Check out the stunning-looking – and smooth-riding – Enigma Evoke Mk3

If you went to the Cycle Show at Alexandra Palace, London, at the weekend you’ll have seen a stunning Evoke Mk3 titanium road bike on Enigma’s stand – and we happen to know that the ride quality is excellent too.

Bike shows aren’t great for photography – messy backgrounds, lots of people milling around, and so on – but you can still see that this is a beautiful finish. Although the back end is left as bare titanium, the frame fades into a red that gets deeper towards the front of the bike. The fork, seatpost and stem are included in the treatment from Enigma’s in-house facility.

The letters of the word ‘Enigma’ are randomly scattered through the paint job. With gold logos to finish things off, it’s a real stunner.

The Enigma Evoke Mk3 finished third in the road.cc Recommends Road Bike of the Year awards 2022/23.

> road.cc Recommends Bikes of the Year 2022/23: the best road bikes 

Launched just last summer, Enigma says that the latest edition of the Evoke was inspired by classic race bikes and is best suited to “summer club rides, fast solo blasts, all-day epics, sportives, and even the occasional race”.

We really liked the previous generation and many of the features were carried over to the new incarnation – for example, space for 32mm tyres. This Mk3 model comes with internal cable routing, a T47 threaded bottom bracket, and stiffer chainstays for improved performance when climbing or sprinting.

The frame also features custom butted, size-specific, 3Al/2.5V titanium tubing which, Enigma says, “ensures riders across the size range get a consistent ride feel, with optimised stiffness, comfort and weight saving”.

The head tube is CNC-machined and, although they don’t come as standard, mudguard eyelets can be added for you.

We delivered our review here on road.cc last October, Stu Kerton reporting that “there's a buzz-taming smoothness despite the Evoke exuding performance thanks to plenty of stiffness where it counts”.

> Read our review of the Enigma Evoke Mk3 

That stiffness is particularly noticeable around the bottom bracket. There’s very little noticeable flex in that area meaning this is a great bike for getting the power down. Although the Evoke is firmer than many other titanium models, you still get a good level of vibration damping.

Our review model weighed in at 8.8kg – which is none too shabby for a bike with disc brakes and deep-section wheels – and it actually felt lighter than that out on the road.

The Evoke’s geometry isn’t as aggressive as that of an out-and-out race bike but it’s not too far off. It’s a performance bike but just dialled back a notch or two. It’s not an endurance bike either, sitting somewhere between the two.

An Enigma Evoke Mk3 frame is priced at £2,199 with set spec bikes starting at £4,400.

If you have more money available, you can upgrade the finish. A brushed finish with satin bead logos is standard but you can have the reverse – a satin bead finish and brushed logos – for an extra £225. Enigma offers various other options, like a polished rear triangle, right up to a custom paint finish. The complete red bike shown at the top of the page, built up with a Shimano Ultegra Di2 groupset, is £6,600.

www.enigmabikes.com