I echo Carl Spackler’s experience and agree with ENVE tech’s post.
My tri bike is a Cervelo P3X and my road bike is a BMC Roadmachine One.
The wheels I use on these (both disc setup) are:
DT Swiss ARC Dicut 48/62, with 25mm Conti GP5000, tubed (usually pumped to 100 mmHg)— probably very comparable with the ENVE 5.6 SES.
ENVE 4.5 AR disc, road tubeless setup with 28mm Schwalbe Pro One tubeless (usually pumped to appx 60 mmHg).
I am always playing around with my setup, in my experience with these setups using power meters and keeping track of my watts. BTW, the AR disc with 28mm Schwalbes have just enough clearance to ride on the new Cervelo P3X (and PX, since the frames are the same).
- the ENVE 4.5 AR disc are plenty aero. AND, incredibly well-behaved and stable in crosswinds. The ride is AMAZING-smoothes out road irregularities, bumps, and even potholes, and complements the otherwise incredibly stiff carbon everything else.
- I have to admit, the DT Swiss aero wheels with 25 mm Conti GP 5000s inflated rock hard IS a bit faster, probably by a few watts (about 5-10 min difference on my 65 mi route). I would guess the DT Swiss ARC 48/62 are very similar to the ENVE 5.6 SES in overall performance, and reasonably addresses your comparison question.
How has this impacted my wheel choices so far?
- I use the ENVE 4.5 AR disc on my road bike all the time AND on my tri bike for all my training rides (which by far is the majority of miles I put on the tri bike). And I use the narrower 25 mm Conti GP 5000 tires pumped rock hard with my tri bike on race days.
- REASON, the incredible stability of the ARs on plush 28 mm road tubeless tires makes it FAR more comfortable to stay in aero position all through my long training rides. And believe me, MUCH more confidence-inspiring (ie, I feel in better control, more “planted”, and stable) while covering bumpy roads in aero position—this difference in sense of stability, comfort and confidence is LARGE. Also, because I am less tense while in aero, I feel more relaxed, my lower back feels better, and FAR more important, I feel fresher at the end of my training ride, so my NEXT workout is higher quality (ie, brick run and anything I do the following day).
- So with this arrangement, most of my riding miles are on the ENVE ARs and go towards more comfortable yet still fast rides that in totality result in higher quality training volume in general due to less post-ride fatigue. I save the slightly faster yet more bone-jarring ride for race days.
Now, I just bought a pair of ENVE 7.8 SES and plan to outfit with Conti GP 5000 TLs (Ben Hoffman’s setup for IM WC/Kona) as my “fast” race wheels. I STILL plan to do most of my miles with the 4.5 ARs for reasons stated above, but I am hoping the 7.8s with road tubeless will get me slightly fresher for my run on race days. I’ll let you know in the spring!
Cheers,
J
My tri bike is a Cervelo P3X and my road bike is a BMC Roadmachine One.
The wheels I use on these (both disc setup) are:
DT Swiss ARC Dicut 48/62, with 25mm Conti GP5000, tubed (usually pumped to 100 mmHg)— probably very comparable with the ENVE 5.6 SES.
ENVE 4.5 AR disc, road tubeless setup with 28mm Schwalbe Pro One tubeless (usually pumped to appx 60 mmHg).
I am always playing around with my setup, in my experience with these setups using power meters and keeping track of my watts. BTW, the AR disc with 28mm Schwalbes have just enough clearance to ride on the new Cervelo P3X (and PX, since the frames are the same).
- the ENVE 4.5 AR disc are plenty aero. AND, incredibly well-behaved and stable in crosswinds. The ride is AMAZING-smoothes out road irregularities, bumps, and even potholes, and complements the otherwise incredibly stiff carbon everything else.
- I have to admit, the DT Swiss aero wheels with 25 mm Conti GP 5000s inflated rock hard IS a bit faster, probably by a few watts (about 5-10 min difference on my 65 mi route). I would guess the DT Swiss ARC 48/62 are very similar to the ENVE 5.6 SES in overall performance, and reasonably addresses your comparison question.
How has this impacted my wheel choices so far?
- I use the ENVE 4.5 AR disc on my road bike all the time AND on my tri bike for all my training rides (which by far is the majority of miles I put on the tri bike). And I use the narrower 25 mm Conti GP 5000 tires pumped rock hard with my tri bike on race days.
- REASON, the incredible stability of the ARs on plush 28 mm road tubeless tires makes it FAR more comfortable to stay in aero position all through my long training rides. And believe me, MUCH more confidence-inspiring (ie, I feel in better control, more “planted”, and stable) while covering bumpy roads in aero position—this difference in sense of stability, comfort and confidence is LARGE. Also, because I am less tense while in aero, I feel more relaxed, my lower back feels better, and FAR more important, I feel fresher at the end of my training ride, so my NEXT workout is higher quality (ie, brick run and anything I do the following day).
- So with this arrangement, most of my riding miles are on the ENVE ARs and go towards more comfortable yet still fast rides that in totality result in higher quality training volume in general due to less post-ride fatigue. I save the slightly faster yet more bone-jarring ride for race days.
Now, I just bought a pair of ENVE 7.8 SES and plan to outfit with Conti GP 5000 TLs (Ben Hoffman’s setup for IM WC/Kona) as my “fast” race wheels. I STILL plan to do most of my miles with the 4.5 ARs for reasons stated above, but I am hoping the 7.8s with road tubeless will get me slightly fresher for my run on race days. I’ll let you know in the spring!
Cheers,
J