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Chumba Cenote x Wheels Manufacturing
A Copper-to-Blue Singlespeed Showpiece for ENVE Grodeo
There are bike shows, and then there’s ENVE Grodeo.
Every June, ENVE turns their Ogden, Utah headquarters into a two-day love letter to custom bikes and dusty roads. Friday is the Builder Round-Up open house an invite-only gallery of some of the most creative frame builders on the planet, complete with factory tours, food trucks, and a lot of nerding out over details. Saturday is the GRODEO ride itself: a big, self-navigated ~90+ mile gravel loop in ENVE’s backyard Wasatch mountains that’s more about community, challenge, and good times than a finish-line clock.
This year, we teamed up with our friends at Chumba to bring a very particular flavor of fun to the show: a Chumba Cenote singlespeed, built around our SOLO-XD Single Speed Conversion Kit and dripping in Colorado Copper, black, and blue.
What Is ENVE Grodeo, Anyway?
If you haven’t been, Grodeo is ENVE’s version of a perfect gravel weekend. The Builder Round-Up on Friday is an open house where a couple dozen builders roll in with their wildest road, gravel, and MTB creations often with new ENVE bits bolted on and hang out with riders all afternoon. Think art show meets factory tour meets mini festival.
On Saturday, the GRODEO ride heads straight into ENVE’s local mountains on a big backcountry loop long climbs, chunky descents, and a course that’s more “choose your own adventure” than taped-off race track. It’s fully supported but self-navigated, limited to a relatively small field, and intentionally not a traditional race. You can ride it as hard or as chill as you want; the point is the experience.
It’s the perfect backdrop to show off a bike that’s built to be ridden hard and stared at.
Why Chumba?
If you’ve followed Wheels Manufacturing lately, you’ve probably seen our growing relationship with Chumba USA. They’re a small, rider-owned brand building metal bikes in the U.S. gravel, mountain, and all-road platforms designed for real-world riding, from local gravel laps to big bikepacking missions. Chumba Bikes
Chumba’s whole thing is:
Made in USA frames in titanium and steel
Ride-first geometry—progressive without being silly
Custom spec and finishes so each build actually reflects how you ride
We’ve already teamed up with them on previous show bikes, and every time the collaboration feels natural: their frames and finishes plus our bottom brackets, thru axles, and small parts make for bikes that are both beautiful and meant to get dirty.
So when the opportunity came up to do a Cenote gravel build for ENVE Grodeo, we knew we wanted to lean into something a little rowdier and a lot more colorful.
Meet the Cenote: Built for Modern Gravel
The Cenote is Chumba’s progressive suspension-corrected gravel platform designed for the kind of events that mix fast gravel, broken jeep roads, and honest singletrack into one big question mark of a route. Chumba Bikes
A few highlights from the frameset:
Geometry that blends concepts from their Terlingua, SL, and Yaupon platforms
Longer front-center, slightly slacker head tube angle, and a touch steeper seat tube angle for confident handling with a short stem and wide bar
Built around a 40 mm suspension fork like the Cane Creek Invert, while still playing nicely with other big-name gravel forks
Sliding dropout options that let you run UDH, T-Type, singlespeed, or a traditional geared drivetrain
Clearance for big rubber (up to 29 x 2.0") while still feeling lively with 700 x 40–50 mm tires Chumba Bikes
In other words, it’s exactly the kind of bike that belongs at Grodeo and it’s an ideal canvas for a singlespeed build.
The Color Story: Copper to Blue to Raw
For this ENVE Grodeo show bike, Chumba absolutely went off on the finish.
The Cenote frame carries a copper-to-blue and raw motif:
Rich, warm copper tones up front
Deep blues that echo anodized components and ENVE graphics
Raw metal peeking through to remind you this thing is meant to be ridden, not just photographed
The finish ties directly into our Colorado Copper parts and the accent colors on the build, so from a few feet away the bike reads as one cohesive piece, not a frame plus components bolted on after the fact.
Wheels Manufacturing Touchpoints
To tie the whole bike together, we kitted it out with a handful of our favorite pieces:
SOLO-XD Single Speed Conversion Kit for XD/XDR hubs in a mix of Colorado Copper, black, and blue
A Wheels Manufacturing seatpost collar in black for a clean, low-profile clamp that lets the frame finish take center stage
Colorado Copper headset spacers to pull the warm tones from the frame straight up into the cockpit
Colorado Copper T47 Bottom Bracket for rider who appriciate a little color with those smooth pedal strokes.
