Gravel Bike Tyres

[AndreR]

Hi All, apologies if this has been done to death already but my search didn't find it if it has I'd like to pick the very expert minds of the forum please.

I have a Sonder Camino which came with WTB Resolute 700 x 45 tyres with tubes on it. Lovely tyres to ride especially on gravel but had 8 punctures in the first 2 weeks of riding it! Mixture of thorns, flint and 1 bit of glass. Puncture woes went on and managed to write one off completely inside 6 months and replaced it with a Panaracer Gravel King set up tubeless. Managed to patch the remaining WTB and set that up tubeless too, 4 tubeless plugs later it was back to being tubed until I was able to find a matching Panaracer to replace it. Panaracers not as nice to ride as the WTB's were and not as good on actual gravel but nice and fast on roads.

Panaracers lasted pretty well and were less prone to puncturing but despite being tubeless ready seemed to constantly leak air and needed topping up before most rides. Sealant seemed to evaporate somehow too! Managed to write off one of the Panaracers with a piece of fencing wire that went in and out and back in again before it caught on something and was ripped out. Replaced with a WTB Raddler with the new nylon puncture protection belt in it (sorry fell for the marketing B/S) Nice enough to ride and very similar to the Panaracer. Set up tubeless and to be fair it was much better than the original WTB and the Panaracers for punctures and the few punctures had were all sorted with an anchovy type plugs...until Monday. An old plug in the tread seemed to pull out while riding and the hole seemed bigger as well so was replugged with the next size up plug and pumped back up. Pulled out again inside a mile! Tube in and carried on until the tube burst where the hole was, patched the hole in the tyre and in the tube and made it home.

So, sorry for the long sob story I am looking for recommendations for a tough puncture resistant 700 x 40 to 50 gravel tyre that is reasonably fast rolling for the road and capable off road please. They will be going on tubeless and road/gravel use is generally about 40/60.

Thanks for your patience reading he above and for your thoughts!

[redefined_cycles]

Sounds to me like you need to invest in some of the newer type Michelins. Might have to sacrifice on the weight though as (partly, in my humble opinion) that's why the WTB are just so puncture prone.

Also the Panaracer GKs, also a bit lightweight/thin and therefore not as tough as some others. Unless you plan to keep plugging and tubing, it might be high time you gave up on much of this marketing rubbish and get some proper tyres (sorry ).

Another thing to bear in mind, are you trying to ride some of them posh tanwall types. Their just not as strong (and more expensive) due to the 'sticking em together' process. Another way to stop punctures is to just keep the tyres and throw away the bike. Not very gravel friendly I know, but you could always take em for a walk

Sorry if only 30% of that was helpful.

[ton]

dont know what is the best but i do know what works well for me on all surfaces.
schwalbe G One allround 700 x 45. perfect on and offroad. rode a 100 mile road event on them recently, and a 100 mile gravel circuit.
and carrying a 20 stone rider with not punctures or issues is a good test of tyre i think.

and i just got some new ones at £25 each from Bikeinn.

[redefined_cycles]

Possibly one of these Dean. https://www.merlincycles.com/cyclocross ... eless-ust-

Can't seem to find a decent Michelin that's not tanwall and in tubeless version. Have you considered that you might be riding em with too higher pressures. That will definitely be inviting punctures. Try to do the finger/punch method to try and gauge that they're solid/supple enough and get the right balance.

On 40c × 700 tyres you really ought not to need to go much uigher than 40psi max I would have thought/guesstimated... I had the Panaracer GKs on my road bike in 32c flavour. Aside from a couple of punctures that self sealed as I continued riding, they were fine. But definitely puncture prone. I had em at about 55 - 60 psi.

[redefined_cycles]

There you go. Get the g-one. I would have mentioned them based on Schwalbe, Maxxis and Michelin being a proper tyre company (sorry ) but I didn't know how they translate into gravel. Obviously they've (Schwalbe) pulled off another blinder according to Tons reports.

[Valerio]

Pirelli Cinturato M.

Close the thread.

(I'm now riding some Schwalbe G-One Allroad and they seem decent, but expect them to struggle with mud)

[fatbikephil]

Not had any issues with gravel kings leaking but I'd say most of the tubeless gravel tyres are much of a muchness durability and puncture resistance wise. The WTB byways I was running for a while seemed pretty tough but they did leak and would pop off the bead when they deflated.

I've not had quite the puncture issues you've had but plug faffing seems to be par for the course given how thin gravel tyres are. Not aware of any that have well reinforced side walls or kevlar layers to prevent punctures, which is daft really as that's what you need in this country.

If you don't care about weight, Schwalbe marathons remain the only truly puncture resistant tyres. They also roll really well and grip surprisingly well on forest tracks etc.

[Boab]

Pirelli Cinturato M.

Close the thread.

This...

I found GravelKing's were too lightweight and puncture prone as a result, poor show in the wet too. The front would seal OK, but the rear always required plugging; this was with Orange Seal Endurance. They felt fast and were nice and supple, but for the riding around here, lots of hedgerows, they're just too prone to punctures by massive thorns.

Resolute's, with all the slash guard stuff, were OK ish, still poor show in the wet though. Plus you need a "proper" sealant as the side walls leak, so avoid the ground olive Végétalex stuff.

Cinturato M's seem to be my sweet spot tyre, in 700x45c at least. They generally seal pretty well without intervention, although I have had to plug them occasionally. They roll well and are no better or worse in the wet than anything else. I used to change my tyres every year, I'm now on my third summer with these ones.

