Enve G SES Gravel Wheels

ENVE's new G SES range is the brand's most significant gravel wheel launch to date, and the first time the SES (Smart ENVE System) aero design language has been applied wholesale to off-road. Where ENVE's previous G-Series wheels (the AG25 and G-Series 23/27/45) were optimised primarily for compliance, durability and tyre fit, the G SES family pivots toward outright aerodynamic efficiency - making a clear bet that gravel racing has moved fast enough, on tyres wide enough, that aero finally matters off the tarmac.

The lineup consists of three wheelsets: the G SES 4.5, the G SES 4.5 PRO, and the range-topping G SES 6.7 PRO. All three are built on a shared design philosophy of wider-than-anyone-else internal rim widths, deeper aerodynamic profiles, and front/rear-specific rim engineering, but each occupies a distinct slot in the range. Released alongside the G SES family is a refreshed G23 paired with ENVE's new Innerdrive hub, which sits as the lightweight, narrow-tyre counterpoint to the wide-rim G SES platform. Sitting below the gravel range, the recently launched Foundation AR40 bookends the portfolio with a road-first, gravel-capable wheel at a value price point.

Across the range, ENVE has gone wider than the rest of the gravel-wheel industry. Internal rim widths are 30mm on the 4.5s and a category-leading 35mm on the 6.7 PRO — figures that, until very recently, would have been considered MTB territory. The reason is aerodynamic: modern gravel tyres in the 40–50 mm range balloon up substantially on narrower rims, creating a poor leading-edge profile and turbulent flow off the tyre shoulder. The wider rim opens the tyre into a flatter, more aero-friendly shape that effectively makes the tyre and rim a single aerodynamic body — the same logic ENVE pioneered on the road SES line, scaled up for gravel volumes.

All three wheelsets are also front/rear-specific, with shallower front rims to keep crosswind handling manageable and deeper rears where the aero gain is biggest and the steering penalty is zero. ENVE claims a 13.6% reduction in aerodynamic drag versus its own outgoing AG25 gravel wheel at 32km/h, averaged across 40mm, 44mm and 48mm tyres — a meaningful jump in a category that has historically ignored aero entirely.

Strength - Fit for purpose.

The new ENVE G SES range is engineered with the same uncompromising strength credentials that have defined ENVE's carbon wheels for over a decade. Every rim in the family — from the 4.5 to the 6.7 Pro — is built using ENVE's moulded carbon construction at their Ogden, Utah facility, with the brand's Wide Hookless Bead anti-flat technology incorporated to combat the pinch-flats and rim damage that historically plagued tubeless gravel setups on rough terrain. The hookless beads are wider and more forgiving on hard hits, distributing impact load across a larger surface area and dramatically reducing the risk of catastrophic rim failure when bottoming out on rocks, ruts, or potholes. Behind the engineering sits ENVE's industry-leading commitment to standing behind the product: every G SES wheelset is backed by a Lifetime Warranty against manufacturing defects and the brand's Incidental Damage Protection programme, which covers replacement or repair of rims damaged in normal riding for the original owner's lifetime. That combination — a hookless bead designed specifically for impact resilience, a hand-built carbon construction process refined over fifteen years of UCI-level use, and warranty cover that effectively underwrites the wheel for as long as you own it — makes the G SES range not just one of the most aerodynamically advanced gravel wheelsets on sale, but one of the most durable and best-supported. For a wheel ridden on terrain that punishes equipment harder than any road, that's not a marketing claim — it's the engineering and warranty foundation that makes the rest of the performance story credible.

The G SES 4.5 is the entry point to the range and the most versatile of the three. Rim depths are 49 mm front and 55 mm rear, with a 30 mm internal width tuned for 40–52 mm tyres. The 4.5 ships with ENVE's standard Innerdrive hubset (362g pair) and comes in at a claimed wheelset weight of around 1540g.

Where it fits.

This is the wheel for the rider who wants SES aero benefits on mixed-surface and long-distance gravel, but isn't racing at the sharp end and doesn't want to pay the Pro premium. The shallower depth keeps crosswind behaviour predictable on technical descents and exposed terrain, and the 30 mm internal width is the sweet spot for the most commonly used gravel tyre sizes (45 mm, 47 mm, 50 mm). At £3200 it's the most accessible entry into the G SES platform.

The 4.5 PRO shares the 4.5's exact rim profile and internal width but swaps in ENVE's PRO Innerdrive hubset — a lighter, ceramic-bearing version of the standard hub that drops about 80g and reduces drivetrain friction. Total wheelset weight falls to a claimed 1480g, which makes the 4.5 PRO the lightest wheel in the range despite its mid-depth aero profile.

Where it fits

This is the racer's pick for technical and climbing-heavy gravel events. You get the same aero efficiency and tyre compatibility as the standard 4.5, but with the rotational weight advantage that matters most when accelerating out of corners and grinding up steep, rough climbs. At £3,500, you're paying £300 for the hub upgrade - meaningful if you race, marginal if you don't.

The 6.7 PRO is the headline product: 60mm deep at the front, 67mm deep at the rear, with a category-defining 35 mm internal rim width. ENVE recommends a minimum tyre width of 44 mm to keep the tyre-rim aero relationship working, with optimal performance on tyres in the 44–50mm range. It uses the same PRO Innerdrive hubset as the 4.5 PRO and comes in at a claimed 1580 g — heavier than the 4.5 PRO but only by ~100g, despite the substantially deeper and wider rim profile.

Aerodynamically, the 6.7 PRO is where the SES philosophy pays off most. ENVE's wind tunnel data claims a saving of between 1.5 and 15 watts versus the 4.5 PRO across realistic yaw angles at 32–50 km/h, depending on conditions. In flat, fast gravel racing — the kind of course that defines modern Unbound, SBT GRVL or Traka stage profiles — that's a substantial advantage over a long day.

