[Closed] Gravel tyre for 50/50 tarmac and good gravel tracks.

Terreno Dry? The outer tread knobs look more cosmetic than functional.

This is what immediately popped into my mind, I very nearly bough a set this week too. I've got another ex-DHer mate that has a set he's been ragging all around the lakes recently and rates them very highly. Work very well tubeless too as Vittorias generally seem to these days

I'm interested in this because I rode my new Roubaix with 28mm tyres up a gravel path recently and got on fine except for the lack of rear-wheel grip on wet leaves.

Ironic that in the old days of Polaris mountain marathons we were always looking for tyres that offered a combination of speed on the tarmac sections and grip off road, we tried a variety of commuter tyres with a central ridge before eventually settling on Panaracer Fire XCs at about 1.8" if I recall, which cut down well in mud and snow but still rolled fast enough.

I'm using Byways (650x47) as a standard fitment on my Amazon. Seem to cop with most stuff well (including handling slop more than they look like the should).

I have 700x40C Nanos on another wheelset though and can't really fault them. Seem to be fast on the road, good on gravel, fine on slop.

I've got Terrano wets on at the moment and they roll really well, so the dry's are probably pretty good. At the Cheaper end of the scale there's 38/40c Schwalbe CX Comps. I ran one on the front all summer and TBH never felt like it was a cheap tyre. Then as an intermediate rear, before finally giving up on dry trails and fitting a Smart Sam.

Depends where and what you ride, and whether you ever feel like you'd miss the grip in the mud, but looking at photos from even the wettest 'gravel' races in the USA they still use 'dry' tyres, and a few reviews have commented that when racing you're not fussed about the mud because there's relatively few tight corners to actually need grip on. On something the width of a road, even a T-junction is a relatively wide arc to turn around when you use the whole width of it.

Schwalbe G-one allround. Very fast on tarmac. good in dry conditions or on hardpack gravel.

Slicks are ok, but if you get loose over hard conditions then a little tread to dig down past the loose surface material is a good thing when cornering.

I really rate my G-One AllRound Evo tyres. They're fast and comfy for the road, not giving up much to my GP5000s and provide great grip if you've got to do a little bit of climbing on the rough stuff where a slick would just spin.

G One for me

Slicks are ok, but if you get loose over hard conditions then a little tread to dig down past the loose surface material is a good thing when cornering.

I dunno, I ran a slick rear tyre (and not even a great one, Specialized borough) all summer into autumn and it worked pretty well right up until things turned muddy. And even then it dug in on corners, it was just woeful trying to climb any slope.

My Specialized ‘Trigger pro’ at 40c do this job just fine. Rough gravel lanes, then road miles with no problems.

+1 for the Schwalbe G1s.

I've ran both the G1 and Trigger Pro tyres. G1s are faster, however I have punchered a few times on rough gravel. So moved to the Trigger Pros, which are tougher, however a little slower, although they are acceptable to live with. NOTE that the G1 on the rear will sear quite quickly.

I’m interested in this too as most of my “gravel” rides are probably 80% road. I’m currently using 650x47 Byways which I’m pretty happy with, but would be interested to know if anything else has really proven to be faster on road while no less capable off it.

Gravel-grinders.

Brilliant.

Panaracer Gravelking SK 38mm, tubeless at 40-45 psi = bliss

I had G Ones but got sick of punctures so now am using Byways and am very happy with them.

Vittoria terreno dry; the side knobs are definitely not cosmetic. Very impressed with them for cx racing. Terreno zero good if you’re doing more road.

Another +1 for Specialized Trigger Pros. Easy tubeless, tough, decent on road and fine on gravel tracks and mixed surfaces. Quite often on offer too.

Hadn't heard much good about Gravelking puncture resistance, or G-One wear.

Glad to hear good things about ByWays and Terrenos, will go have a look at Triggers

Panaracer Gravelking SK 38mm,

+1. I did a 180km ride on those last year, they weren't much slower than road slicks.

My wife did the length of Norway last year on Panaracer Gravel King SK's, tubeless. Wore well, zero punctures.

I’m interested in this too as most of my “gravel” rides are probably 80% road. I’m currently using 650×47 Byways which I’m pretty happy with, but would be interested to know if anything else has really proven to be faster on road while no less capable off it.