[voodoo_simon]

You’re not alone! Had the Resolutes on for a couple of weeks and really liked how they rode, but they were poor on punctures (or actually, very good on punctures and poor in puncture protection). Soon got rid of them

Anyways, switched over to the Raddlers and saw good improvement with the puncture protection but I see you went down that road before…

[faustus]

I've got lucky and not had much in the way of puncture woes with gravel tyres (touch wood, will now have to get loads more plugs etc.!), and I live in a flinty thorny area. Some tyres do have a reputation for puncture weakness. But, there seem to be a fair few tyres with stronger or bead-to-bead casings, so look out for those. For your mix of terrain i'd be going for semi-slick/nothing too knobbly.

- casings to look out for: Maxxis silkworm (had them on Ramblers); WTB now do SG2 casing as a response to their tissue tyres; Vittoria TNT is bead-to-bead protection and their tyres seem to be reasonably priced
- tyres in 40-45mm: Impressed with Vittoria Terreno Dry; used Maxxis Ramblers but not as fast as they look, Schwalbe All-rounds are good, but I found the lack of edge grip frustrating on anything wetter than mildly damp; Hutchinson gravel tyres I like, Toureg looks OK for speed/mix terrain, I have Tundras for wetter times and they're great. Hutchinson's a bit hard and not as supple though. Maybe something from specialized like the Trigger, and Bontrager sometimes have their gravel tyres at good prices.

[Bearlegged]

Gravel tyres I've ridden:
Conti Speed Ride - now seem to be discontinued, and I only ever used them with tubes, but they worked pretty well
Schwalbe G-One all-round - great on hardpack, squirrelly on anything muddy/loose (but noticeably more surefooted than slicks). Durability - pretty good, right up until they seemed to reach a certain point of usedness (still plenty of tread, but I started getting punctures through the tread area). Sidewalls seemed good.
WTB Resolutes - roll really nicely, good grip in the looser stuff, good ride quality, I kept on destroying the sidewalls on rocky downhills that I really should have been riding at that pace on my MTB instead.
Teravail Cannonball - roll nicely, not much centre grip on loose/muddy stuff, decent edges for cornering. Sidewalls have seemed a bit weepy at times, but otherwise have worn well.
Vittoria Mezcal - early days with this one, but construction seems the same as the 2.6" versions I've run on my MTB, I like these a lot.

[Kuman]

Another vote for Pirelli Gravel M. I have tried a lot of tyres and Pirelli have been the best.

[AndreR]

Very useful!! Thanks all for the responses and recommendations, short list, in no particular order so far:

Pirelli Cinturato M
Schwalbe G-One Overland with Raceguard
Vittoria Mezcal Gravel Endurance

Will dig into some of the other recommendations this evening

[Specialist Hoprocker]

Hutchinson Toureg? I have a pair that I've been happy with. Could puncture resistance.

[Valerio]

Very useful!! Thanks all for the responses and recommendations, short list, in no particular order so far:

Pirelli Cinturato M
Schwalbe G-One Overland with Raceguard
Vittoria Mezcal Gravel Endurance

Will dig into some of the other recommendations this evening

Having ridden the Cinturato M 40mm(tan) and Schwalbe Overland 50mm I would say that the Schwalbe have better puncture protection (had no punctures that i noticed so far), seem to be more hard wearing and less supple.
So if it's a bomb proof pair of tyres you're after then those should be good. Mine have about 1000km and still look new.
They're surprisingly grippy even in mud, considering the low expectations I had.

My Pirellis did about 4000km including Tuscany Trail, Badger Divide, Multiple overnighters in the Peak District and cycling across Italy. They had some life left when I sold them with my previous bike.
One day I got home and noticed a massive farm/fence nail in the rear tyre. It had not lost pressure and I had ridden with it! As soon as I removed it sealant started spraying everywhere but it eventually plugged the hole. To be safe, I removed the tyre and patched it from the inside. Never had issues and never had to use bacon strips while riding, the sealant always took care of punctures.

Either will be a great option, I would pick the Pirelli for the (slight) better grip and suppleness.

[due]

There's a Cinturato 'Adventure' which I'm tempted to try. Can be had for ~£35 and looks to be between the M and the H in terms of tread, but 60TPI and ~100g heavier (burlier?)

[BridlewayBimbler]

I've got Hutchinson Toureag and they've been fine so far. I only really stated using them during the drier weather, so can't comment on year round use, but TBH, I don't think that's their USP?

[ootini]

Having tried a few, I'd have to say my favourites are Pirelli Cinturato gravel Ms in 700c x 40mm

[fatbikephil]

Just watched that tour de france - 28mm for gravel tyres by the looks

[whitestone]

DON'T get the Panaracer Gravelking SK in green compound - they are lethal in the wet We've a pair in the back room - Cath wouldn't let me put them on the Genesis.

[rivers]

Another vote for the Cinturato Ms.
Roll reasonably well on the road, great for off road in anything but thick mud

[AndreR]

Thanks all for the benefit of your experience and knowledge, hugely appreciated Decision made and 2 700 x 45 Pirelli's in Cinturato M flavour are on order.

[fatbikephil]

DON'T get the Panaracer Gravelking SK in green compound - they are lethal in the wet We've a pair in the back room - Cath wouldn't let me put them on the Genesis.

Are they the ones Banana was selling cheap? I thought they were OK

[postierich]

Really like my Terravails Rutlands several trips so far this year no issues ! 700-47
Rich