Underpinning Team Dimension Data’s performance in the Tour de France, the new Enve SES 5.6 is a medium depth aero wheelset, available as a tubular and a clincher. At 29mm wide by 54mm deep, the front rim is wider and shallower for crosswind stability. Meanwhile, the rear rim is narrower and deeper at 28mm wide by 63mm deep for better drag reduction.
The rim profile also differs from front to rear. It’s a feature of Enve’s newer SES wheels, designed to increase efficiency, stability and responsiveness in the different front and rear wheel airflows. Aerodynamics has been optimised around 25mm tyres and for the clincher there’s built-in tubeless compatibility.
The different wheel profiles are designed for the different airflows over the front and rear wheel
(Image credit: Ian Matteson)
According to Jake Pantone, Enve VP of Product and Consumer Experience: “While the bulk of SES development has swung towards disc brakes in recent years, we’ve spent the better part of the last 11 years refining the art of carbon brake track design and continue to do so today.
“Specifically, the SES 5.6 offers more speed, more stability, and inspires confidence unlike any other wheelset we’ve produced to date, it’s the pinnacle of road racing rim technology.”
The SES 5.6 can be bought with either DT240 or Chris King hubs, with the quoted weights for the tubular versions 1380g and 1372g respectively. US prices are from $2700 to $3200 dependent on hub choice.
Clincher versions weigh a claimed 1558g with DT240 hubs and 1550g with Chris King hubs and are priced at $2900 to $3400 in the US.
Enve says that the SES 5.6 replaces its SES 4.5 as its flagship wheelset, adding a new aero profile, new construction method and tubeless compatibility, although the SES 4.5 will remain in its line-up as it will fit into bikes with narrower clearances, which may not take the new SES 5.6.
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Paul started writing for Cycling Weekly in 2015, covering cycling tech, new bikes and product testing. Since then, he’s reviewed hundreds of bikes and thousands of other pieces of cycling equipment for the magazine and the Cycling Weekly website.
He’s been cycling for a lot longer than that though and his travels by bike have taken him all around Europe and to California. He’s been riding gravel since before gravel bikes existed too, riding a cyclocross bike through the Chilterns and along the South Downs.
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