ENVE M635 Boost 29 Chris King Wheelset

ENVE M635 BOOST 29 CHRIS KING WHEELSET
The ENVE M635 is the brawnier brother of their M630 wheelset. It’s a trail wheel, designed for the wide-ranging needs of the riders who tilt a bit more toward descending—the 6 of the 6 series is for 60% descending, 40% ascending. You climb as part of your riding, but descending is where you see the fun being. The M630 comes either as a 27.5” or 29” diameter wheel, in either Boost or standard hub choices from DT Swiss or Chris King, with Centerlock or six-bolt mounting.

The 60/40 split is to explain that this wheel is light, but bulked up a bit for more audacious descending. This rim is the middle child of the 6 series, wider and deeper than the M630, not as wide or deep as the 640. The molded carbon rim has a triangulated shape to maximize strength and durability while minimizing weight. It is 26.5mm deep, like the 630, but the internal width goes up to 35mm from 30. The internal width is what dictates the tire shape. The outer width is 43.5mm, which demonstrates the extra material they put at the rim end.

Recommended tire width for these wheels is 2.5” to 28”. Recommended suspension travel is 100-160mm.

As always, spoke holes are molded and designed for spoke nipples to sit inside the rim for greater strength. The rim’s internal channel is designed hookless to keep the rim strong, hold the tire beads in place, to minimize pinching, which can even happen on tubeless tires. There’s a central trough in which tie tire sits before air is pumped in, then the air lifts the tire and moves it against the rim walls. There’s actually a slope that helps push the beads against the rim walls, a plus for those times when you’re running low pressure.

Rim weight is 414g for the 27.5”, and 441g for the 29”.

The wheels are built up with 28 spokes, front and rear. Spokes are Sapim’s CX-Ray. These spokes are light, aero, and incredibly strong. For those three reasons, it didn’t make sense not to go with aero spokes for this application.

There are two hub options, DT Swiss 240 and Chris King.

DT Swiss, the 240 model, a light, super-reliable design that runs on smooth, durable bearings. Both Centerlock and Six-Bolt rotor mounting is available. As mentioned, there are two hub options, standard and Boost. For the standard, it comes with a 100x15mm front thru-axle and a 142x12mm rear thru-axle. The cassette body is either a Shimano/SRAM-compatible design or a SRAM XD Driver body. DT Swiss hubs are easily adaptable via pressed-in endcaps, so long as you’re going with standard hubs. For those hubs, you can get an adapter for 12mm front thru-axle or front quick release and rear quick release.

Chris King is available in their ISO hub, Six-Bolt Mounting only. As with DT Swiss, you can choose standard or Boost hubs. For the standard hubs, the front thru-axle is 100x15mm only, the rear 142x12mm only. Chris King rear hubs come with either a Shimano/SRAM-compatible cassette body design or a SRAM XD Driver body.

Complete wheel weights for Boost wheels are as light as 1484g for the DT Swiss Centerlock in 27.5” and 1541g for 29”. Standard hubs yield lighter wheels still. That includes the weight of the rim strip, which is included. Also included with the wheels are tubeless valves.

The ENVE M635 Wheelset keeps things light, while offering you the opportunity to ride bigger tires.