Right Tyre Vs Wrong Tyre: How To Choose The Right Bike Tyre

Tyre choice for gravel riding is key, the right mix of grip and speed will make your ride feel smooth and fun, but it depends on the conditions you regularly ride in off-road. Si compares the advantages and disadvantages of a range of gravel bike tyre width's and treads for a variety of surfaces, to prove that whilst all are capable on all terrains, it's ultimately down to what you ride.

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What tyre width and pressure do you prefer?

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[gcn]

What tyre width and pressure do you prefer to ride?

[mithral]

I love how you cut to that broom handle when Si mentioned his huge biceps

[toxicblackwidow]

Got rid of my old XC mtb recently and kept one bike only : Fearless Warlock gravel/adventure/bike packing rigid steel rig. Do all with it on 27.5 wheels 2.2 inches tires. The trick is : light wheels and tires, tubeless. I've got comfort and enough speed and traction for any surface. Of course I don't race but I have fun every single time I go out cycling whatever the road/path/track I choose to take, always ready for adventure and discovery.

[johnmac]

Welcome to the life of someone who races CX on top of tread pattern, throw in pressure, weather and surface changes and you'll spend hours making choices only to never be 100% certain it was the correct one.

[Mi_cycling]

Got the 42mm Resolute on my new gravel bike, 1600 km on it in 6 weeks, riding light trail, gravel and tarmac, no puncture yet, I just adjust the tire pressure depending on my planned route, super happy with those.

[DanuelNuel]

You should mention the possibility of mixing tyres type on front and back. I often like put some slick tyre on back and aggressive one on front.

[mariusdeisig]

I run a 35 mm Schwalbe G One Allround on my Gravel Bike. I get along very well with it on all forest paths and gravel roads here in Germany.

[geoffreyannison]

I run a 35 mm tyre with densely pack small knobs - Schwable. I like the fact its quite light as this gives a bit of help uphill. Also its good for tarmac (particularly when wet) and makes the transition to most gravel pretty well.

[tmbmtl]

I ride city, tarmac and packed gravel on old railroad tracks. Two bikes, Krypton GF and Trek sport FX. One set of wheels, Bontrager Aeolus 3v with Continental 5000 TL 32mm, measuring 34.5 mm. Run them between 45 and 55 pounds. They're fast, aerodynamic wheels, great tires that stick in the rain like nothing I've ridden before. And the comfort is spectacular. I remember the eighties, running 19mm tires at 120 pounds was bone rattling. Kudos for the vid, your epic montage felt like Chariots of fire, but on a bike, coasting .

[sterby]

Using a 37mm Continental DoubleFighters, it is excellent for tarmac and looser ground as well. Just excellent allround tires for everywhere.

[jacekdominiak]

Rode WTB Riddlers 37c, great overall tire. Running on Panacer GravelKings 38c now. Feels less stable on fast cornering but also great tire overall.

[TeeFunkable]

I've become a believer in the 650b rim with 47 mm byways. New bike for me this season, came with horizons (and retrospectively, I would've been happy with those too!) I commute and shop with a bike. On rainy or otherwise nasty days I ride on tarmac to get where I need to go as fast as possible. On nice days when I want to have fun, I take the long route with forest paths and gravel road hills. And after reaching my destination, the last jolt is through cobblestone hell. While the wide tires are slower on tarmac, that is no joyride for me anyways and the increased comfort in the rougher stuff and the cobblestones far outweights the minor flat surface speed loss. In fact, unless another such revelation comes across, I'm pretty much done with other wheel /tyre types as this brings the perfect "master of none", comfort and usability focused solution. Great, comfortable commutes and as much loose surface fun as the local topography allows. I got rid of the much fancier road bike I had because I just saw no use for it.

[dwed]

I am new to the world of cycling but already loving the content you are putting out there for us.
Really well put together, analysed and explained.
Cheers. 👍

[peniakfoto]

Hi! I tried a lot of tires (32-35-38-40-42mm) but I like 40mm tires with a fine pattern for the summer the best. Now I have fitted tufo thundero tires on my gravel bike. they are very comfortable and hold enough on the road and off the road. They are very nicely crafted and they are still quite fast on the asphalt. In winter, I plan to put on a forward and backward tufo swampero.

[AussieInJapan]

Holy smokes I never thought I’d see the day that Simon Richardson would be talking about WTB tyres, and up to 44mm sizes to boot! Check out the WTB Nano 40mm with its fast rolling centre tread, I’ve had them on my gravel bike for mix of commute, road & gravel including a very wet Grinduro.

[robbybeauchamp]

Been rolling the Riddlers for a while in 37mm. Don't have too much opportunity for real unpaved riging, but the roads in the city here are bad the extra volume helps a ton. I rarely take my road bike with 25mm tires out anymore.

[alexdaly]

wtb 47c venture for me on my Tempest gravel bike, and very happy with them on the harder stuff still .

[physicsnerd]

I'm mostly street with some tightly packed gravel trails. I'm running Panaracer gravel King SS+ in 32mm and they are fantastic. I'm running tubes at 60psi, which seems to work out fine. If I went tubeless I could probably go to 45 or 50 without issue, but the roads around here have some gnarly holes that I worry would damage the wheel if I go too low.

[adamwillmot]

WTB Venture are agreat compromise with tight centre knobs and wider pattern on the edges. I ride a real mix from tarmac to gnarly roots and rocks trails and they are perfect at 47mm and 35psi. And they come in tan sidewall so look good too ( which we all know is important)

[dr.terrible]

I plan on putting a byway in the back, and a thicker "knobby street tire" in the front. I have to squeeze every last km out of my current tires first though. Nothing goes to waste