I have Campagnolo Bora Ultra carbon wheels on a couple of my bikes. On a hot day the valve of the front wheel pushed through to the inside of the wheel causing an instant flat. That valve had a conical kind of triangular shape which enabled the failure. The ENVE valves are, by comparison, have a long and rectangular base which fit the rim valley perfectly and, once installed, allowed me to pump up the tires with my old Silca pump as quickly as pumping up a tubed tire. This is especially important as on the road puncture management with tubeless tires can be especially difficult.
The Gravel H tires are the first 45c tires I've had experience with so a big caveat in terms of a comparison to other 45c tires. I chose this one for a durable and long lasting do-it-all and so far it fits the role.
Grip is good and handling is more than adequate. A little slippery on slick wet mud as expected. On dry bumpy terrain it excels in smoothing out the edges of the rocks.
It is a heavy tire, no getting around this. I noticed this as coming from 35 and 38c tires, these take more effort to spin up.
Here is an update to my previous (1/6/2026) review. Finally after two days of seeping leakage I got these 700 x 45 size to seal. a smart AI search tells me I would have gotten a better result id I had used Orange Seal rather than Peatys sealant.
Finally got to do a decent ride on these. ride is very smooth almost sublime on the road, fabulous on hard gravel and damned good on bark paths. Rolling resistance feels very low as promised. Steering is so-so especially on wet roads, but that may be my bike. They are on a Canyon Grizl Al and it feels like the front steering is floppy so that may be a geometry issue. Also, the inflation max is 40 PSI, and I am a 240-pound rider, so they may be a bit soft for a guy of my size.
Dry road is great. All in all its a pretty darned sweet tire, but I would probably drop to a 40 mm if I had to buy again. I do ride 90% road; on gravel these are simply the best.
I can't wait to get in some longer miles on dry roads as these break in.
These are fantastic tires for Cat 1 or Cat 2 gravel (smooth gravel roads, up to rough gravel roads). Using the Silca tire pressure calculator, I will use the lower tire pressure recommendations for gravel roads, where the tires are smooth and grippy. If I am riding primarily on pavement, I adjust the tire pressure up 4-5 pounds, and these tires behave like great road tires - fast and low rolling resistance. They are very flexible - good on multiple surfaces - and the best tires I have used for a gravel bike. They are excellent running tubeless as well. I have put them on several bikes and will buy them as replacements when the originals wear out.
