Enve's new SES 2.2 tubs with carbon hubs: may need tying down

Ridiculously light wheels for floating up climbs

Oli Woodman/Immediate Media

Published: October 30, 2015 at 9:00 am

These Smart ENVE System (SES) wheels are so incredibly light we had to keep weighing them, just to make sure our numbers were right.

The SES 2.2 tubs we’ve been sent are built with Enve’s new Carbon Road Hubs, which are claimed to weigh an incredible 232g (74g front and 158g rear). We covered them in detail recently and, suffice it to say, these truly deserve your consideration.

The carbon road hubs are made from two moulded halves: the carbon road hubs are made from two moulded halves

The name SES 2.2 derives from the depth of the front and rear rims: because lightness was key with these new rim shapes, Enve plumped for matching rim geometries front and rear. So the rim shape is 26mm wide and 25mm deep. They also feature a new brake track that promises “virtually equal” performance in wet and dry conditions.

Related: Tyre makers still split on tubeless

As a complete wheelset, we weighed them at 1,045g for the pair – yes, really. Front wheel is 465g, and rear is 580g. That’s without quick-release skewers, admittedly, but it’s still staggeringly light. The rims are claimed to weigh just 281g each, and mate to the carbon-shelled hubs in 20-hole front and 24-hole rear only.

… and the rims feature a new brake track that's claimed to massively improve stopping in the wet: … and the rims feature a new brake track that's claimed to massively improve stopping in the wet

Price? They’re only available in the US right now, where they cost $3,300 for the complete build. Separately, the hubs cost $1,350 for the pair. They’re expected to come out in the UK by the end of the year, with the rims alone expected to cost £850 each in tubular variety or £900 in clincher. In Australia they'll cost AU$4,799 for the tubular versions and AU$4,899 in clincher.

Better start saving then…

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