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So what's the 650b gravel tyre of choice.
Riding is about 50/50 road & off-road.
Any decent deals around at the moment?
That’s a tough question in winter
Summer Vittoria Terrano Dry
But in the winter I think you need to some tread. Terravail Rutland are a good compromise. But getting expensive
I’m currently running WTB Sendero. Great but maybe a bit off road biased for you
Very happy with both terreno dry and terravail cannonballs.
Cannonballs are lush but they are minty!
Not sure about deals at the mo, but I like Pirelli cinturato's M. OK tread but reasonably fast rolling centre on tarmac
In 650b I liked WTB Byways
Maxxis ramblers are a good all rounder, and available in 650x47. Need to look around for a deal though as they are fairly expensive.
Hutchinson Touareg 650x47 can be found cheap, but they're def not a winter choice, depends what kind of off-road that 50% is? If it's surfaced tracks and trails then might be fine. Hutchinson also do the Overide in 650b, but like the WTB Byway it's really a road plus tyre and not for mixed off road.
I used to run wtb byways for summer use and then wtb sendero for winter.
The byway was fine for dry off-road but any moisture and it became lethal - the sendero was really rather good even in winter mud.
Conti RaceKing Protection 2.2in in summer and Sendero in winter for me. The contis always seem to be a decent price.
I went for the Senderos. Bike came with Byways which are just slicks (and scary on moist tarmac). I'm surprised that they actually don't feel too draggy on the road. I have two sets of wheels and these are on my off-road wheels so wanted something designed more for that.
I like WTB Venture as decent allround ability
I have 650x50 Pirelli Gravel M’s on at the moment and really rate them for their comfort and performance off-road (probably a 70/30 split offroad/road) and while they do roll well on tarmac if the mix of riding was more 50/50 I think I would probably go back to the 47mm Maxxis Ramblers I was running before as they zipped along nicely on the road. I didn’t like the Silkshield version though, felt heavy and wooden compared to the EXO’s I replaced them with.
My bike came with WTB Venture’s which were also good on the road and seem keenly priced just now…
Light/fast in WTB usually means thinner sidewalls and faster rolling tread rubber. I'd be surprised if both types weren't that. The Fast ones do mention SG2 which is the more cut resistant carcass iirc. Having said all that, it might just be the difference between wiggle and crc ad formatting!