The SOLO-XD kit is the heart of the build. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s our adjustable singlespeed conversion kit for XD/XDR freehub bodies—designed so you don’t need a new wheelset just to go singlespeed. You get:
A machined cog
Lockring
A stack of spacers that let you fine-tune chainline and visual balance
On this bike, the trio of copper, black, and blue creates a subtle gradient that echoes the frame finish while still doing the boring stuff well, like holding chain tension and keeping engagement quiet and solid.
Why Singlespeed at Grodeo?
Could we have built the Cenote with a wide-range 1x drivetrain and called it a day? Absolutely.
But Grodeo is the kind of event where singlespeed just makes sense:
Long day, big climbs, chunky terrain
Everyone’s there to test themselves and their gear a bit
The vibe is more “shared adventure” than elbows-out race
Rolling into a non-race race on a singlespeed gravel bike is a statement: you’re here for the challenge, the simplicity, and the stories you’ll tell at the end of the day.
The Cenote’s progressive geometry and suspension-corrected front end give it plenty of control on the rough stuff, and the SOLO-XD kit keeps the drivetrain about as simple and reliable as it gets. Pick your gear, commit, and go turn pedals.
Chumba x Wheels: More Than a One-Off
For us at Wheels Manufacturing, collaborations like this go way beyond a show weekend.
We love working with partners like Chumba who:
Share our obsession with precision and durability
Believe in domestic manufacturing and small-batch craft
Want to build bikes that will still feel relevant and rideable years down the road, not just look good on a show floor.
The Cenote singlespeed for ENVE Grodeo is another chapter in that story a rolling example of what happens when frame builders, component makers, and events like Grodeo all pull in the same direction, make bikes that riders actually want to take out and thrash.
Where You’ll See It Next
We’ll be sharing more detailed photos and build notes from the Chumba Cenote ENVE Grodeo bike across our channels soon. Keep an eye on:
Wheels Manufacturing blog and social feeds
Chumba USA’s channels for their side of the story
ENVE’s Builder Round-Up coverage to spot the bike in the wild ENVE Composites USA
In the meantime, if this build has you thinking about:
Going singlespeed on your gravel bike
Adding a bit of Colorado Copper flair to your current ride
Or spec’ing Wheels parts into a future Chumba build
…reach out. We’re always happy to talk gear, builds, and bad ideas that might actually be good ones.
The Highs and Lows of the Colorado Trail – As Seen on Bikepacking.com
This summer, Wheels MFG marketing manager (and resident trail masochist) James Flanagan finally lined up for the Colorado Trail Race on a full-suspension bike built around a Wheels drivetrain and a prototype chainring. Bikepacking.com just published the full story and video, following his highs, lows, storms, hike-a-bike, and all the little moments in between when a neat CTR plan meets real Colorado trail. It’s less “I crushed it” and more “here’s what actually happened out there.”
For us, it’s the perfect mix of real-world product testing and honest storytelling from someone who lives and rides where our parts are made. If you want to see our components getting a proper Colorado shakedown and ride along for James’ attempt, you can check out the full feature and video here:
👉 The Highs and Lows of the Colorado Trail – Presented by Wheels MFG
Behind the Scenes at Wheels MFG: The Radavist Shop Visit
Earlier this year, we had the chance to welcome Boulder-based writer and photographer Hailey Moore from The Radavist into our Louisville, Colorado headquarters. She spent the day walking the shop floor, talking with our team, and pointing her lens at the machines, raw materials, and small details that usually live behind the “Employees Only” door.
The result is a super fun Radavist Shop Visit that peeks behind the curtain at how we do things here at Wheels Manufacturing.
What Hailey Saw Inside Wheels Manufacturing
If you’ve ever picked up one of our derailleur hangers, bottom brackets, axles, or chainrings and wondered “How do they make this?” Hailey’s piece is your answer. In her write-up and photo set, she highlights:
Made-in-Colorado manufacturing: How we start with raw bar stock and plate, then turn, mill, and finish components entirely in-house.
The machines that never sleep: CNCs, lathes, and finishing equipment that are constantly chewing through aluminum and steel to keep shops and riders rolling.
People behind the parts: The crew that programs tools, checks tolerances, deburrs edges, and obsesses over the details most riders will never see but definitely feel on the bike.
From service parts to new products: How we’ve grown from “the derailleur hanger brand” into a full ecosystem of service parts, tools, bottom brackets, single-speed kits, and now US-made chainrings.
It’s a nice mix of shop-nerd content and storytelling, exactly what you’d expect from The Radavist.
