Anyone know of rolling resistance testing/data for gravel-minded tires? We have the excellent bicyclerollingresistance.com for all things road and some things MTB. I'm interested in seeing how various tires in the 30-50mm range break down: MSO, G-One, Riddler, Horizon, etc head to head. What's out there quantitatively?
Compass Tires and it's companion company, Bicycle Quarterly Magazine, have published a number of articles about tire performance. Jan Heine, founder and principle owner of both Compass and BQ has published a number of articles and reviews on this subject which you can read here from his blog: https://janheine.wordpress.com/?s=tire+tests Of course, you should note that J H isn't an unbiased observer, in that Compass sells the type of wide supple tires that these articles and reviews recommend. The bottom line is that a tires real world performance -- the amount of power you have to put out in order to go a certain speed under specific conditions, not only depends on it rolling resistance, but on suspension loses caused by the tire responding to uneven surfaces. I've been riding 35 mm Compass Bon Jon's for several months, currently with Challenge latex tubes at 30-35 PSI. I'm a very experienced rider, with many years and miles of riding and racing. I can tell you from first hand experience riding both in fast group rides on pavement on Hilton Head Island this winter, as well as slugging through mud and gravel in southern NH this spring, these tires perform every bit as well as J H and the articles he references predict. The only factor I can't really speak to is durability and puncture resistance. Compass tires come in both a standard and ultra light casing. I chose the ultra light casing because I wanted the very best performance. I ride mostly on maintained dirt and gravel roads or on pavement where side cuts from sharp objects and stones are unlikely. My main concern running at 30-35 PSI are pinch flats if I hit pot holes at speed. So far, so good - no pinch flats despite some pretty hard hits on high speed descents. The Bon Jon's are rated tubeless compatible. But, this just means that the tire beads are extra tough and will resist blow off when mounted on tubeless ready rims. There were some other earlier posts which mentioned problems with tubeless installation of the Bon Jon's. I haven't tried a tubeless mount myself; but I'm very satisfied with the Challenge latex tubes I'm using.
Ive been doing some very fast group rides with a 38c Ramblers. Next smallest tire on that ride is 25mm. I get a lot of funny looks, but they are plenty fast. For a ride like that, weight is pretty key, as I'll get dropped on acceleration or on the climbs if I don't have a light wheel/tire set. (then again, my bike cost 1/10ths of what a lot of those rides cost).
Donate some tires/money to the BRR guy, and I'm sure he would be happy to test them for ya.
chas wrote:Ive been doing some very fast group rides with a 38c Ramblers. Next smallest tire on that ride is 25mm. I get a lot of funny looks, but they are plenty fast. For a ride like that, weight is pretty key, as I'll get dropped on acceleration or on the climbs if I don't have a light wheel/tire set. (then again, my bike cost 1/10ths of what a lot of those rides cost).
Donate some tires/money to the BRR guy, and I'm sure he would be happy to test them for ya.
I ran 38mm Ramblers tubeless last season, before I switched to Gravel King 35 mm SK tubeless. While I agree that the Ramblers run very well on hard pack and pavement, I noticed the difference between them and the GK's -- especially on pavement. The lighter weight and supple sidewalls of the GK's make them noticeably faster. But I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Ramblers for rougher terrain, or mixed surfaces, if you are more adventurous in your selection of roads and trails than me. If I were riding the DK 200, I would probably chose the Ramblers.
