Gravel/towpath/bridleway tyres?

Wilf Roberts

Ok, so I'm mulling over the next bike purchase. It's replacing an old steel audax bike that could only fit up to 25mm tyres. This will be a winter or 2nd bike, so will be used for club rides, bad weather training rides and (sometimes long) commutes on road. I'm tempted by the possibility of getting something with a bit more versatility, so I don't have to meticulously scan google earth if I'm planning on following a Sustrans route, and can happily tackle a bridlepath with the family, possibly even join in on a local shop's "gravel ride".

My question is, what tyres (and in terms of the bike, clearances) should I be looking at? With the on road use as the priority, is there a tyre that will fulfill the role? Or do I need to accept I'll be swapping wheels and/or tyres for the light off road use? For reference, possible do it all tyres I've looked at are Challenge Strada Bianca 30mm and Gatorskins 28mm. I think they might be a bit slick for the unpacked stuff, but as I say I'm prioritising on road comfort and speed!

mrb123

Loads to choose from these days:
Schwalbe Marathon Supreme
Vittoria Randonneur Pro
Vittoria Voyager Hyper
Clement Strada LGG
Panaracer Gravel King
Conti 4 seasons if you can find the 32mm ones
Schwalbe G-One etc etc

I reckon 30mm or 32mm tyres are probably about the optimum for a winter/bad weather bike that will be used for a bit of light off-roading alongside normal road duties.

One set of tyres can do it all but there will always be a trade off between speed on the road and competence, durability and puncture resistance off-road. It's really about finding the sweet spot that works for you depending on the mix of riding you are doing.

FWIW the next set of tyres I put on my winter bike will be some 32mm Marathon Supremes.

Wilf Roberts

Thanks, but I was trying to avoid anything too heavy or unnecessarily large - Marathon Supremes in 35 are more than a kg for the pair!

I know I'm posing one of those Goldilocks type questions, I suppose I'm just keen to find out how light and racy I can get away with on the light off road stuff. I'll already be sacrificing a couple of kg on the bike itself weight-wise to my summer carbon ride, so I don't want to go too heavy duty.

antonyfromoz

Hi, I have been using the Clement MSO Xplor tyres in 32 on my winter/commuter bike and, apart from the wear being a bit quick on the back one, they have been great - fairly light, not too slow on the road, very few punctures and easily capable of bridle path riding in anything except clay mud which tends to fill up the tread very quickly. Another tyre I have read about recently and would like to try is the Specialized Adventure Gear Sawtooths but they are in 42mm so I am not sure that my bike (Norco Indie Drop) would take them.

veronese68

MrB123 wrote:

Vittoria Randonneur Pro
Vittoria Voyager Hyper

I've used both of these in 32mm and they are quick enough on road and have enough give for light off road, not much grip on wet grass but that's not exactly a surprise.

fenix

Go Marathon Plus unless you're riding through sloppy mud in which case you need some kind of lugs.

OK they're heavy but so bombproof that you'll never be at the side of a track having to repair a flat.

964cup

Mavic Yksion Allroads are a 30c tubeless tyre that has been working well for me on mixed terrain. Won't be any use in mud, and too narrow for really loose gravel, but they roll well on the road and I've yet to burp them even at very low (25psi) pressures, despite this being far below their recommended minimum pressure.

veronese68

Fenix wrote:

Go Marathon Plus...
OK they're heavy but so bombproof...

But the ride is horrible. Tubeless with sealant and better tyres makes more sense. It's a new bike purchase so getting something that can be run tubeless makes sense.

Wilf Roberts

Thanks for all the ideas!

Ok I'm not considering Marathons of any flavour because this will be ridden in winter club rides and fast(ish!) long solo rides, I just can't face the weight and ride of Marathons.

Tubeless appeals but the bike heading the shopping list at the moment is the Dolan RDX, that comes with Aksium discs so will need to wait for a wheel upgrade before I can try tubeless. At my budget most things aren't coming with tubeless ready wheels as stock anyway. Really like the look of the Clement Strada LGG and Challenge Strada Bianca so might try these in 30 or 32?

JBVRV

+1 for the Mavic Yksion Allroad 30c. I run these tubeless and they've been great. Had plenty of strava prs on the road, but also been able to take them on all sorts of off-road routes. Downsides are quite a bit of wear on the rear tyre after just 700 miles, and it's pretty slippy in mud as the knobbles aren't very big.

Midlands Grimpeur

The Clement are nice tires. I know you want to keep to 30 or 32mm but give the Schwalbe G one allround some consideration, I am running these in 35mm for a gravel bike and they have been superb for both road and gravel including canal paths and even off road on dirt tracks.