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After a disastrous ride yesterday, 5 punctures in total and three of them mine, I need to look at tyre choice again!
2 of the punctures were due to an issue with the rim so not thr tyre's fault, but then me and another rider both sliced tyres on some loose slatey rocky stuff that had been used to repair a forest track.
Very frustrating as neither of us had been going particularly fast.
Not the first time I've sliced a tubeless tyre either so clearly I need the robustness of an MTB tyre but in a 40mm package, rolling resistance and weight will just have to take a hit.
The new Schwalbe Overland comes in their 'Superground' construction which they openly advertise as being an MTB construction. Total weight isn't terrible and apparently rolls OK.
Guy Kesteven described it as a 'tank' tyre which I hate the sound of but I think that's what I need!
Anything else I should consider? I was a Vittoria fan but even the tougher TNT casing seems too flimsy.
I have a pair of of file tread with lugged edge 38s in the shed. They're tough but I preferred and didn't have issues with the lighter tan walls of a different flavour that I also got with the bike.
I was about to chuck them in a Facebook ad today but you're welcome to have them as a "try something heavy" experiment for a small charity donation (as I'm raising funds for something at the moment as part of a sponsored ride).
I'll post up make and model once I get to them in the shed.
You can get some touring tyres with serious puncture protection that roll well and are not terrible off road....
Not a personal recommendation, but something like this perhaps?
https://www.bikeradar.com/news/continental-terra-adventure-tyre
Depends on your definition of 'gravel' and whether you're running tubeless. I don't, and ended up sacking off Schwalbe G-One Bites due to multiple punctures when I was living in South Wales a couple of years ago. Replaced with Land Cruiser Plus which, 5000km later, haven't suffered a single puncture. You can see the rear one in this picture:
Spa Cycles knocking them out cheap:
https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m14b0s122p3016/SCHWALBE-Land-Cruiser-Plus-HS450
Don’t know if the casing has changed with the new range, but I’ve had good luck with 50mm Vittoria T50s (with Airliners).
Not a personal recommendation, but something like this perhaps?
Yes I'd seen reviews and Conti have followed the same logic as Schwalbe I think i.e. MTB casing in a gravel tyre, unfortunately I don't think they come smaller than 45mm or 50mm and I'm still restricted to 40mm...
I'll post up make and model once I get to them in the shed
Thanks, I'd certainly be interested to know what they are 👍
Replaced with Land Cruiser Plus which, 5000km later, haven't suffered a single puncture.
Will check those out, I suspect the truly bombproof Schwalbes might test my limits of weight and rolling resistance, if they're anything like the Marathon! I think Conti did a touring tyre that was equally well thought of, Double Contact perhaps...
Don’t know if the casing has changed with the new range, but I’ve had good luck with 50mm Vittoria T50s (with Airliners).
Based on my experience, I think the new Vittoria casing sits somewhere between the old TNT (grey) casing and the old tan TLR casing. They are lovely tyres but sadly just not bombproof enough for my purposes...
here you go Vittoria trail tech.
I've found the panaracer + ones good (they do a standard and armoured). Bought for racing the Gralloch and a few other rough events. They are good. Like all tyres they get worse with age so I try and put newer ones on for big events.
Bit more pressure helps if it is rocky. It's not as comfortable or grippy but an inflated tyre is a fast tyre.
here you go Vittoria trail tech
OK thanks, very much appreciate the offer and they definitely look robust, but I might have to draw the line at 900g per tyre! 😎
Maybe unrealistic to expect any lighter but e.g. the Schwalbe Overground are approx 550g despite the MTB tyre construction.
Not tried them, but Marathon Plus Tour? 37-622 that will measure ~35mm, so 42-622 ought to be sub 40mm.
I've found the panaracer + ones good (they do a standard and armoured). Bought for racing the Gralloch and a few other rough events.
Yes, they do seem to review well and seem to tick the 'moon on a stick' box. A few reviewers specifically mentioning puncture-free Grallochs which seems like a key test!
