Gravel Bike Tyres - 7 Tips To Help You Choose

Thanks god bless

My issue with tires on my gravel bike if constant flats. Even Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires didn't help. How do you deal with flats? (BTW my rims don't accept tubeless.)

it's curios that, for instance, the Continental Ultra Sport III tyres are described as road tyres up to the 28mm model, but the 32mm Ultra Sport III tyre is described by Continental as "road/gravel" despite being slick tyres.

Useful video

I’ve always mixed tires - semislick (either it’s narrow or wide one) on the back and more konby tire for avoiding slipping on the front.

Wrong about tubeless, tube tires are lighter, uses 300mW more power which you would never feel. Tubes have come a long way over the years. I have never ridden tires with low enough pressure to get a snake bite. I find tubeless losses too much air over a long ride to make it viable.
Plus tubeless require far too much fuss and bother, especially in the off season.

On gravel some top racers claim that tires as wide as 47are the fastest. At what point does width begin to negatively impact aerodynamics?

What should I get panaracer 35c or 38c im 58kg and only using my gravel bike 1-2hr every day on a 70/30 pavement/light gravel. Help me choose pls or i'll miss the sale😢😅

the seat is way to small its not what thy tell you

Re: mixing, my grippy tyre goes on the back otherwise I just wheel spin on any slight incline with gas or mud.

Back in the 70s when I was a lad we use what ever wheels and tyres we could get from the dump on your bike . Today I am still riding bike in the woods trails and road . And I don't give a shit what tyre I have on I just ride my bike . And enjoy my day .

My name is Francis Cade and these... are my nostrils

Thank you

will this fit a 5'6 person?

Great info Francis 👍🤩🚴

my sweet spot is a 700x38c since it's comfortable in both Tarnac & Gravel Road.

i live in Greece so is dry and is more like dirt fire roads , got 32 small nobs was thinking to go 42 small nobs , and only use my gravel bike in winter and still is not much rain , since riding slow big clime in the sun is not that fun ,

As I ride 80%tarmac 20% gravel (hardback) any tyre reccomendations my bike came with 35m panaracer comer

i have mob enduraceCX I don't know what's the perfect setup 🙃🤕

I ride mainly on hard packed dirt with light gravel. I usually go with the smooth 38 mm gravel tires like the factory original installation. In places, I run across fluffy sand piled at corners and there is a tendency to slide out. What tread type best addresses this? Are there scenarios where a treaded tire can be paired with a slick? If so, should the treaded tire be front or back? Great channel. 👍🏻

Okay, so I watched your "5 Things I Wish I Knew as a Beginner Gravel Cyclist" and then had to come and rewatch this one now. But I also saw the one featuring your Scott Gravel bike build recently from Backyard Bikeshop and recall the solid description of Hutchinson tires as easy to fit onto rims and seat. So as I had to get some new tires and needed a more aggressive knobble to have a "mud" wheelset I've got a new set of Hutchinson Tundra. Dead easy to fit and a breeze to seat. Super impressed so far. Now to blast round the woods in the gloop....

It’s amazing how few mountain bike riders understand how to chose a tyre, the direction of rotation and tread pattern trade off for front and rear. In the 90s, Panaracer made the Smoke and Dart front and rear specific tyres, only recently have I started to see it coming in again. It makes a massive difference to the handling and the speed.

Well, what I'm doing with my Gravel bike is usually not gravel riding, but commuting. So I'm mostly on tarmac with only very small areas (<10%) of actual gravel. My main objective is a) being fast and b) having a compromise that allows going fast on the road but being able to withstand the muddy winter conditions on that small gravel parts. What tyre choice should I make? Currently I'm going for 40mm Schwalbe Marathon in the winter because tubeless sealant will not work well below 0°C and when doing 250km of commuting every week I have to make sure to not have punctures. For the warmer time of the year I plan on switching to WTB Byway 700 x 34c Road TCS in a tubeless setup - hopefully this will be a good choice. They are looking quick and those Schwalbe Marathon, as good as they are in terms of puncture resistance, offer aweful grip and horrible rolling resistance.

I wish I'd known that my road bike doesn't move on its own.

I ride in the cotswolds on continental Cross king 50-584 through winter and in summer, I swap the rear for Continental Race King 50-584. I works well on mtb blue trail like the one found in the forest of Dean.

