Hi, I'm looking to supplement my bike by buying another set of tires. I like to train on pavement and light gravel but want the flexibility of going faster on singletrack as well.
Current situation, I am 195 lbs, 6"4, I ride a Specialized Diverge (22.5 lbs), with clearance upto 47mm. My current tires are Specialized Pathfinders 38mm which I run at 60PSI on pavement and 50mm on gravel.
Questions for you. On-Roadset: - Do you guys think 38mm is too wide? - How about the tire and pressure choice? - Any other thoughts?
Off-road set: - I am thinking something thicker 43mm+. Any suggestions? - Any suggestion on pressure?
Misc: - Should I switch to Tubeless for road/offroad/both?
Am recently in your shoes and would change my choices at this point. My wheels are Spinergy GX (off road) and GX32 (road) both have bladed spokes. I went with the same hub and close to same cassette so I can swap wheelsets without resetting disc calipers and shifting points.
So here's what I've started with and my next choice (all tubeless with Orangeseal sealant):
Gravel Now - Panaracer Gravelking SK 700x38c Next - Panaracer Gravelking SK 700x43c
Road Now - Continental GP5000 TL 700x32c Next - Rene Herse Barlow Pass 700x38c Extralight Casing
Notes- I ride in the DFW area. My frame (carbonda 505) doesn't support tires bigger than 40c. There's evidence showing the GK 43c fit ok. If you're new to tubeless, I'd definitely recommend the Bontrager TLR Flash Charger pump. It's made setting tubeless tires a breeze.
rdavis32 - just a data point for you - my Barlow Pass EL's on 22mm ID rims are 41mm wide as measured with calipers. The thin and supple casing stretches a bit. That might be an issue if your frame is limited to 40c.
Hah, you can get lots of opinions. My choice is pretty much like rdavis. I use 38-40mm off road, and 32mm gp5000 on road ('cause they are friggen fast, with minimal rolling resistance).
The 32s do road racing type events, and summer gravel.
I'll add that in the fall when either I'm goin slower cause the season is over, or I'm going faster on gravel 'cause we are training for the big XC ride I'll use 50 or 54mm on the front so I can hang with XC hardtails in the fast stuff.
I'm doing 25-30 on the flats with the 32mm GP5000. The only real disadvantage with going bigger is weight (which doesn't seem to be a thing any more) and maybe aero at those things (which seems to be a thing these days).
For cruising around in the 15-20mph range solo, I don't think larger sized tires are bad, if they are of good quality and you are not sprinting. Certainly these sound like sweet tires: Rene Herse Barlow Pass 700x38c Extralight Casing
nellborg wrote:rdavis32 - just a data point for you - my Barlow Pass EL's on 22mm ID rims are 41mm wide as measured with calipers. The thin and supple casing stretches a bit. That might be an issue if your frame is limited to 40c.
Thanks for the info! Will drop to Bon Jon Pass which are 35c and expect them to measure bigger.
TB - I've got 4 sets of wheels for my gravel/road bike and a few sets of other tires laying around.
I go back and forth between the Conti 5000 32c's and the Barlow Pass EL's on the road. On group road rides of 80 miles or so, with continually trading pulls and avg'ing 20-21 mph with stop signs, regrouping, etc, I don't notice much of a difference in speed but the Barlows give a much nicer ride. The Conti's are probably faster in a tt, but when on another rider's wheel most of the time...?
On light gravel / dirt roads, I run the same Barlow Pass EL's and am also using a set of Schwalbe G-One Allround 40's. Both are great for this. I'd lean towards the Schwalbe's because of the tiny knobs and better traction on climbs.
Depending on how chunky or smooth your gravel is, you can probably do better than the GK's. I have some 43's and thought they were pretty fair. For tamer gravel, the Allrounds roll better and feel more supple. For chunkier gravel, the GK's are alright. I have some RH 42c Hurricaine Ridge tires that are still new in the bag - and I suspect will be a bit better in both rolling and traction, though.
Pressures: look at the free Silca tire pressure calculator, the Professional one online. The pressures you get from that will be for the lowest RR. Subtract a couple or three psi to get the best combo of RR and ride quality.
IMO, I'd go tubeless for the gravel tires and stay with tubes if you go with the 32c or 35c slicks on pavement.
nellborg, thx! I've been using the Silca professional calc as well. Mentioning Silca and referring to "tamer gravel", what is tamer? Does the road categories the Silca calc uses for grade 1 equate to tame?
According to the pics on the Silca site, I was calling "tamer gravel" type 2 gravel.
I didn't really want to like the Allrounds because so many others were using the Schwalbe's and I didn't want to be a crowd follower. But after a few hundred miles with them on pavement, cat 1 and 2 gravel, I really like them. I think mine measure 41 mm on 22 ID rims. I also have a lot of miles on the Conti Terra Speed 40's and they're nice, too, but they only measure 39 mm on the same 22 ID rims - and I prefer a bit more volume.
That's a big ask for a tire. For road you obviously want light weight, supple sidewalls with no protective belt, and file tread. For chunky gravel, I'd want to have sidewall protection and small knobs on the tread. The Panaracer SK's are probably pretty versatile as are many other standard gravel tires. I just bought a set of RH Hurricane Ridge 42c tires with Endurance casing (still in the bag) for the DK 200 this fall and I suspect they are a step up from the GK's - though that may not necessarily equate to faster.
nellborg wrote:TB - I've got 4 sets of wheels for my gravel/road bike and a few sets of other tires laying around.
I go back and forth between the Conti 5000 32c's and the Barlow Pass EL's on the road. On group road rides of 80 miles or so, with continually trading pulls and avg'ing 20-21 mph with stop signs, regrouping, etc, I don't notice much of a difference in speed but the Barlows give a much nicer ride. The Conti's are probably faster in a tt, but when on another rider's wheel most of the time...?
IMO, I'd go tubeless for the gravel tires and stay with tubes if you go with the 32c or 35c slicks on pavement.
Thanks for that!!! I've always been curious of the difference between these two tires (Conti 5000 32c's and the Barlow Pass EL's). Other than the obvious size difference, you say they are pretty similar. Good to know (I love the 5000s, but sometimes want more volume).
You say "The Conti's are probably faster in a tt, but when on another rider's wheel most of the time..." When on an other's wheel at 25-30mph, the 5000s really shine. In a time trial, wind makes the biggest drag. But in a pace line, wind and rolling resistance are much more similar - thus RR is a higher relative percentage of power loss. I find the 5000s lower my heart rate about 5bpm, or increase my effective threshold power by 30-40 watts.
As for "stay with tubes if you go with the 32c or 35c slicks on pavement." - pretty good advice. Personally I go by tire pressure - with a max tubless of 60-70psi. with the Conti 5000 32c's I'm happy at those pressures. Obviously if I wanted 100psi, I would strongly recommend inner tubes :-)