Nothing short of a solid tyre is going to be absolutely bombproof & the tougher the tyre the weightier the tyre's likely to be. I looked at some of the Schwalbe Plus tyres once and they were well over a kilo each. I guess that somewhere there's a balance point/compromise between an acceptable risk of a once in a while tear & potentially not enjoying your riding as much due to the extra slog.
Have a look here, there's a fair amount of info. on various companies' tyre tech. that might help you decide on what to try next.
https://flowmountainbike.com/tests/best-gravel-tyres-the-best-gravel-bike-tyres-ridden-reviewed/
A quick scan through suggests that the Pirreli Cinturato Adventure might be worth a look.
https://www.pirelli.com/tyres/en-gb/bike/tyres/catalogue/cinturato-adventure
Regarding the Vittoria TNTs, I always thought that their grey sidewall tyres were all TNT (as opposed to the lighter TLR sidewalls of the skinwalls) but recently bought some grey sidewalled Terreno Dry tyres that were stamped TLR (apparently the greywall is a bead to bead puncture protection layer rather than TNT). It might be worth double checking if your Vittorias are definately TNT.
I’ve not had a puncture using Pirelli Cinturano-M - I thrashed mine over some pretty chunky rocks whilst over on Speyside. Admittedly the ground/rocks here are far softer on the isles in comparison the flints of southern England which could shred the most puncture resistant tyres including Schwalbe Marathons.
OK thanks, very much appreciate the offer and they definitely look robust, but I might have to draw the line at 900g per tyre! 😎
😱 Is that what they're supposed to weigh! sorry I had no idea they were that much!
No wonder I only did one ride on them 😂
I sense they may be headed for landfill at that weight. 😬
Is that what they're supposed to weigh! sorry I had no idea they were that much!
No wonder I only did one ride on them
Haha, no bother, I didn't stipulate a maximum weight 😂
It might be worth double checking if your Vittorias are definately TNT.
D'oh, that's confusing! I'm on the new 'Endurance' T50s, which I had somehow taken as being roughly equivalent to TNT, but now I'm not so sure.
Will research the Pirellis, they've always appealed (Cinturato RC especially) but wasn't sure of robustness.
Nothing short of a solid tyre is going to be absolutely bombproof & the tougher the tyre the weightier the tyre's likely to be
Agreed, but I think the 'average' gravel tyre is perhaps racier than I should be riding, in terms of weight, clumsiness and terrain covered I should probably be riding what they're now starting to call 'adventure' tyres, so I'm hoping there's still a useful amount of choice before the Schwalbe Marathon type tyres!
As with most tyre stuff,it's down to the type of terrain you will ride most.
I just started using a set of Pirelli Cinturano-M (35mm*).
Like dovebiker I have been very impressed so far,and they were great when I was ambushed by some rough (lets go back to 90s MTBing) single track.
They also roll quite good on road/hardpack stuff.
* did not die
As with most tyre stuff,it's down to the type of terrain you will ride most.
Yeah absolutely, and I think I need to learn to spot the exact sort of 'gravel' which does the damage, i.e. the grey slatey stuff which sliced two of our tyres at the weekend, or the mega rock armour they seem to repair washed out sections with, basically really big chunky and pointy rocks embedded in the ground which don't move under your tyres. Just need to learn to back off over that stuff a wee bit.
However, after seeing how fast my buddy's bike rolled on his new Panaracer X1s yesterday (I'm not used to people rolling away from me on gravel descents, something to do with my 20kg weight 'advantage' I think...) I'm pretty much sold on them, designed for Unbound I think and multiple reviews of them surviving the Gralloch, whilst still remaining (relatively) light and fast.
We were coming down Glen Fincastle last weekend when we hit a particularly rough and sketchy bit of track. Afterwards, my mates front Gravelking had developed a bulge showing that the casing had started coming apart. We made it back to Blair Atholl (carefully). My 40mm Cinturato Gravel Ms were just fine, so I'm going to recommend that based on that one ride alone 😉