ENVE SES Road Tire review

The ENVE SES Road Tire launched in 2020, positioned as a tyre to complement the American brand’s own wheelsets.

While optimised to play nicely with the likes of the SES 4.5 and Foundation 45 wheelsets, the tyres were claimed to rival mainstream competitors at launch for all-round performance.

That was in 2020, though, when its rivals included the Schwalbe Pro One TLE and Continental GP5000 TL.

In 2023, the Schwalbe remains, but the Continental GP5000 S TR now tops the German brand’s range, while there’s renewed competition from practically all the major tyre players.

I’ve used the 29c and 31c size SES tyres over the past few months. Aside from the obvious size differences, they deliver the same quick and supple performance, excelling especially when the road surface is well paved.

However, while the relatively loud tyre roar can be forgiven, it’s prone to picking up dust and debris when the road is less than pristine, negatively affecting grip and ride confidence – sometimes, when you need it most.

ENVE SES Road Tire details and specifications

The ENVE SES tyre is claimed to deliver high aerodynamic performance, shaping out when inflated and utilising a tread pattern that is said to function as a trip for air, in turn helping it to stay attached to the tyre and rim.

Senior tech writer, Simon von Bromley, explained the theory and ENVE’s data in much more detail than is necessary here, but suffice to say the evidence supplied had some credence.

ENVE even conceded that Continental’s GP5000 tyre tread (which has remained similar since the brand accidentally discovered its aero properties in the discontinued GP4000 stalwart tyre) is more efficient.

Although ENVE only supplied data on SES tyres mounted to its own rims, it also measured rolling and puncture resistance in tests performed by Bicycle Rolling Resistance, an independent rolling resistance test lab.

While it didn't top any one test, it rated highly for each, lending weight to ENVE’s claim that the SES tyre was designed to achieve “maximum rolling efficiency while minimising the trade-offs”.

Under the skin is a high threads-per-inch casing – although the brand won’t say exactly how high – with a Vectran breaker layered in to increase puncture resistance.

Vectran breakers are used in many of Continental’s best road tyres, and have proven decently reliable over multiple tests.

The rubber is made of a blend of natural and synthetic material, with ‘Activated Silica’ filler, which is said to improve wet-weather grip without compromising rolling resistance.

The bead uses a material called ‘Zylon’, which is claimed to be optimised for use with ENVE’s hookless rims and result in lower rates of air leakage (alongside the use of sealant, of course).

The tyre is designed to be used tubeless with hookless rims, but you can still fit it to hooked rims and use it with an inner tube, if desired.

ENVE makes the tyres in 700 x 25, 27, 29 and 31c nominal sizes, the latter three non-standard sizes versus much of the competition.

By way of comparison to known rubber, Jake Pantone (VP of product & brand at ENVE) says a 29c SES tyre is largely similar in size to a 28c Continental GP5000 S TR, and a 27c SES tyre will measure up between a GP5000 S TR 25c and 28c tyre.

Measured tyre widths seldom match their printed sizes when mounted to rims of varying widths at different pressures, but I’d suggest Pantone’s claims are broadly accurate – the 29c SES tyre measured 29.7mm at 75psi on a hookless, 21mm (internal) rim.

The tyres are available with black or tan sidewalls.

I weighed the 29c tan-sidewalled SES tyre at 269g, 6g less than ENVE claims, refreshingly. The 31c black-sidewalled tyre weighed 290g, 5g more than claimed.

The SES is priced at £75 per tyre. When you consider the Pirelli P Zero Race TLR costs at least £77.99, the Continental GP5000 S TR is £79.95, and the latest Goodyear Eagle F1 R tubeless tyre is £65, it’s in the expected ballpark but (again) not out front.

ENVE SES Road Tire installation and tubeless setup

Installation of both the 29c and 31c tyres was relatively easy – I struggled no more than I normally do with any tyre.

