Teravail Rutland 700c X 47mm Tires: At The Finish

Teravail Rutland 700c X 47mm Tires: At The Finish – by Guitar Ted

When I last left off with this review (See that post here), I was wondering if this Teravail Rutland would perhaps be the ‘new favorite tire’ in my stable. The perennial favorite of mine over the last several years has been the WTB Resolute, a tire with an uncanny ability to roll fast, but still have a good grip when you want it. Additionally, the Resolute has a nice, supple ride quality which tends to make it very capable on our rough, coarse gravel here.

The time for the final verdict on the Teravail 700 X 47mm Rutlands is here. Let’s see if it measures up to the Resolute and whether or not I have anything to add after riding this tire on multiple surfaces.

The Rutland has a tread pattern which is very similar to the Resolute, but rubber compounds, casing construction, and knob design are not going to be the same between the two. This is obvious when riding the two tires back-to-back. I set up another bike with the 700 X 42mm Resolutes, which, by the way, measure out to be close to 44mm in reality on wider rims. They were obviously free rolling and were faster feeling than the Rutlands are, but we are not quite comparing apples to apples. the bigger Rutland is at somewhat of a disadvantage to the more svelte Reso. So, I happen to have a set of 42mm Rutlands in the Light and Supple casing now on test with the FLO Cycling wheels. They are closer to the (42mm claimed) width of the Resolute, measuring out at 42.8mm currently.

The Rutlands, even in the narrower size, just don’t quite have that same fast rolling magic that the Reso’s have, and neither do they ride as smoothly. But the Teravail Rutland does have stability in coarse gravel, great traction, and – unlike the Resolute- a version with puncture protection. Truthfully? The Rutland 700 X 47mm tires aren’t that far off from the Resolute. It’s pretty close, but the narrower, lighter Reso does have the top slot in my stable yet.

At The Finish: I really like the 47mm version of the Rutland. It rides on our gravel here really well. It is stable, smooth riding, and when you need a little bite on dirt or finer hardpack, it does have grip. But what do we have here in this 47mm width?

I would argue that not many gravel bikes could even accept such a tire. Maybe the newer models might. I do see some bikes coming out now in 2020 that might handle a tire this big, and there may be more to come. But what do we have here? I would argue that this is an “MTB-lite” tire. The sort of “not-quite-a-29″er” tire that was being foisted off on us in the mid-2000’s as a 29 inch XC racing tire. This width is sort of a no-man’s land. Not narrow enough or light enough to be a gravel racing/go fast tire in typical gravel frames, and not wide and voluminous enough to be an adventure/exploration/bikepacking sort of tire in a frame that might fit 2.0″+ sized tires.

The Rutland does come in a 29″ X 2.2″ version, and likely that tire would have beaten out the other three wider tires for gravel tested here this Summer from an all-around viewpoint. That said, if your gravel bike can fit a tire like the 47mm Rutland, and you want the best balance of traction, rolling resistance, and comfort, this tire is really quite good. Not for racing, maybe, but for fun? Yes. I would strongly recommend taking a look at the Teravail Rutland.

Note: The Teravail Rutland 700c X 47mm tires were sent to Riding Gravel for test and review at no charge. We were not paid, nor bribed for this review, and we will always strive to give our honest thoughts and views throughout.