Disc brake wheelset decision: Enve SES 3.4 4.5AR 5.6

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jlok
Posts: 2400
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2015 3:30 am

by jlok

If you could only have one of them, which one to pick?
Rikulau V9 DB Custom < BMC TM02 < Litespeed T1sl Disc < Giant Propel Advanced SL Disc 1 < Propel Adv < TCR Adv SL Disc < KTM Revelator Sky < CAAD 12 Disc < Domane S Disc < Alize < CAAD 10

by Weenie


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nemeseri
Posts: 794
Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2015 5:40 pm

by nemeseri

jlok wrote:If you could only have one of them, which one to pick?


What type of riding do you do regularly? Lot of gravel? What do you value more, comfort or performance? What's your preferred tire size? If you run 28mm tires all the time, you ride on gravel and very poor roads and prefer comfort over everything else, then the 4.5ar might make sense (make sure it will fit into your frame). Otherwise if you care about weight, pick the 3.4. If you prefer aero more, pick the 5.6. You can always put a 28mm or wider tire on them if you want to ride gravel / dirt for a weekend.

If you ride paved roads and want an all-around wheel set, I'd pick the 3.4.

jlok
Posts: 2400
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2015 3:30 am

by jlok

nemeseri wrote:
jlok wrote:If you could only have one of them, which one to pick?


What type of riding do you do regularly? Lot of gravel? What do you value more, comfort or performance? What's your preferred tire size? If you run 28mm tires all the time, you ride on gravel and very poor roads and prefer comfort over everything else, then the 4.5ar might make sense (make sure it will fit into your frame). Otherwise if you care about weight, pick the 3.4. If you prefer aero more, pick the 5.6. You can always put a 28mm or wider tire on them if you want to ride gravel / dirt for a weekend.

If you ride paved roads and want an all-around wheel set, I'd pick the 3.4.

With that, I think I'd prefer 4.5AR more as the road surfaces here are shitty...

Or shall I go for 5.6 and put 25front 28rear Pro One Tubeless...?
Rikulau V9 DB Custom < BMC TM02 < Litespeed T1sl Disc < Giant Propel Advanced SL Disc 1 < Propel Adv < TCR Adv SL Disc < KTM Revelator Sky < CAAD 12 Disc < Domane S Disc < Alize < CAAD 10

nemeseri
Posts: 794
Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2015 5:40 pm

by nemeseri

The 5.6 is an mid-range aero wheelset. Do you race? Do you do TTs? Why would you pick it over the 3.4?
I'm sure the 4.5ar is going to be super comfy overall, but I personally, wouldn't pick it for anything other than an adventure bike. But I had no major problem riding dura ace c24s with 23mm tires on dirt. Was it optimal? Hell no. But I can deal with it once in a blue moon.

nemeseri
Posts: 794
Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2015 5:40 pm

by nemeseri

Oh! Everything above all: do you like how it looks? Get the one that you like the most! But I thought you might want into details regarding performance.

jlok
Posts: 2400
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2015 3:30 am

by jlok

You r right, frame doesn't allow 4.5AR. Defer to 5.6 for the look. Let's wait for discount!
Rikulau V9 DB Custom < BMC TM02 < Litespeed T1sl Disc < Giant Propel Advanced SL Disc 1 < Propel Adv < TCR Adv SL Disc < KTM Revelator Sky < CAAD 12 Disc < Domane S Disc < Alize < CAAD 10

MoPho
Posts: 767
Joined: Sun Jul 10, 2011 7:48 pm
Location: NorCal

by MoPho

Well, I picked the 5.6 disc for my Giant TCR, and admittedly I went for the looks more than anything and I got a reasonable deal on them. I am not sure I would do it again though.
The good:
-They are absolutely spectacular looking.
-They are stiff, power transfer is great
-They are fast! You really can feel the difference when you pushing hard on the flats, almost feels like a tailwind at times. Descending they also pick up speed really quick, after riding my other wheels for a month I was shocked at the difference. The "extra speed" has definitely helped me along on some fast group rides.
-They are absolutely spectacular looking.