The 31c tyre was slightly more of a challenge to slide over and seat on the rim of a Reynolds ATRx wheelset (hooked, 23mm internal width), but the 29c tyre was a breeze to fit to a hookless ENVE Foundation 45 rim (21mm internal width).

The latter doesn’t come as a surprise – the SES tyre is designed to work best with hookless rims, while it was naturally tested on ENVE’s own wheelsets during its development.

When removing it, getting purchase on the bead from a tyre lever was quite challenging. I’m not sure I’d ever want to be caught on a cold winter’s day needing to perform this operation by the roadside, but it’s also fair to say I wouldn’t relish the job with any tubeless tyre I’ve tested in the past year.

Both tyres popped into place and inflated from just a few strokes of my cheap track pump. I was impressed by the relative lack of air leakage.

I was able to go three consecutive days of riding without having to top up tyre pressures (a cursory thumb press telling me the pressures were within what I personally deem an acceptable range).

On other comparable tubeless tyres, at best I’ve only ever been able to go two days before needing to whip out the pump.

ENVE SES Road Tire performance

The ENVE SES offers an enticing blend of speed, grip and suppleness – more than enough for most riders who might be interested in pairing it with their ENVE wheelset (plus, theoretically benefitting from an optimised design between the two).

Of course, tidy brand matching won’t be on the agenda for the majority of potential customers, but the performance in these key areas is on a general par with the ‘specialist’ competition.

In dry weather, I’ve been impressed by the feeling of speed, while – when the conditions are right – it sticks fast to the road when cornering quickly or leaning into a descent.

It feels very supple, and on both test wheelsets, helped to transmit a decent impression of the road surface.

On occasions when the road surface had been slickened by rain, the SES tyres held relatively firmly to the road – if not on a par with more purpose-made GP5000 AS TR tyres, then pretty close.

The tyre also has a tendency to roar when ridden at speed – it’s definitely the noisiest performance road tyre I’ve ridden in recent memory.

Whether this bothers you or not is a matter of perspective. I found myself enjoying the audible sense of occasion as I accelerated and rode at high speed, in a somewhat ‘macho’ kind of way.

But I also occasionally got a little fed up of it when riding on the smoothest surfaces (which is when it's at its loudest). I found myself wondering in the back of my mind if increased sound simply equates to wasted energy.

Up to this point, though, the SES is up to the high standards set by today’s best road tyres. On a ride with clean roads, I can’t think of many tyres I’d prefer to have fitted.

Unfortunately, the overall performance is compromised by a tendency for the tyre to pick up road debris, however.

On dry, warm rides (where it’s reasonable to assume the rubber is at its tackiest), I noticed dust, fine gravel and loose detritus sticking to the tyre.

The SES isn’t alone in this behaviour. Every tyre ‘picks up’ to a degree, but it was notable here for the excess grit flicking against my bike frame on almost every ride.

I also had a ride partner call out when she took a faceful of flicked-back grit. Perhaps this was a one-off result of specific circumstances, but equally it's not something that’s happened before in a decade of riding with this person.

Most importantly, when cornering and descending, the previously impressive grip can be compromised by the pickup.

On a few occasions, I found the tyres skidding under heavy braking load – a load I’d expect high-performance tyres to be able to deal with in such conditions.

In turn, this erodes confidence. When it happens, the point of pickup is noticeable, and I was left pondering just how much grip I’d have as I arrived at a braking or cornering event.

It means you can’t always push as hard as you’d like, and it can make for a somewhat nervous ride experience.

ENVE SES Road Tire bottom line

When the conditions are right, the ENVE SES Road Tire is an impressive all-round performance tyre.

It can handle wet-weather conditions well, and on dry clean roads there aren’t many tyres I’d consider fitting ahead of the SES – on ENVE rims, or otherwise.

That said, the tyre’s tendency to collect debris and dust can impact on grip levels and ride confidence.

Sadly, this means it isn't quite among the very best all-round performance tyres, which don’t suffer such issues to the same degree.