Byways for the summer, I had no issues with them, only the odd very loose and very steep climb where traction was an issue. Now though I'm on 650x47 Senderos which although much slower on tarmac, are brilliantly grippy in slop and mud.

I don't think anything 650b could be much quicker on road tbh.

Compass extra light range, great tyres

Specialised Sawtooth fit the bill perfectly.

Never had a puncture on Gravelkings - 2000 miles or so.

Big fat slicks. Been doing that on the tracks you describe for at least 15 years. Tread is pointless drag and weight on gravel where there is more grip than you need. Got some Nano's and boy are they draggy compared to my G One Speeds. Don't run MTB pressures either. Try to forget the idea that comfort is the big thing. Unless you are riding day in day out knocking up a hundred miles a day, comfort won't really matter will it?

Agree. Most of my rides have been 50/50 road/gravel for last 20 years and comfort is simply not an issue. As the gravel is softer than tarmac I actually find it more comfortable most of the time as no hard rough tarmac imperfections.

I have also ridden for long periods on 23c road slick tyres with no problem (other than punctures)

Saying all that, I am now using a tyre with side knobs which allows me to corner faster and is better on single track (neither of which are a concern on straight gravel roads though)

Agree. Most of my rides have been 50/50 road/gravel for last 20 years and comfort is simply not an issue. As the gravel is softer than tarmac I actually find it more comfortable most of the time as no hard rough tarmac imperfections.
I have also ridden for long periods on 23c road slick tyres with no problem (other than punctures)
Saying all that, I am now using a tyre with side knobs which allows me to corner faster and is better on single track (neither of which are a concern on straight gravel roads though)

Ummmmmm, so what are you saying?

Great, my experiences to date have been with 33c Conti Speedking CX tyres which actually felt pretty fast on the road for something with a bit of tread on, or 38c Kenda Kwick Tendrils which came stock on my Charge Plug.

Running between 50 and 60psi on both but going forward would have the luxury of a Thudbuster seatpost anyway having had surgery on the lower back, so not worried about comfort.

Only questioning these choices as I didn't want to spend any proper money then regret it later, the Kenda tyres are virtually slick but I didn't notice any issues with grip other than when I had strayed on to peat or grass. Have had a hankering for some Vittoria tyres for a while so maybe I should just scratch the itch...

I had Vittoria Voyager hyper on for years. Perfect for what you want. I think mine were 38c.

I have moved to gravel king sk for wet grass some mud etc. More drag. Gravel kings might work but you don't need sk

I had Vittoria Voyager hyper on for years. Perfect for what you want. I think mine were 38c.

If you can find somewhere that still sells them. Not tubeless compatible AFAIK.

I've had Vittoria Revolution 38s for about 8 months. I ride pretty much every day, and my commute route is on roads, some very rough cycle paths, canal paths, a bit of bridleway, and a little bit of grass and mud.
They're very good on everything but wet grass and mud, where the grip drops alarmingly - I'm only going in straight, flat lines at that point, so it's not much of an issue for me. I'd say they are perfect in the summer, useable in the winter.

Oh, this is with tubes, by the way. I've had one puncture in that time.

Another vote for Panaracer Gravel King SK’s in 38mm.

Roll very well, comfortable, light and not too expensive.

Got around 2,500 miles out of the rear before 5 punctures within two weeks (all on the road) due to tyre being worn out. Front still going strong. ran exclusively at around 40psi and probably did 70/30 road/gravel. Only thing I would say is that the 38mm sometimes feel a bit odd around tight corners, almost like the tyre is fighting to turn. My mate had similar issue and swapped to 35mm and didn't have any issues.

I've used 35c Vittoria Hyper Voyagers, fast and comfortable but do slip in mud. Ran with tubes, never had a puncture.

Then Gravel King So in 35c. Initially I was disappointed at the perceived increase in rolling resistance, but didn't notice it after the 1st ride. Better grip where the Vittoria's slipped, I think they're a great all rounder. Ran tubeless, did puncture but it was a piece of glass that most probably would have punctured the Vittoria's if I was riding on them.

Now running Gravel King slick 28c with tubes. They're fast and comfy on the road, I'd consider the larger sizes for gravel too. The gravel/light off road I use mine on is a mix of surfaced and hard packed dirt tracks. The SKs come into their own on hard packed dirt after a bit of rain as they seem to have just enough bite to hold on.