The bad:
-I find the ride to be harsh, I've had to lower the tire (25c) pressure by 10psi just to make it acceptable to me. I have concluded that this is because of how wide the rim is, the tire is stretched and doesn't have as much sideway give. My old bike had Reynolds wheels which were very narrow and the tire had a very rounded plump shape, the ride was amazing! I picked up a set of the Giant SLR 1 disc rims (30mm depth) for $500 and the ride is considerably better and they are a great set of wheels too. That said, a friend of mine put 5.6 on his TCR and thinks it rides great. :noidea:
I may try 28's on them at some point, but the wheels were designed around 25's. (You mention 25f/28r but for me, most of the harshness is coming through the front end, not the back)
-They are not very stable at high speed (35+ mph). I really like technical descending and have found these wheels pick up on air turbulence and crosswinds like crazy, I have not had a lot of confidence descending with them and have had to slow down a lot (maybe a good thing since I am a bit of a nutter). To add to this it is winter time here, so there is a lot more wind now, I am thinking this will be less of an issue in the upcoming months
- They are stupid expensive, I just bought a nice set of wheels and tires for my car for less LOL

Did I mention they are absolutely spectacular looking?

I was building this new bike up from scratch and my shop friends offered to build the wheels and it was kind of a **** it lets go for it moment.

Initially I had been thinking the 3.4s but they didn't offer anything over the stock Giant SLR wheels. The 4.5s were announced just after I pulled the trigger on the 5.6s. My Reynolds wheels were 41mm deep and I thought they were a good depth, never had much issue with cross winds on them so the AR 4.5s seem the right middle ground, but you can't run anything less than a 28c tire on them.


Your mileage may vary


.

romalor
Posts: 241
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2015 3:56 pm

by romalor

with disc brakes I would stay between 32 35 38 40 mm or maximum 50 mm
The rotor adds a little bit of unstability with side winds so you don't want to go to deep
And with modern shapes you can have something really nice in those deeps

Bsquared
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Mar 21, 2017 12:24 am
Location: NorCal

by Bsquared

Picked up Enve 5.6 with DT240s and heavy aero spokes (95kg rider) about 3 months ago for my Trek Domane 6.2 Disc because I ride mostly flat and fast along with some rollers in foothills of Northern California.

As stated by MoPho, these wheels are insanely fast. On my weekly group ride with typical speeds 20-28mph, these wheels overnight moved me from the 2nd group to front group. Nice and stiff, easy to chase a sprinter, and incredible ability to maintain speeds at 23+mph.

I've had them in mountains with 10-20mph crosswinds and no problem riding a straight line at 30mph on a gradual descent. However on one ride down Mt St Helena the wind was ~20mph on a long descent and looking back at my ride data it seems anything above 33-35mph the front wheel was getting twitchy / nervous handling in the crosswind, and I kept braking until speed was back down to 30-32mph in order to descend with confidence.

Back on the flats this winter we've had some pretty strong winds, no problem riding in low 18-22mph in strong crosswinds and even in blustery conditions these wheels hold a straight line without having to counter steer or apply pressure on handlebars. The crosswind performance up to 30mph has been flawless.

I ride a lot of bad roads, and the ride is slightly better than the stock alloy wheels. Definitely not harsh on 25mm Conti GP4KIIs, at least for me, at 95-100PSI.

For 98% of my rides the 5.6 was the right choice to make. For the other 2% - if I was doing the DeathRide again, or riding some of the steeper descents around the Bay Area or Lake Tahoe (Mt Rose Hwy, Brockway), then based on that one ride I'd either ride the brakes or swap in my stock Bontrager alloy wheels which have been flawless on those 40+mph long and steep descents.

If I did more rides in the foothills/mountains with fast descents, would definitely go with the new/wider Enve 3.4 that were introduced last month, as they should be a better all-around wheel.

jlok
Posts: 2400
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2015 3:30 am

by jlok

All sounds good and reasonable.

That being said, in the end I got Roval CLX 32/50 combo at a much cheaper price than Enve. It has got 90% of the Enve features, and it's actually wider internally.

Anyone up to a pair of last gen SES 3.4 Disc? I'm offering it at US$900 plus shipping from Hong Kong. PM me if you want it.
Rikulau V9 DB Custom < BMC TM02 < Litespeed T1sl Disc < Giant Propel Advanced SL Disc 1 < Propel Adv < TCR Adv SL Disc < KTM Revelator Sky < CAAD 12 Disc < Domane S Disc < Alize < CAAD 10

Bsquared
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Mar 21, 2017 12:24 am
Location: NorCal

by Bsquared

I'll admit to chasing performance with $, however I did get a great deal on the Enve 5.6 and paid slightly less than list price of the Rovals (not that I ever pay list price).

