I put many more road miles on my gravel bike than gravel miles so I am seeking suggestions for road tires for it. The bike is a Litespeed gravel. Current tires are Panaracer Gravel King SLK, tubeless, size: 700 X 38.
Thanks.
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I got incredibly frustrated with trying to get Conti GP5Ks on my Boyds and am giving the Schwalbe Pro One tires a go. Bike is on the trainer for the winter so I won’t be able to attest to their ride quality, but it seems every race tire has its share of fans and detractors. I picked Schwalbe because of their ease in installing on my Boyds based on reviews and they were very easy to install.
EDIT - I am running 25s, but after looking closely after install, I might have been able to throw 28s on my Pinarello.
36c Challenge Strada Bianca Pro. It’s a lot like a bigger version of a Specialized Turbo Cotton (although it’s available as a tubeless as well as conventional clincher). Rolling resistance is in the same ballpark. But the volume is there for light gravel use, too. If you want even more volume, it comes in a 40c as well.
If you intend to maintain a separate set of wheels for the occasional gravel use, and are looking for a road-only suggestion, it’s hard to argue against the Conti GP5000 TR. Unless you’re chasing maximum areo efficiency (which I infer by your bike choice, you are not), there’s no real reason to put anything smaller than the largest size they offer which fits your frame/fork, which, in your case, is a 32c.
I put many more road miles on my gravel bike than gravel miles so I am seeking suggestions for road tires for it. The bike is a Litespeed gravel. Current tires are Panaracer Gravel King SLK, tubeless, size: 700 X 38.
Thanks.
.
I’ve been using the Schwalbe G-one speed on my litespeed. Certainly not the fastest road tire but…
I put many more road miles on my gravel bike than gravel miles
I have a feeling 99% of gravel bikes have a similar situation.
I put many more road miles on my gravel bike than gravel miles so I am seeking suggestions for road tires for it. The bike is a Litespeed gravel. Current tires are Panaracer Gravel King SLK, tubeless, size: 700 X 38.
Thanks.
.
I’ve been using the Schwalbe G-one speed on my litespeed. Certainly not the fastest road tire but…
These are my go-to gravel tires and I love them. They are fast as shit and handle just about everything. I do have to be a bit more careful when it’s wet out but not that big a deal. By default they are my gravel bike road tires simply because I only have one wheel set.
If you’re looking for a pure road tire, the Veloflex Corsa TLR tire comes in a 32mm and is pretty supple. There are lower RR tires out there, but ultimately it doesn’t sound like you’re road racing on these so kind of doesn’t matter right? Smooth ride, plus you get to flex that you ride cool Italian tires.
What width are you running on them? I have a 35 on a wide rim (to about ~37), and always second-guessing whether the 35 makes more sense for road element use or going wider for gravel, if that makes sense (for rides that mix the two; I have other dedicated road and gravel wheels & tires).
I bought a second set of wheels for my gravel bike, HED Ardennes and mounted Vittoria Corsa Controls in 700x28 for exclusively road riding. I also used Vittoria Terreno Zero’s in a 35 width when I first built my gravel bike. They were good for the road, but very sketch on any chunky gravel.
Being a gravel bike makes no difference to the road tyre recommendation, 28c Continental GP 5000. If you weigh ~60KG, pressure might be low enough that you can consider tubeless, otherwise I would save nearly 50% of the cost and just run latex tubes in clinchers for at least equal performance.
No idea why people are recommending slow AF 35c+ gravel tyres in this thread.
Lots of gravel bikes have more BB drop to add stability. If you then use narrower road tires with less volume, you may experience pedal strikes.
I’ve experienced this myself on my Diverge with 28mm GP5000 where I nearly crashed several times by pedaling too soon in corners. I’ve then used 32mm GP5000S TR and didn’t have those issues anymore.
So, depends on the frame geometry.
Diverge maybe so, but crux no - there’s a massive range of what gets called gravel.
Seems like the extra 4mm in height won’t make much difference either way. I doubt there are many people with a relaxed geometry gravel bike who are pedalling hard through corners on road.
No idea why people are recommending slow AF 35c+ gravel tyres in this thread.
If you’re riding road, solo, it makes F-all difference the CRR of the tire other than trying to KOM or set PR’s or impress some Freds with your average speed. Kilojoules are kilojoules. 35mm tubeless gravel tire or road tire. If a person already has a file tread or “road” center tubeless gravel tire that just has little knobs or shoulders for cornering…no reason to manage extra tires/wheels unless you really really want to.
Even more importantly, in a group ride or solo riding, tire CRR will add a bit of loss…but largely the higher stack of a gravel bike is your true penalty in a quick moving group ride. There’s tubeless 35mm gravel tires that are faster than what some people run as road tires with butyl.
Panaracer GK 35mm at “low” on BRR: 16.6w
Corsa “next”: 13.2w
If you’re after 6w (two tires) on a training ride in CRR, you’ll find a LOT more in stack and reach differences from a gravel bike to a road race bike.
On my Specialized Diverge I removed the 38’s and put on continental GP5000’s 28x700 and have no complaints at or around 90psi. I’m using tubes. I quickly found out it’s a mother f’er to change. It took awhile struggling on the side of the road while getting eaten alive by sandfleas that my DT swiss rims have a grove in the middle where both sides of the tire must be aligned inside this channel or the tire will never fit over the rim. All the other rims I’ve encountered were flat so it didn’t matter or I’ve been extremely lucky to only change a tube using my hands and no levers. I don’t have much gravel around me but I figure I can always change to the 38’s if needed.
My N+1 experience.
I personally had this same question last winter. I purchased a second set of wheels and threw some 32mm Conti 5000 on them. Awesome choice. If you have the funds for a second set of wheels, this is the way. Takes five minutes to swap over depending on what my ride will be that day.
What width are you running on them? I have a 35 on a wide rim (to about ~37), and always second-guessing whether the 35 makes more sense for road element use or going wider for gravel, if that makes sense (for rides that mix the two; I have other dedicated road and gravel wheels & tires).
One bike has 650x50’s and another has 29x2.35’s. I’ve also used 700x40 (didn’t like) and 700x50 (liked it) the second bike.
Lots of gravel bikes have more BB drop to add stability. If you then use narrower road tires with less volume, you may experience pedal strikes.
I’ve experienced this myself on my Diverge with 28mm GP5000 where I nearly crashed several times by pedaling too soon in corners. I’ve then used 32mm GP5000S TR and didn’t have those issues anymore.
So, depends on the frame geometry.
Thanks for that explanation! I too have a Diverge and have experienced several pedal strikes on it although I’m already running 32mm Roubaixs. I’m about a 60/40 mix (gravel/road) and the Roubaixs work well in both environments and seldom flat (running tubeless).