right. ENVE also sells a complete MOG with a Campagnolo Ekar AG25 groupset (the same build I tested) to dealers if you want something ready to go.

ENVE’s command of carbon fiber means the material is ever-present throughout the bike — and that translates to a final product that is incredibly light. Weighing it without pedals with a bike scale, my test MOG (size 54) came in at a svelte 17 pounds, 10 ounces, making it the lightest gravel bike I’ve ever tested.

Those two factors together — along with streamlined internally routed cables and a 1×13 drivetrain — make for one speedy ride. On paved roads in the hardest gear, I could really hammer, and once I got off-road — taking on the Cold Spring Gravel Grinder — the bike really came to life, eating up trails without hesitation, enabling me to fly on flat sections.

Of course, these qualities are not exactly unique to the MOG. The area it really establishes its point of difference — and even its point of view on gravel riding — is literally where the rubber meets the road.

Tire volume trumps suspension

“The number one thing for us was tire clearance,” says Pantone. “One of the unique things about the MOG is it’s technically a 700c-only bike. What we found in our own riding is that in 100 percent of the instances where you could have a high-volume 700c tire, that outperformed the same-volume 650b tire.”

Without getting too in the weeds, 650b wheels typically accommodate wider tires, enabling a cushier gravel ride but sacrificing velocity. Meanwhile, higher-diameter 700c wheels are speed demons with a smaller margin of error.

“We did a lot of work to ensure that if you want to have that really fun, comfortable, capable, plush gravel riding machine, the way you get there is with a 50mm tire, not necessarily with a suspension fork. Suspension is heavy, and most gravel races have quite a bit of vert and climbing in them.”
—Pantone

That’s part of the reason many bikes offer a flip chip that lets you switch between two different wheelsets. Some bikes also feature a suspension fork, further smoothing out the ride. Not so the MOG, however.

“What we said is, OK, right now 650b can run like a 47mm tire in most of these bikes,” says Pantone. “But if we could run 700x50mm, it really eliminates the want to have a 650b. So we did a lot of work to ensure that if you want to have that really fun, comfortable, capable, plush gravel riding machine, the way you get there is with a 50mm tire, not necessarily with a suspension fork. Suspension is heavy, and most gravel races have quite a bit of vert and climbing in them.”

I wasn’t personally racing, but I did appreciate the overall effect, particularly going uphill, which was not the slog it is with some other bikes. I never felt like I needed more gears — rather, I was confident that the MOG could surmount the steep stuff if I simply continued to pedal.

The Gravel Grinder features about 1,100 feet of climbing every 10 miles, enough to get a feel for a bike’s ~~ability to compensate for its rider’s lack of fitness~~ climbing capability, and the MOG delivered.

That said, I sweated some tricky descents, thanks in part to recent rainfall leaving a bunch of gnarly little gulleys running diagonally across the trail. I had to stay alert and focused to pick my way through dicier sections, but I did find the Campy Ekar 160mm CL disc brakes to be reassuringly responsive.

To be fair, I was also running 42mm Specialized Tracer Pro 2Bliss Tires. If I dared ride this rig into serious single-track, I would likely swap in some fat 50mm tires and a dropper post (yes, it’s dropper compatible) to keep the shiny side up.

They thought of (damn near) everything

A few touches on this bike clearly signal that its creators really ride — and managed to pretty seamlessly add a lot of features that will accommodate both the racer and the weekend bikepacker without being obtrusive to either end of the spectrum.

On the racer-friendly side, one example is the integrated bike computer mount protruding from the stem, which just so happens to fit my Wahoo Elemnt Bolt perfectly. Another is Campagnolo’s unique shifting system, which lets you trigger the fastest gear with your thumb, even in a full tuck. (Its ultimate utility is debatable, but it’s kinda fun.)

The bike’s adventure-friendly elements are even more notable. This thing is absolutely loaded with mounting options, including a top tube bag mount, fork accessory mounts and a mount for a third bottle cage under the downtube.

The coup de grâce, however, is the “Cargo Bay,” a spacious storage area within the downtube itself. Removing a small cover (where one bottle cage mounts) reveals 36 cubic inches of storage, enough for tools, a windbreaker, snacks and more. In testing, I found that I could basically stash everything I needed in my jersey, shorts and the Cargo Bay, without needing to bring my typical frame pack, which tends to get in the way of my downtube bottle. Easy peezy.

The downsides are kinda shallow

My hangups with the MOG are so nit-picky, they almost aren’t worth mentioning. First off is the fact that for the most part, you aren’t really a couple clicks from having a brand-new bike show up at your door. You can order the frame, but as stated earlier, ENVE directs you to visit your local dealer to either procure a ready-made Campy Ekar build or get a more curated bike set up properly for you.

(For what it’s worth, the options for purchase have expanded a bit of late. Some online retailers, including Pro Bike Supply, now carry this exact same build for the same price ENVE suggests, $7,900. You can find it here.)

Additionally, I don’t personally love the Sand colorway I tested. Pantone — whose very name suggests we should trust him on hues — tells me they were going for a desert vibe, and I respect that. But it tends to blend into its surroundings rather than pop, making it better for guerrilla warfare than, say, Instagram.

ENVE has since released two additional options, Slate Blue and Terracotta, which you can see near the top of this page, as well as at the bottom.

ENVE MOG: Alternatives

If you dig the Sand color, or the race-ready vibe, or that Campy thumb lever, consider another fast-ass bike, the Pinarello Grevil F Ekar. If the Cargo Bay gets the bulk of your attention, peep the “Glovebox” on the Santa Cruz Stigmata.

And if you delight in the MOG’s outspoken embrace of fat 700c tires over 650b or suspension, hell, check out another pretty opinionated ride, the 50mm-rockin’, dropper post-havin’ Evil Chamois Hagar. As much as it drives people nuts, that bike cracked the GP100 a few years back. Not exactly bad company.