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TwoWheeler wrote:I’m looking for tires that are easy to mount, puncture resistant, long wearing, offer reasonable grip, smooth riding and not horribly slow. Oh yeah, I don’t want to have to take out a mortgage, either. In short, I want it all. 😉With those priorities you might want to look at a touring tire like the Schwalbe Marathon Almotion or Continental Contact Urban. I've had good experience with the Almotion (Addix version, tube type). It's reasonably fast and grippy on pavement and hard dirt, I've had no punctures, and it's wearing very slowly. I can't say anything about tubeless setup.
stu wrote:With those priorities you might want to look at a touring tire like the Schwalbe Marathon Almotion or Continental Contact Urban.
I have been riding 45mm Pirelli Gravel H's for over a year and tried a few other tires during that time on my second(identical) wheelset. I keep coming back to the Pirelli's despite some of the alternatives being much more expensive. I am amazed at how well they are holding up. As I also road ride, I typically ride gravel 1 or 2x weekly so not big miles on them but they still have lots of tread on them. My gravel rides are pure gravel, SW dry/loose stuff and I find they offer a nice amount of grip and seem to roll pretty quickly. Set-up seemed was on the easier side of typical which is relative as I usually get my butt kicked by tubeless haha.. They aren't on the cheaper end but they are far from the most expensive option.
I'm currently running 43 mm GravelKing SS+, Rene Hearse knobbies, and Bontrager GR1.
The GK are not the soulless Marathons I had, and experience with other Schwalbe don't have me excited to pay the premium price though a new model looks promising. Associates running non plus GravelKings found them to be less of a bother to set up tubeless. Plus pre-inflated with a tube were not a bother. For a tire without knobs the SS+ side ribs does give control a lot of slick and round tires don't have.
Rene Hearse knobby tires get demerit points for the price and stupid tan only sidewalls but but they really work better than any fast type MTB racer I've tried. The endurance and endurance plus casings associates and I have all seem plenty durable. Two associates who do endurance events including tour divide are with me thinking some of the RH tire criticisms might be inappropriate or discounting other tires.
Bontrager GR1 have gone up in price from the first set I got but still less than other popular choices. They have been a pleasant surprise and offer a black sidewall for those who lived and didn't think the 1970s were all that great. They mount tubeless with ease like other Bongrager tires and they have the nice supple feel I think Marathons, GravelKings and MTB race tires lack. They have side hold the very round Schwalbe G and Conti with little knobs don't have. On rides with Schwalbe fans they seem to roll just as well.
I only know it in 50mm and the heavy tubeless model but Donnelley MSO are super good tubeless and versatile. They have a WC version made by Tufo that's lighter. I'd chose those and RH knobbies over light MTB race tires for gravel riding.
The Tufo tires interest me a lot - good reviews where I've seen them and a decent price. Challenge Strada Bianca also interests me but I ride off road enough and corner hard where the side hold help from those GR1 or a GK SS is important. There are just lots of choices because this is a new seemingly still growing segment in the industry.
imwjl wrote:The Slate came stock with Gravelking slicks. I got a season or two out of them and was pretty happy with them. When they wore out, I bought another set and had an absolute BEAST of a time getting them on the (Mavic 419) rims. Then I built a set of wheels for the Slate and bought another set of GK slicks…and had a hell of a time getting THOSE on the new rims (Light Bicycle) and came to the conclusion that it wasn’t the rim/tire combo. I had no such trouble with the Specialized Sawtooth tires on my wife’s Diverge - it even seated with a floor pump. The only reason mounting difficulty is a concern is because I keep thinking “If I have to shove a tube in these, I hope I flat in front of a Lowe’s so I can go in and buy a crowbar”.I'm currently running 43 mm GravelKing SS+, Rene Hearse knobbies, and Bontrager GR1.
imwjl wrote:There are just lots of choices because this is a new seemingly still growing segment in the industry.
Familyridz wrote: gravel, it's not at all clear to me that rolling resistance tests translate to bike performance, because propulsion & handling grip on differing surfaces varies so much--that's why racers of all disciplines change tires for wet vs dry, gnarliness of trail, etc. None of us ride on drums, and whether the drum has bumps or not, the rolling resistance tests find higher pressure is faster, but racers are using 30-35 PSI where the shape of the contact patch and nature of grip of a 42 mm tire on a hero gravel, packed dirt, stones larger gravel, loose sand/dust, etc will be different.
TwoWheeler wrote:
The Slate came stock with Gravelking slicks. I got a season or two out of them and was pretty happy with them. When they wore out, I bought another set and had an absolute BEAST of a time getting them on the (Mavic 419) rims. Then I built a set of wheels for the Slate and bought another set of GK slicks…and had a hell of a time getting THOSE on the new rims (Light Bicycle) and came to the conclusion that it wasn’t the rim/tire combo. I had no such trouble with the Specialized Sawtooth tires on my wife’s Diverge - it even seated with a floor pump. The only reason mounting difficulty is a concern is because I keep thinking “If I have to shove a tube in these, I hope I flat in front of a Lowe’s so I can go in and buy a crowbar”.
I have been running Gravel Kings of all sorts and sizes since they were released, on many different rims (DT Swiss, WTB, Velocity, Flo, Bontrager, Mavic, and others) with ZERO trouble mounting, seating or removing a tire.
ccand51997 wrote:
The qualities that make a tire fast on a drum are going to be even more important as the road gets rougher and rougher. The ability to conform to the surface without deflecting the tire upward will not only provide comfort but speed. A tire that is slow on a drum is not going to suddenly turn into a great tire on dirt unless traction becomes such an issue that it is hard to move. The tradeoff is always going to be speed/comfort vs. durability/puncture protection. I've raced two straight times with a front tubed Speedking Racesport and a nearly bald rear Raceking Protection. Road or dirt, those are very fast tires and better than all but one or two tires made for gravel. Here in the western desert I don't think sharp rocks are an issue at the gravel races I have done. Neither one of them have held up well to any sort of sharp gravel.
A small diameter metal drum can never simulate real world conditions. It can provide data, but if it’s not the data that matters it’s useless.
shiggy wrote:
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!
A small diameter metal drum can never simulate real world conditions. It can provide data, but if it’s not the data that matters it’s useless.
shiggy wrote:
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!
A small diameter metal drum can never simulate real world conditions. It can provide data, but if it’s not the data that matters it’s useless.
There are a lot of other factors — grip, puncture resistance, etc. — that might make a tire effectively faster in the real world for a given rider and riding environment.