Where it fits

Dedicated gravel racing on rolling-to-flat terrain, especially events where average speeds sit comfortably above 30 km/h. The deeper front rim does make crosswind handling more demanding, and the 35 mm internal width means narrower tyres (sub-44 mm) won't work properly — this is a wheel that commits hard to a specific racing use case. At £3,500, it's priced identically to the 4.5 PRO, which leaves the buying decision purely about whether the course suits aero depth or whether you need the lighter, more forgiving 4.5 PRO.

The decision matrix is unusually clean. If you want an all-purpose, do-everything gravel wheel and don't need the lightest hubs, the 4.5 is the value pick - relatively speaking. If you race and want the lightest race wheel in the range across mixed terrain — including climbing — the 4.5 PRO is the answer. If you race flat, fast events on wide tyres and want every available watt, the 6.7 PRO is the specialist tool.

All three share ENVE's Lifetime Warranty, Incidental Damage Protection, and the brand's tubeless-ready, wide hookless bead rim design, derived from mountain biking and which protects the rim when flats occur. They're hookless-only and ETRTO-compatible, so tyre choice is constrained to the growing (but not universal) list of hookless-rated gravel tyres — worth checking your current rubber against ENVE's approved list before committing.

The G SES range is a bet that gravel is now mature enough — and competitive enough at the pointy end — to reward aero gains that would have seemed absurd five years ago. For most amateur gravel riders, the differences between these wheels and a good non-aero gravel wheelset will be small and hard to feel in real-world conditions. For racers and high-volume mileage riders on fast terrain, ENVE's wind tunnel numbers are credible, and the 35mm internal width on the 6.7 PRO is genuinely category-redefining - expect competitors to follow that figure within a season.

The constraint is tyre choice: these wheels punish anyone running narrower or older-school tyres, and the hookless-only design rules out some popular gravel rubber. If your gravel riding involves 38–42mm tyres or mixed surfaces where you swap rapidly between sizes, the G23 — covered next — is the more flexible buy.

Released in the same product wave as the G SES range but built on entirely different principles, the new G23 with the Innerdrive hub is ENVE's deliberate counterpoint to the wide, deep, aero-focused G SES lineup. Where the G SES wheels commit hard to wide tyres and aero efficiency, the G23 commits equally hard to the opposite axis: low weight, low rim depth, and compatibility with the narrower, more traditional gravel tyres that still dominate large parts of the market.

The headline number is the rim itself — at 330g, the G23 is the lightest 700c tubeless rim ENVE produces. Rim depth is just 25mm front and rear, internal width is 23 mm (versus 30–35mm on the G SES range), and external width is 31.5 mm. That puts it firmly in the 35–45mm tyre zone — exactly the tyre sizes the G SES platform considers too narrow to be aerodynamically efficient. Total claimed wheelset weight comes in around 1,262g with the new Innerdrive hubset.

The New Innerdrive Hub

The new ENVE Innerdrive Premium straight-pull hub is the other half of the story, and the reason the G23 is being relaunched rather than simply continued. It's a 100% ENVE-designed drive mechanism that saves around 60g over the previous-generation hub, and crucially introduces interchangeable ratchets with engagement adjustable between 40t and 100t. That lets riders tune drivetrain response — quicker engagement for technical, surgy riding; slower engagement for higher durability and lower drag on long mixed-surface days. It's a feature normally seen on top-end MTB hubs and a meaningful capability gain on a gravel wheel at this weight.

Where it Fits

This is the wheel for climbing-heavy gravel, technical singletrack-leaning gravel, bikepacking, and rough mixed-surface riding where the priorities are rotational weight, compliance, and tyre-width flexibility rather than outright aerodynamic efficiency. The G23 is also the only wheel in the gravel range that comfortably accommodates 35–42 mm tyres — meaning if you ride on the narrower end of the gravel tyre spectrum, or you rotate between road-leaning gravel (38–40mm) and off-road gravel (45–48mm), the G23 is the more flexible buy. The 23 mm internal width is also notably ETRTO-compliant with virtually every gravel tyre in production, including older hookless-incompatible models, which broadens compatibility well beyond the G SES platform.

In short: the G SES is the race wheel for modern, wide, aero-tuned gravel. The G23 is the all-mountain-leaning gravel wheel for everything else.

It's also worth back-referencing the recently launched ENVE Foundation AR40, because it bookends the gravel range from below and clarifies what the G SES is and isn't designed for. Sitting in ENVE's lower-priced Foundation tier at £1,800, the AR40 is a 40mm-deep, 25mm internal-width all-road wheel optimised aerodynamically for 29–30mm tyres, but rated tubeless-compatible up to 50mm. It's tested and qualified to ENVE's gravel standards, weighs around 1500g, and uses Sapim CX-Ray spokes with a hookless bead.

The AR40's role in the range is the road-first, gravel-capable crossover - the wheel for the rider whose primary terrain is tarmac but who wants the option of credible all-road and light gravel use without buying a second wheelset. That positions it directly below the new G23 (gravel-first, narrow-tyre focused) and well below the G SES platform (gravel-first, wide-tyre, aero-focused).

The TL;DR is that ENVE has now built a complete spectrum from road-with-gravel-headroom (AR40) through to gravel-racing-with-road-derived-aero (G SES 6.7 PRO), with the G23 covering the climbing-and-compliance gravel use case that the deeper, wider G SES wheels deliberately deprioritise. Each wheel does one thing well rather than trying to be everything, and the lineup as a whole reflects how segmented the gravel category has become - it's no longer one wheel for one type of riding, but a portfolio for what is now several distinct disciplines under the same name.


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