Been using ultra sport 3s in the forrest and road, only puncture i had was from some glass in my driveway. Terrifying in the wet, total death in the ice

For us Yanks: knobbles = knobbies... great information

Great content! I have a set of 40mm slicks on my gravel bike, 2 sets of wheels to interchange between road and off road. The 40mm slick does amazingly well off road. Nothing wet but some of the local tracks are completely rideable as long as I stay seated. Way for grip going around corners on the gravel tyres though for sure.

“Are you a roadie that started delving into gravel?” Have you been spying on me 🤣
Long story short it’s taken about a year of waiting for parts and a frame built to spec. to get out on my gravel bike. I’m running 650b wheels and Panaracer Gravelking 1.9 (48) front and rear and love it on the wet, slime covered, gritty, pot holed Hertfordshire B roads and country lanes.
It didn’t stop me from a complete, warning less, wipeout on some black ice last weekend though! My new bike doesn’t look new now 🙁. Broken helmet too!
Tubeless on my road bike too but it’s been a longer trial finding the right wheel / tyre brand combination though.

Great video Francis. I love the subtle hint in the background. Im going with Columbus/Cinelli as a new channel sponsor? ;)

Just had a peek at my bike next to me and yep, tyre is on the wrong way round 🤦‍♂

I live in County Durham near Hamsterley Forest and ride a mix of tarmac, gravel and the forest. I use some Schwalbe G-One Allround (tan wall) 700x38mm setup tubeless. Great tyre for a bit of everything and absolutely fantastic in the snow and ice. I did use some Vittoria Terreno Zero but they were to slick for what I wanted.

Live from the big market Newcastle

I’m using continental race king 2.0 650b on my Sonder Ti gravel bike 🚴 🙂🙂

Is it possible to convert any wheelset to to be tubeless by using enough rim tape?

happy to see the cinelli in the background!

Let's be clear ... riding muddle single track in the UK on a gravel bike does not make it "gravel." 🤣I know you know this b/c you've actually ridden proper gravel 👍🏾but some of your Englishman actually think they ride gravel.

I run 40mm slicks for gravel and road mixed rides. This makes up a large percentage of rides for many people. These are fast and still grippy. If things are wet or perhaps some interesting terrain, I will often run 40mm with small knobbies, deeper tread on the sides and a fine, smoother running surface in the center. These are 700 C and I look for supple sidewalls. Some favorites are Rene Herse, Pirelli Centurato H and Schwalbe. For aggressive terrain, mud or chunky gravel or for bike packing, I drop down to a 650b and go big, usually 50 or 55mm. Here again I like Rene Herse and Pirelli Centurato M. A stronger, less supple sidewall if I am heading into the “boonies”!
Read up on Rene Herse - interesting stuff!

Oh cool gravel tyres

Check out the Curve GXR, yes it’s Ti and high $$ but so worth it, frame for life, run two sets of wheels, one by drive train with a MTB cassette…..and Giro Cycles have these in the U.K.

got a cervelo aspero 38mm rides like a dream. For me its the confidence to be able to go on some very varied surfaces and not have to worry about punctures not to mention its much more comfortable than my previous bike.

I done a 100km gravel ride in October on my MTB with gravel tyres o and it is a 26" wheel I used a very small knobbles it was good fun but I would change the bike I used as it was to heavy 😁 and my picture for my profile is on the said ride 😁😁

Great video. Missed arguably the most important factor after tread pattern is casing. With the new gen gravel tyres utilizing improved sidewall and compound tech, it's not uncommon to have wider tyres with some knobbles be faster than the semi-slick gravel tyres of a few years ago (e.g. Pirelli Cinturato H vs. say the WTB Byways).

Running my Grail with standard tyres which run great in the New Forest but hellish in the rest of Hampshire at this time of year.

Well back in the day or 1990’s well before gravel bikes I would fit 29mm specialised tri cross tyres with knobby’s used for cyclo cross for winter commuting, they were very good but would wear down quickly

Come to Minnesota Francis. We gave great gravel and great gravel events. 🤘🚴🏼‍♂️🤘

If you ride tubeless, get a tiny tiny pair of pliers to help remove valve core (or specific tool?) for when it all goes to crap and you have to put a tube in