I’ve been enjoying taking my 2013 Specialized Roubaix road bike onto dirt/gravel roads recently, both to access some beautiful terrain that’s not otherwise accessible to me and because I like the athletic demands of riding over rougher surfaces. But I’m cognizant my GP4000s tires are probably a bit too vulnerable, especially in the sidewalls. So I’m wondering whether there are compromise tires that will perform reasonably on the road and hold up in gravel.
The much-loathed Gatorskins or the GP 4 Seasons both seem like options, though I’m not sure how much better they’d hold up to gravel than the GP4000s (for example, I think the 4 Seasons are actually made of a softer rubber for better grip in freezing conditions, albeit with more protection against penetration causing flats).
Obviously there are robust gravel tires with tread that would be ideal, but I’d really love something that would perform reasonably well on the road, too (it doesn’t have to do well in races, I can always switch out to a dedicated road tire there).
I’ve spent some time perusing the interwebs but it’s not obvious to me what would be viable.
I have a commuter cx bike that I typically cover about 40miles/week on, with a 20-25mile gravel/towpath ride thrown in every two weeks or so.
I was looking to make the same compromise, as I wanted something that I could ride a decent tempo on on both surfaces. I ended up buying folding Gatorskins (not the hardshell variant). I got a 28mm front and a 32mm rear.
FWIW they perform well on the gravel in anything up to, but not including, deep mud. I feel totally confident throwing them into rough surfaces.
The pair I have has covered about 600 miles of road (which themselves are often pretty poor round by me) and maybe 100-150 miles of gravel/towpath with no punctures.
Obviously I give up some speed on the road compared to a more typical roadrace tyre, but I wouldn’t feel good about taking anything less robust on to the trails.
Hell, given the road surfaces in places here, I won’t ride anything with less puncture resistance than a GP4000s even on my road bike (not that riding the GP4000s is much of a sacrifice…).
I’ve spent a good amount of time testing a variety of “roubaix” style tires on my steel road bike that allows me to run upto about 29mm actual width tires, 30mm if conditions dry. Caveat my gravel/fire road/singletrack conditions are mostly dry.
Rating below is just my conjecture…
Specialized Roubaix Pro 25/28mm - Good solid tire will cope with all surfaces okay, strong sidewalls, rolls okay on road but you can notice the lower rolling resistance. Good choice if riding is 60/40 gravel/road
Clement Strada LGG 28mm - This is a nice mixed surface tire, rolls quicker on hardpack and asphalt than (1), supple casing that still has good puncture resistance belt. 50/50 gravel/road.
Challenge Parigi-Roubaix 27mm Front / Challenge Eroica 30mm Rear - These are gorgeous supple casing mixed surface tires, roll fast for such big tires, with latex these are my go to choice for roubaix-esque races. 30/70 gravel/road.
In all cases getting the psi right and your riding style over the rough stuff can play an influencing part.
Of course Tom Anhalt may chime in that riding skills contribute a big part along with how much you weigh … (as he ran turbo cottons this year at Belgian waffle ride)
I run GP4000s tires exclusively on my roadie and ride lots of gravel. I think they’re fine. Oddly, I did cut 2 tires this year but it was on pavement. :-/
I’ve used 28mm GP 4 seasons off road with a fair amount of success for a few years now. I say fair amount because I’ve never gotten a puncture flat, but I have gotten pinch flats before from running too low pressure over actual singletrack (not just gravel roads).
I can’t say I did much exhaustive comparison to other tire choices though, just kind of threw them on and went with it.
Of course Tom Anhalt may chime in that riding skills contribute a big part along with how much you weigh … (as he ran turbo cottons this year at Belgian waffle ride)
I do all my commuting and winter riding on Schwalbe Marathons. No gravel as such, but plenty of potholes, broken glass, broken up road surfaces and general debris that makes its way to the side of the road. Had poor experiences previously with both the Gators and 4 Seasons on those kind of surfaces. The Marathons are much more resilient - I have worn out 1 set and have 2 sets fitted to wheels currently, total mileage across all 3 sets is >10,000 miles with 1 puncture to date as a result of something getting through the tire. Had one other puncture but that was an old inner tube that split next to the valve, tire was fine. They’re a bit slower than the Gators but not prohibitively so - I can still hang with the local group rides I do without any problems, and my average training and commuting speeds aren’t noticeably different. Certainly would prefer that to the amount of time lost by puncturing.
A super cheap option is the folding Continental Ultra Sport. You can sometimes find them for $25/pair. I run 28mm on my Roubaix in the off season, with some gravel sections on a night ride loop. I have had really good durability, and they feel nice on the road, although rolling resistance is just average for a road tire. 60 psi front, 70 psi rear.
A super cheap option is the folding Continental Ultra Sport. You can sometimes find them for $25/pair. I run 28mm on my Roubaix in the off season, with some gravel sections on a night ride loop. I have had really good durability, and they feel nice on the road, although rolling resistance is just average for a road tire. 60 psi front, 70 psi rear.
Are you suggesting the Continental Ultra Sports are more durable over gravel than something like the GP4000s?
I run GP4000s on my aero wheels, don’t think I’ve ever had them on gravel so I can’t answer directly. But if I did gash a sidewall on a $12.50 tire, it would bother me less than a $35 tire so I’m more willing to venture off the road on the Ultra Sports.
Specialized Roubaix tires would fit the bill, and-bonus!-match your bike.
Ditto - these are pretty bomb proof and the rolling resistance is pretty good for a training tire. I wouldn’t race on them, but for training, these are my go to tire.
Specialized Roubaix tires would fit the bill, and-bonus!-match your bike.
Ditto - these are pretty bomb proof and the rolling resistance is pretty good for a training tire. I wouldn’t race on them, but for training, these are my go to tire.
To maintain some semblance of aero on the road, since this is a compromise road/gravel setup, I’m leaning toward the 23/25 (why don’t they just call them 25?) tires on my Flo 30 rims. But for a dedicated gravel tire, I’m sure going super wide and tubeless would be awesome (assuming my Roubaix bike frame and brakes would even fit that wide a tire).
To maintain some semblance of aero on the road, since this is a compromise road/gravel setup, I’m leaning toward the 23/25 (why don’t they just call them 25?) tires on my Flo 30 rims. But for a dedicated gravel tire, I’m sure going super wide and tubeless would be awesome (assuming my Roubaix bike frame and brakes would even fit that wide a tire).
Also consider IRC Roadlite tubeless in 25c (will be more like 27-28mm on those rims), and Bontrager R3 TLR 26c. I’ve ridden both of those on dirt & gravel quite a bit, they hold up well, and they’re still pretty fast on the road.
Get the pressure right too, many people overinflate these tires and they feel like crap.
… (as he ran turbo cottons this year at Belgian waffle ride)