I like the gravelking slicks for roads and bad roads. Friend of mine likes the sk versions he put on to go touring in summer 2018 so much he’s kept them on for commuting into London ever since and that’s almost entirely road miles.

Bought a secondhand bike from here that came with knards and they’re brilliant for that sort of mixed surface riding you’re describing. I’m not sure they’re perceptibly slower for road than the slicks, I just don’t want to wear them out. The older models are incredibly loose though and don’t play nice tubeless unless you’ve got something like stans rims. I think the new ones may be better in that regard though.

I use bombproof shwalbe land cruisers .
Very cheap, perhaps a bit heavy but there has to be a reason why they always sell out pre 3 peaks.....although I have been looking at gp4 seasons as I’m sticking on the road until the slop drys a bit...

650b Panaracer Gravel Kings for me. Great on road and on gravel or hardcore. Lethal on mud or grass though.

Part of the problem here is that hardly any of the reviews of "gravel" tyres really say much useful about on-road performance, which is strange as surely the whole point of a gravel bike is that you can mix road and trails. Most will have some fairly vague comment about not giving up much speed compared with a proper road tyre, without defining "much". So we are left with a load of gravel options that are all "not much slower than a road tyre" (whatever that means) without being able to make any meaningful comparisons between them (in terms of on-road performance).

One exception would be Compass/Rene Herse who have done a bit of "testing" in this area. So, unless anybody has evidence to the contrary I'd guess something like a Switchback Hill or Babyshoe Pass in 650b or a Barlow, Bon Jon or Stampede Pass in 700c is probably the fastest "gravel tyre" on the road.

Schwalbe G-One All Round here too. Tubeless. I keep buying them, so I must like em

Unless you are riding day in day out knocking up a hundred miles a day, comfort won’t really matter will it?

What is "comfort" though? Most people seem to think that discomfort is just something that you should endure for the sake of higher speeds. But surely discomfort is caused by energy being dumped into your body (in places you don't like). That's energy that isn't being used to propel you forwards but just to make you miserable.

I’m actually wondering if I even really need tread, part of me suspects grip on forest roads/landy tracks is mostly down to volume and tyre pressure rather than tread design.

Yes, largely. Only got experience of 650B recently but I've used smooth G-One Speeds for a couple of years and Horizons + Byways before that and rate them all. Byways most used in last 6 months. On loose corners it still helps to have a bit of tread on the sides and it's suprising how little you need to help with direction when it's wet / a bit muddy. Sort of like taping a short length of string to a tennis ball, it'll stabilise its rotation in flight. Difference in control between Byways and G-One Speed on softer wet surfaces is huge, one slides randomly and the other can be put into a corner and slides happen predictably with confidence in where you'll end up.

G-Ones roll a bit easier than Byways, Byways tougher and more durable in the tread area.
Edit to add, Nano 40s are still a great tyre, just a bit less stable on fast tarmac corners than many other tyres. Work well when worn flat in the middle.

G-One All Round 57-622 only had a couple of rides and one puncture but love the bounce.
Going to replace them with the new Hurricane 62-622 front and 57-622 rear both with race guard if they ever get released in UK.
They are still selling off the old style so don't be fooled.

I loved my G-One all round TLR's but just couldn't live with the punctures. I'm now running Specialized Pathfinders which i would say are comparable in grip on the gravel but noticeably slower on the road.
I found a bigger difference on tarmac between the G-Ones & Pathfinders than there was between G-Ones & GP4000's.

Depends where and what you ride, and whether you ever feel like you’d miss the grip in the mud, but looking at photos from even the wettest ‘gravel’ races in the USA they still use ‘dry’ tyres, and a few reviews have commented that when racing you’re not fussed about the mud because there’s relatively few tight corners to actually need grip on.

Missed this first time round, it's very much my style of thinking that I'm not really looking for every second around the downhill corners, have wasted too much of the last few years with injuries so will only be chasing uphill KOMs (the beauty of Scottish gravel riding, you can always find a track remote enough that you might get a KOM!).

Will save all my silly cornering for the CX course, where it'll either be Terreno Wet or Limus tyres anyway.

I was running Conti Terra Trails on my RAG+, they were shocking in the mud, superb on the dry(ish) gravel sectors and not too bad on the road; I did a 191km ride with them on. Only issue was dinging my rear rim on potholes at while running tubeless at 40psi.