Kinda resurrecting this thread briefly as I’d like to share my experience with these wheels and the Enve tires. This is a really long post with a lot of information. The first half summarizes things and the second half elaborates on my experiences in the event somebody else has a similar experience or issue to me. Hoping my headaches will be as lesson for folks down the road.
Hub Engagement
First of all, the wheels are awesome. They look great. They feel great. And they feel fast. I ended up getting the 65s with I9 hubs. The thing I noticed immediately (and on practically every ride in the 6 months I've ridden them) is the hub engagement. All those extra teeth make snap accelerations immediate. It almost feels like I've upgraded my shifting at times because the engagement is so fast and gives the illusion of a smoother shift. The buzzing of the hub took some time to get used to as I would often think I had punctured when instead I was simply free-wheeling (although punctures did become an issue, so read on).Control in the Wind
In windy conditions, it has taken some time to get used to them. I was initially really concerned about this and avoided riding on windy days, particularly when gusts were stronger than 20 mph (more frequent then you'd think in Chicagoland). However, in the past couple months, I've become much more confident in riding them in all windy conditions, and I'd have no problem riding them every day, regardless of the conditions outside.There are two specific things I have found through experimentation that have helped with this confidence from a technique perspective. I’m certain these are useful regardless of your wheel choice, but it bears repeating here for anybody who finds this post and is concerned about this in particular.
- Move your weight slightly back in the saddle. Doing so will place more pressure onto the back wheel much like what you would do on a steep or cobbled climb to minimize slipping. This keeps the bike anchored.
- By moving your weight back, make sure to also relieve some weight off your hands. Let the front wheel have some degree of movement by removing pressure on the front end. The more stiffly you grip it and the more weight you put through the front wheel, the more likely you are to feel every twitch of the wheel and overcompensate. Let it do its thing (within reason) and you’ll be amazed how much more comfortable you’ll feel in crosswinds, especially.
I’ve now ridden in rainy conditions, super windy conditions (20 mph wind with 35 mph gusts) and can confidently say they they ride great. When a gust hits the front wheel, you’ll feel it catch for a quarter second before it fully dissipates. It’s an initially jarring feeling that becomes second nature to manage overtime.
Enve SES Road Tubeless Tire Opinions
Not going to lie. My experience here was not very rosy at the start. The first ride was excellent. I was flying. Smashing around my local KOMs that I like to go for but know I'll never beat. And then I got my first puncture. I'll start with my overall opinion on the tire and the headings after that will elaborate on my experiences that informed that opinion. For reference, I run 70 psi front and rear at 155 lbs. I've ridden at 65 psi in the rain without much issue. Original sealant was Muckoff, but I've switched to Orange Seal because the Muckoff simply didn't work at all in my experience.Tire Opinion
The Enve SES Tires are very supple and grippy, which means they roll well and are great in corners. But that also means they are prone to punctures and slashes. In a tubed set-up, they are likely excellent as they'd provide enough protection at the tire level to ensure the tube doesn't puncture, however, run as a tubeless set up, this can lead to headaches and major frustrations. One thing that helped me notice this was reviewing the routes I used when I punctured. Any route I've done that required a diversion over a crushed limestone path or a brief section of dirt to get around construction led to cuts, slashes or punctures to these tires. They are just really, really prone to this because of how supple they are. Because of that fact, critical to making these tires run great is having the correct sealant in a tubeless set up. In my experience, Muckoff sealant has been a total bust and I would never recommend it to anyone on the road. It never sealed punctures, no matter how small, even pinhole sized punctures wouldn't fully seal. Reading some reviews around the web, it would appear I'm not alone, and the below Cycling Weekly post was like looking in a mirror during my biggest frustrations with tubeless.That said, with a switch to OrangeSeal, I have become a true road tubeless believer. I’ve had a couple punctures while running this sealant, and every time it fills in immediately and I lose no more than 2-5 psi in the tires, even for holes that are a centimeter wide. It’s an astounding experience compared to the Muckoff. It just works. It’s easy to maintain. It’s easier to clean up the bike after a puncture. It’s simply better in every way, not the least of which is simply that it actually seals up punctures. That said, if I had the choice and if they were approved for the rim, I’d be riding Continental GP 5000 tires. They just have far superior durability, while also maintaining that grippy-ness and great rolling speed.