Gravel Tire Shootout: Pirelli Cinturato vs. Maxxis Rambler | Gear Reviews

To say there’s a truckload of tire options for your gravel bike would be the understatement of the year. EVERY big tire brand has secured a spot on the bandwagon, and weeding through the mess of widths, tread patterns, rubber compounds, and protective casings has become increasingly difficult. The Maxxis Rambler and Pirelli Cinturato are two of our favorites, but which one is better and why? Tune in to hear what Andy has to say!

Watch our Gravel Saddles Shootout Video:

Check out the products featured here:

Maxxis Rambler Tubeless Tire:
Pirelli Cinturato Gravel RC Tubeless Tire:
Castelli Premio Black Bib Shorts:
Specialized Allez Sprint Disc Frameset:
Giro Aries Spherical Helmet:
Shimano S-Phyre SC903 PWR Road Bike Shoe:
Lake CX333 Cycling Shoe:

0:00 – Intro
0:15 – Why it’s Hard to Choose the Right Gravel Tire
1:17 – The Fast Knobby vs. The Low-tread All-rounder
1:45 – The Maxxis Rambler
2:52 – The Pirelli Cinturato
3:45 – How I Tested Them
4:30 – Wet Weather Performance
4:40 – Cinturato Use Case & Performance
5:05 – Rambler Use Case & Performance
5:34 – So, Who Wins?
6:15 – Q&A
6:30 – Q1: Puncture Resistance
7:18 – Q2: Which one is better for lighter riders?
8:13 – Q3: Which one is better on punchy/loose climbs?
9:10 – Outro


Competitive Cyclist delivers the most premium bike shopping experience. A curated collection of cycling's standout brands, hands-on expertise from our Gearheads, an assembly operation unrivaled in the industry—we offer the knowledgeable service of the best bike builders and in-house mechanics, along with selection and convenience only possible online.

Follow Along for More Content!

[stevenr]

i’ve bought the Pirelli. They are fast but not as soft, supple, and comfy as my other tires. As a 110lb person I love all the extra-light Rene Hersh tires. I ride 27.5 and 26 wheels. My 26 inch wheel allows me to ride a 2.3 tire that is equal to the diameter of a 42mm in a 27.5 wheel. As a smaller person, A 700c wheel with a big tire feels like steering a big boat. 26-so much more fun for me. I have mullet 27.5/26-when I want some more mechanical trail. great options.
love my race king protection 2.2s.

[pedalhead]

No idea about the Pirelli, but I swear by the Maxxis Ramblers. Been riding the 650b/47 on asphalt, cobblestones, singletracks, snowed in ascents and some gnarly rock gardens. Ran them tubeless and never had a puncture that I would notice. Thousands of kilometers on it, and the only negative is that it maxes out at 47mm.

[manabiker]

I live in Michigan and ride year round, on packed snow (not ice)I need a tire that grips without studs, because even though we have more gravel roads than paved, we still wind up on paved sections, the Specialized Sawtooth grips snowpacked roads like its made from Octopi, I use it year round, 700x42 is my tire. Tubeless ready, under $50..

[tomtreece]

There are multiple models, with vastly different tread patterns that fall under the Cinturato name. I love the 50mm Ms.

[BikeLife]

Your Rambler tyres must be different to mine 😂 My 45c Ramblers are some of the slowest tyres I've ever used on the tarmac.

[dancelman]

Pirelli Cinturato RC X hands down best tire I've used

[adrenaline]

Ridden both, love them equally. The cinturato RC really needs to come in a 50mm

[mseekles]

Did Maxxis recently upgrade these tires? Because most of the online reviews (like rolling resistance) show these as having a very high rolling resistance and not that good puncture resistance. So I would not expect them to be grippy but not fast. The Pirelli RCs however got the feedback that they roll almost as fast as the H version but score better than the H on almost every other criteria.

[JustBrowsing]

Thanks, appreciate the review. These two in relation to the Specialized Pathfinder Pro's would be interesting. What do you think, without having made the direct comparison, would be how these relate, based on your experience (I'm just assuming you have Pathfinder Pro experience 😅 ).

[mobilemiall]

How about Ramblers vs. Panasonic Gravel Kings?

[dominicbritt]

Meh - I use the Pirelli Cinturato Gravel H for smooth gravel/road and the Gravel M for any tougher conditions - forget the Maxxis

[johndunbar]

The Rambler is far from a low rolling resistance tire. It's horrible, in terms of rolling resistance. All of Maxxis' gravel tires are slow.

[bam]

What happened to the mikes bikes guy? New videos kind of pointless. I don’t think anyone would recommend these tires. Maybe a couple years ago