I purchased these to be my backup racing and everyday training wheels. My racing wheels are narrow tubular rims which don't allow for a quick change should I have a blowout either training or racing. Having a set of quality clinchers gives me a back up and, in the event they experience a flat, the possibility for changing the tube/tire quickly. These are a nice set of true, smooth rolling wheels of high quality that should last a long time.
I am very happy with this wheel. I got it to replace the OE Bontrager rear wheel, which cracked the rim at a spoke nipple
When it arrived, the box was pretty beat up, but the wheel was undamaged. Out of the box it weighed 908 g.
I had to use tire levers to get my GP5000 clincher on, but that's typical.
I swapped over the disc and cassette and put in on my Domane. The disc fit perfectly with no adjustment of the caliper needed. The derailleur needed a little adjustment to shift just right.
A little way into my first ride, I thought something was wrong. I couldn't hear the free hub at all when coasting. But everything was fine, its just the quietest free hub I've ever heard.
The rim is very true. All is good!
And I'm thinking the bladed spokes will make up for my non-aero, upright riding position. :)
I was searching for an aero wheelset for my rim brake bike build, a 2009 Giant TCR Advanced SL, and HED wheels were the best option by far. When it comes to rim brake aero wheels, HED stands out as the best choice. They undergo rigorous aero testing, provide excellent customer service, and feature a black aluminum brake track that offers braking performance comparable to disc brakes. While they are slightly heavier than all-carbon wheel sets (these have a carbon faring over an aluminum rim), I believe the brake track and optimized aerodynamics compensate for this in my opinion. Additionally, the 60mm depth of the wheels is surprisingly stable in crosswinds. Initially, I was considering the slightly shallower version, but I'm glad I opted for the 60mm. One unexpected aspect is the slight noise they produce due to the carbon faring. When you encounter obstacles like rocks, you can hear a distinct pinging and echoing sound. Despite this minor inconvenience, these wheels are truly exceptional.
The thing is, enve consistently produces quality products, so I expected these to be quite good and honestly they really are. Hookless has been nothing but reliable to me for years now and in my opinion I think most people who have had hookless issues are not the problem with the wheels but user error, either pumping too much air, using incompatible tires, using too narrow of tires.
As far as cross wind stability, they are pretty good. Expect to feel them on windy days, though for this depth that is fairly normal of a problem to deal with. They spin up pretty well on most climbs, only really starts to get difficult around 8% gradient and beyond. They are not the lightest wheelset but not the heaviest either. I think in this day and age many brands are going carbon spokes, so I think in this day and age mid 2025 it is lacking weight wise compared to the likes of vision, specialized and some other brands when it comes to weight for 50-60mm deep wheels but i have to imagine enve has a carbon spoke version in development.
The build quality is exceptional. Enve products always are built really well and consistently well however enve wheels compared to other brands have always felt much nicer to the touch. I don't know if its the physical build of the carbon, I don't know if it is the paint finish they use but whatever it is, when you hold these in your hands they feel incredibly well built. I recommend the ses line, regardless of which wheel depth you choose. I own the 4.5 and the 2.3 and both are built incredibly well and would happy recommend any of them.