Enjoy your new wheels!

jlok
Posts: 2400
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2015 3:30 am

by jlok

I bought mine in a UK based online shop at a discounted price and tax free. That's 500usd cheaper than my 3.4 disc, which was bought at a 20% discount at PWB. Pretty good deal I'd say.
Rikulau V9 DB Custom < BMC TM02 < Litespeed T1sl Disc < Giant Propel Advanced SL Disc 1 < Propel Adv < TCR Adv SL Disc < KTM Revelator Sky < CAAD 12 Disc < Domane S Disc < Alize < CAAD 10

jlok
Posts: 2400
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2015 3:30 am

by jlok

Sorry to bump this up. I've sold my TCR and Roval CLX and switched to Propel Adv SL Disc.

I'm looking at SES 4.5 AR Disc Tubeless. I asked Enve about using Pro One 25c (always measured 28+ when mounted on 21mm internal width rims) on the 4.5 AR but they disagreed. They said I should use 28c tires.

With the chainstay width the limiting factor on Propel Adv SL Disc, which is around 37mm, I need a 28c tubeless tire that measure around 30mm when mounted. Anyone tried below 28c tires? How wide are they?

Approved/Recommended Tires
Schwalbe Pro one
Hutchinson Sector
Hutchinson Fusion 5
Hutchinson Intensive 2
IRC Formula Pro (RBCC, Light, X-Guard)
Maxxis Padrone
Mavic Yksion Pro UST
Teravail Rampart
Bontrager AW2

p.s. Enve's reply as below
Thanks for reaching out to us. I can see how you would get that impression but no unfortunately we can't recommend you use 25c tires. We will be updating website with the copy below.

"We have designed this wheel to be used with a minimum of 28c tires rated for tubeless use whether you are using tubes or sealant. Below is a list of approved 28c tires that will result in the best aerodynamics and safety when paired with the 4.5 AR."
Rikulau V9 DB Custom < BMC TM02 < Litespeed T1sl Disc < Giant Propel Advanced SL Disc 1 < Propel Adv < TCR Adv SL Disc < KTM Revelator Sky < CAAD 12 Disc < Domane S Disc < Alize < CAAD 10

Bordcla
Posts: 250
Joined: Wed Dec 20, 2017 3:42 pm

by Bordcla

jlok wrote:
Wed Jul 04, 2018 2:14 am
Sorry to bump this up. I've sold my TCR and Roval CLX and switched to Propel Adv SL Disc.

I'm looking at SES 4.5 AR Disc Tubeless. I asked Enve about using Pro One 25c (always measured 28+ when mounted on 21mm internal width rims) on the 4.5 AR but they disagreed. They said I should use 28c tires.

With the chainstay width the limiting factor on Propel Adv SL Disc, which is around 37mm, I need a 28c tubeless tire that measure around 30mm when mounted. Anyone tried below 28c tires? How wide are they?

Approved/Recommended Tires
Schwalbe Pro one
Hutchinson Sector
Hutchinson Fusion 5
Hutchinson Intensive 2
IRC Formula Pro (RBCC, Light, X-Guard)
Maxxis Padrone
Mavic Yksion Pro UST
Teravail Rampart
Bontrager AW2

p.s. Enve's reply as below
Thanks for reaching out to us. I can see how you would get that impression but no unfortunately we can't recommend you use 25c tires. We will be updating website with the copy below.

"We have designed this wheel to be used with a minimum of 28c tires rated for tubeless use whether you are using tubes or sealant. Below is a list of approved 28c tires that will result in the best aerodynamics and safety when paired with the 4.5 AR."
For what it's worth, I am using 28mm Conti GP 4Ks with inner tubes on the 4.5 ARs with Enve's approval, and the tires are maybe a 10th of a mm wider than the wheels, if not perfectly flush. So that gives you an idea of the actual width. This rides insanely good. Magic carpet.

jlok
Posts: 2400
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2015 3:30 am

by jlok

Thanks Bordcla, how about the tire pressure for that measurement?
Rikulau V9 DB Custom < BMC TM02 < Litespeed T1sl Disc < Giant Propel Advanced SL Disc 1 < Propel Adv < TCR Adv SL Disc < KTM Revelator Sky < CAAD 12 Disc < Domane S Disc < Alize < CAAD 10

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



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