So I have dipped my toe into the gravel world recently. I have a Trek Checkpoint that I have setup with two wheel sets so I have one for gravel tires and another all setup with a set of Conti 5000 in 32 mm (tubeless). As I went on and got myself into a gravel race (loose term for me) this summer I am looking for a good all around gravel tire.
I am looking for the Conti GP 4000s/5000 of gravel tires. A good balance of fast, and reasonable puncture resistance. I will be setting them up tubeless and was looking to go with something in the 40mm range. What are people using?
My event this summer is the DAMn which is a 240 mile race across southern MN on gravel roads. Nothing too crazy on hills or crappy gravel from what I hear.
I know nothing here. Just n=1 & 2cents. I loved the 37mm WTB Riddler. Used them on my wife’s gravel bike and mine. Seemed to roll surprisingly well, great traction and very durable. I moved up to the 44 or 45mm WTB Riddler and loved it even more. Then I sold our gravel bikes and got XC MTBs.
Now I have 2 spare 44 or 45mm (or whatever it is), WTB Riddlers I’ll never use, which have never been mounted. Tubeless ready. I’ll sell them to you for cheap if you decide they’re the right tire for you. I have no idea if they actually are. They’re just taking up space.
Conti Terra Speeds are fast but don’t expect a long lifespan, tread wears down quickly. Panaracer and Vittoria tyres feel sluggish in comparison for me (and CRR data backs that up)
WTB Riddler is a good all around tire, but there are plenty of other good choices out there. You’ll drive yourself mad trying to research it because there are so many, and gravel roads vary big time so it’s hard to figure out what will work for you. And then you have to decide whether you want a tire for the roughest sections or just suck it up for those parts in order to have a faster rolling tire.
Other advice is I would buy the widest tire that will fit. Unless you’re riding hard pack dirt roads, the vibration from a long gravel ride can be pretty tiring, so the extra width / lower tire pressure is appreciated.
My impression is the Conti Terra Speed is the best, but the tradeoff is shorter lifespan. Beyond that, one can peruse the 4,000 threads on the gravelcycling subreddit each asking what the best tire is haha.
Check Tom A’s Blather About Bikes blog. He roller tested some tires and the standout tires for low Crr are the HTLR Challenge tires. I got a set and they are supple and roll very well (about 10 watts lower rolling resistance). I chose them hunting some high speed gravel Strava segments where the wattage gains seemed worthwhile.
No flats and they don’t show much in the way of wear. Be warned though, these were the most difficult tires I have ever installed. Super tight beads.
Gravel is much more conditions dependent than road. The best tire can range from a 32-36mm low CRR road racing style tire to 45mm (or more) full knobbies. You start questioning your tire choice for every single ride. So I guess in order to help you we need to know more about the range of conditions you will experience. How much actual pavement? Any rocky/rooty or muddy sections, or is it just well maintained hard surface dirt road? If there’s a chance of it being wet you might want to bring two sets of tires with you and choose last minute.
Very minimal pavement. No trail or rutty sections. Basically well maintained gravel roads.
In that case my personal favorite is the Challenge Strada Bianca Pro. It has no tread and is basically a very large road racing tire. I use the 36mm with latex tubes, but there’s now a 40mm TLR version too. They are big enough to give you comfort and huge confidence on dirt, but still nearly as fast rolling as a GP5000. Keep in mind everyone has a favorite for this type of thing so you might like something different. I just find I don’t miss tread unless there’s technical dirt/rocks/roots, or very steep stuff, and I’m a tire weenie.
How close are you to the roads where the event will be? Since you have two wheel sets, the best option would be to buy two sets of tires that you think may be your best option (most likely a slicker version and a knobbier version), mount them up, and go out there and test ride them both. For what it’s worth, I was in Florida last week on vacation and was able to get in some gravel rides. I have two wheelsets (I took both in case my wife wanted to ride gravel too). One has WTB Ventures (40x700cc) and the other WTB Resolute (42x650cc). The Resolutes were much better out there. I’m not sure how much the size played a role, but the knobs on the Resolutes did much better in the sandy environment out there.
Worth noting is that 3 of the top 5 men at Unbound 200 were on Pathfinder Pro 42’s. Like others have said, gravel is completely terrain dependent. You would normally run a completely different tire in mud than you would in chunky dry conditions.
Worth noting is that 3 of the top 5 men at Unbound 200 were on Pathfinder Pro 42’s. Like others have said, gravel is completely terrain dependent. You would normally run a completely different tire in mud than you would in chunky dry conditions.
And all three are Spesh sponsored. (*Strickland may not be but has been riding Spesh tires forever and was involved in the Pathfinder’s development - uses TriggerPro a fair bit too) Stetina was rolling IRCs and Ted King, as usual, was on Rene Herse (slicks even!).
To the OP, I don’t know that there is a single best gravel tire because gravel is SOOOO varied. I personally run several combos ranging from Panaracer GravelKing+ (slick/herringbone tread measures 700x38) for mostly road with some fire roads to Rene Herse Juniper Ridge (knobby tread measures 650x50) for more single track/play ride. I have a couple other set-ups that I play with too! It is all just terrain/ride dependent.
Worth noting is that 3 of the top 5 men at Unbound 200 were on Pathfinder Pro 42’s. Like others have said, gravel is completely terrain dependent. You would normally run a completely different tire in mud than you would in chunky dry conditions.