Looking for tire size recommendations for 2 styles of riding with my Salsa Warbird. One set for long tarmac rides with maybe an occasional fire road thrown in and one set for trail/gravel and both running tubeless. What do you ride?
I picked up the WTB Resolute 42 for my gravel duties now wondering about a road tire for my WTB frequency i23 rims. 32's, 34's, 36's, 38's? Some tread or smooth tread like a classic gp4000 but a bit bigger? I have a Tarmac for fast road duties but it would be nice to travel with a 1 bike quiver.
Biketiresdirect now has the 32mm Continental Grand Prix 4-seasons in 32mm, that'd probably do well for you on roads. Not sure about tubeless compatibility though.
Montanaman42 wrote:I picked up the WTB Resolute 42 for my gravel duties now wondering about a road tire for my WTB frequency i23 rims. 32's, 34's, 36's, 38's? Some tread or smooth tread like a classic gp4000 but a bit bigger? I have a Tarmac for fast road duties but it would be nice to travel with a 1 bike quiver.
I loved my Schwalbe G-One Allround 38C (42mm measured on i23s) for just about everything really. Fast and comfy on smooth or broken pavement, wide and plush enough for larger gravel, passable in mild mud. I'd give those a hearty recommendation as fast road and gravel rubber. Even when I wore down the knobs of the rear tire they still performed beautifully and had plenty of usable life left. I have some friends who swear by the Pro One 28C for tubeless road use. On i23s it would probably mount up 30mm or wider and that would be plenty for the occasional fire road. If you want to split the difference you could also consider the G-One Speed 30C.
Compass Bon Jon Pass are a great, fast, supple tire for tarmac and light gravel. They have an entire line of these for different volume requirements. Highly recommended, especially tubeless (although they are great with tubes as well).
I'm a big fan of the Schwalbe G-One Speed at 30mm for faster tarmac and light gravel as well. It compares favorably to the Compass tires of similar size and costs less. It set's up easily tubeless as well.
There are others to consider. The Schwalbe G-One Allrounder and the Panaracer GravelKings (SK or non) could be good fits too.
Jim_H wrote:Compass Bon Jon Pass are a great, fast, supple tire for tarmac and light gravel. They have an entire line of these for different volume requirements. Highly recommended, especially tubeless (although they are great with tubes as well).
I'm a big fan of the Schwalbe G-One Speed at 30mm for faster tarmac and light gravel as well. It compares favorably to the Compass tires of similar size and costs less. It set's up easily tubeless as well.
There are others to consider. The Schwalbe G-One Allrounder and the Panaracer GravelKings (SK or non) could be good fits too.
I looked at the Compass and my LBS owner and I both had a little concern with the thinner sidewalls. Have you had any issues with this? Around these parts the fire roads can have a lot of sharp large rocks before and after they have been graded.
I have several thousand mixed terrain miles on Compass Bon Jons and Barlows, and have never even had a flat, let alone a cut.
I ride in the Pacific Northwest. Our gravel isn't particularly sharp, but we do have some steep, nasty, rutted out, pothole filled hard descents and these tires seem to hold up well.
I was a little concerned about their durability when I first got them, but experience has been great so far.
With a i23 rim I would want at least a 32mm tire, preferably a bit bigger, in order to keep a decent profile (tall enough) the good news is, there are now many options for tires that are fast, fairly light and not to knobby (big knobs leads to squirrelly handling on pavement).
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\nSo I would say one of the Schwalbe models or Compass models might be your first choice.
So I went with Panaracer Pasela 32 as my road tire but I think after I wear these out I will definitely give the Compass tires a go especially for more road style riding with some gravel thrown in. I'm absolutely loving the WTB Resolute 42 but they are pricey as well so I don't want to put too many regular road miles on them. I'm around 180-85lbs regularly and drop to 175 for race days what is the lowest PSI I can safely run these? Currently at about 38psi on the Resolutes.
Tires are not "fast" if you are pulled over fixing flats. Avoid Compass tires for this reason!
Montanaman42 wrote:I looked at the Compass and my LBS owner and I both had a little concern with the thinner sidewalls. Have you had any issues with this? Around these parts the fire roads can have a lot of sharp large rocks before and after they have been graded.
I recently acquired a 2018 Warbird. I use Teravail Cannonball 38 Premiums (now, I think, called Durable) for all gravel. I've used them for years and love love love them. I've had a grand total of 1 flat since I switched early in 2016. For smoother/faster riding I recently landed on the Specialized Roubaix Pro 32. I only have a few races on the Roubaixs, but so far they perform well and held up to the abuse Ive thrown at them.
clarksonxc wrote:Biketiresdirect now has the 32mm Continental Grand Prix 4-seasons in 32mm, that'd probably do well for you on roads. Not sure about tubeless compatibility though.
Seriously? I asked them 3 years ago, and they said "they should be in soon" After 2 years I got tired of waiting, and found them on ebay listed as a 32 inch tire (go figure).
They are not tubeless compliant, but I run them tubless anyway (up to 70psi at least).
Still, 32mm slicks tire for road and hard pack, and 40mm gravel tire for rougher dirtier and winter riding works for me.
I'm using The WTB i23 on my Raleigh Roker. I have the 700x38 Hutchinson Overide on the back. This tire is nearly a slick, with a faint file tread pattern. It's probably one of the fastest rolling truly tubeless gravel tires with a very plush ride and a surprising amount of traction. I have 700x40 Vittoria Terreno Dry on the front. This tire has a unique fish scale tread pattern at the center and larger knobs on the shoulder. This tire also rolls fast but has additional bite on gravel for urgent steering and braking response.
This combination provides low rolling resistance on pavement but is wide enough and has adequate traction on soft, dry gravel. No need to change tires, can cover both pavement and soft gravel with speed and stability. It's an ideal combination for days that are 50% pavement and 50% rural gravel and poorly maintained Jeep trails.
For pavement and crushed granite paths, I use the 700x28 Continental 4000 S II. this tire is nearly 32mm wide. It's as fast rolling as 700x25 racing tires but is surprisingly tough enough for well maintained gravel.