Why This Visit Matters to Us
We’ve been quietly machining bicycle components in Colorado for decades. A lot of what we do is intentionally low-drama:
Make parts that fit
Make parts that last
Keep bikes out of the stand and on the trail
Hailey’s visit put a spotlight on that everyday work—showing how much intention goes into the parts that don’t always get top billing in a build list or bike check.
If you’re a:
Shop mechanic: You’ll recognize plenty of parts you’ve grabbed out of a bin a thousand times.
Framebuilder or OEM: You’ll get a sense of the manufacturing backbone behind the hangers, BBs, and axles you spec.
Rider who likes to know the story: You’ll see where your components come from and why we care so much about keeping production local.
Go Read the Full Story on The Radavist
We’re incredibly grateful to Hailey and The Radavist crew for taking the time to come by, ask good questions, and tell our story in their own way.
👉 Check out the full shop visit and photo gallery here:Wheels Manufacturing Shop Visit on The Radavist
Give it a read, scroll through the photos, and if you like seeing behind-the-scenes manufacturing content, let them know in the comments.
Thanks for supporting what we do, whether that’s wrenching with our parts in the shop, speccing us on builds, or bolting our components onto your own bike at home.
Take a Shop Tour of Wheels Mfg with Gravel Cyclist 🎥
Every once in a while we get to pull back the curtain and actually show what goes into the parts you bolt onto your bike.
Recently, Jayson from Gravel Cyclist stopped by our Colorado headquarters to film a full video tour of Wheels Manufacturing HQ, from the machines cutting bottom brackets and derailleur hangers, to the line where we’re making our all-new chainrings, and the crew packing orders to head out the door.
👉 Hit play on the video below to:
Walk through our shop floor and see parts being machined in-house
Watch how our new chainrings are made from raw material to finished part
Get a look at how we think about durability and serviceability
See where Solo-XD, Solo-Spline, hangers, and all the small but critical bits are made and shipped
If you enjoy the tour, do us (and Jayson) a favor:
Give the Gravel Cyclist video a thumbs up
Subscribe to the Gravel Cyclist channel
That support helps keep in-depth, nerdy bike content alive.
And if those shiny new chainrings you see in the video catch your eye, you don’t have to wait they are live on the website.
NEW Wheels MFG - MTB Chainrings
Wheels Manufacturing is leveling up drivetrain performance with the launch of our all-new mountain bike chainrings. Built for riders who demand durability, smooth power delivery and rock-solid chain retention, these chainrings bring the same precision and reliability that Wheels Mfg has been known for since 1988.
Our first release hits with SRAM 3-Bolt, 3mm Offset 7075 aluminum chainrings in 30T, 32T and 34T, available in seven anodized colors so your bike can finally be as matchy as your cockpit. Riders can choose between our Standard Narrow-Wide tooth profile or Hyperglide+ compatible option, engineered for maximum chain control and ultra-quiet engagement.
This is just the beginning. More mounting standards, more offsets and more tooth counts are already in the pipeline for 2026. Whether you’re riding singletrack laps, enduro stages or big-day backcountry missions, these rings deliver the blend of performance and durability that modern drivetrains demand.
SHOP NOW
The Bike That Almost Wasn’t! Our Colorado Copper Sanitas Finally Made It Home
The Bike That Almost Wasn’t! Our Colorado Copper Sanitas Finally Made It Home
We had big plans for the Philly Bike Expo this year. Front and center in our booth was supposed to be a one-of-a-kind Sanitas Cycles titanium Pistil Soft-Tail fully decked out in our Colorado Copper anodized components. A clean, bold build that showed off the best of what we make, all in our signature colorway.
Then… it disappeared.
Somewhere between Colorado and Pennsylvania, it vanished. Lost in transit. Despite days of searching, tracking updates, and a few panicked phone calls, the bike didn’t make it to Philly. We were bummed. So was the Sanitas crew. This build deserved a spotlight.
But here’s the happy ending: the bike finally made its way back to Sanitas HQ, safe and sound.
And now, we finally get to show it off.
This is the Colorado Copper Sanitas build that almost wasn’t. A clean titanium frame brought to life with our anodized components:
SOLO-XD Single Speed Kit – simple, fast, and coppered out
T47 Bottom Bracket – built for longevity and smooth power transfer
Headset Spacers + Top Cap – the little details that tie the whole build together
Wheels MFG Thru Axles – because solid connection matters
Seatpost Clamp – clean, secure, and color-matched
A huge thanks to Sanitas Cycles for the build and for rolling with the punches when the bike went MIA. It didn’t hit the Philly show floor, but it’s too good not to share.
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