35mm tyres for a gravel bike, but predominantly for road riding

daniel_b

Afternoon all,

highly likely to be ordering a Scott Addict Gravel 30 shortly, will be fitting with the same brand mudguards, and probably a tailfin rear rack for panniering.

It comes with 45mm tyres, but I'm pretty sure I read somewhere with guards it can only take up to 40s.

The widest tyre I use currently is 25, and as this will predominantly be a commuter, with a bit of gravel thrown in now and then, I'll be looking for a set of replacements, likely as soon as I get it so I can sell the others on.

My go to commuter and winter tyre for several years has been the 25mm Schwalbe Durano plus - admittedly it is slow, but I've only had one fairy visit, and that was from a mahoosive thorn that would have gone through anything.

Sadly it seems they only run this up to a 28mm width, and everyone I speak to is adamant that I need to go 35 at a minimum - is that a shared sentiment?

Can anyone recommend a tyre with good anti fairy protection in a similar vein to the Durano plus (Which is really just a toned down slick Marathon plus) but comes in a 35ish width?

I'd be happy with a little bit of off road capability, as I will have the option to ride across a common instead of a stretch of road, and may entertain some gravel rides in the future.

*I've also realised I have some 32mm Panaracer gravel kings in the garage, but reviews seem to vary somewhat.

Thanks!

webboo

I rode a couple of miles of flat gravel complete with large potholes on my 25mm Gp5000’s and it was ok. You might want something bigger if you are wanting to ride at 20 mph for 100 miles on a Utah gravel road but usually anything off road in the UK means mud. So what suits off road won’t be great on road.

singleton

I ran 32mm gravel kings last winter for road riding and found them to be very good.
Schwalbe g-one speeds are available in 35mm

veronese68

singleton said:

I ran 32mm gravel kings last winter for road riding and found them to be very good.

I'm surprised at that, I eventually gave up on mine after getting a flat every third or fourth ride. This was after a couple of years flat free with Victoria Voyager plus. Back to the Vittoria for me. Unfortunately for Dan I don't think you can get them any more and this is a pair in 37mm I had in the garage, unfortunately they don't fit under my mudguards.

singleton

veronese68 said:

singleton said:

I ran 32mm gravel kings last winter for road riding and found them to be very good.

I'm surprised at that, I eventually gave up on mine after getting a flat every third or fourth ride. This was after a couple of years flat free with Victoria Voyager plus. Back to the Vittoria for me. Unfortunately for Dan I don't think you can get them any more and this is a pair in 37mm I had in the garage, unfortunately they don't fit under my mudguards.

I did a little under 2,000 km on a set of 700x32c slick gravel kings with Michelin A2 AirStop Butyl 25-32 inner tubes through all kinds of weather, on small roads and tracks around Oxfordshire last winter.

Zero punctures, and they rode really nicely.

But I understand that others may have a different experience.

Personally I do not rate Conti 4-seasons as I had a puncture every other ride with these a few years ago - but other people love them.

veronese68

It's strange how experiences differ, I was running tubeless and tried different sealants but still found they were cutting up badly and sealant would just get sprayed out until pressure was below 30psi, then it would seal. Small pointy flints were invariably the cause.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

I have a 35mm version of https://www.merlincycles.com/schwalbe-marathon-supreme-folding-touring-tyre-700c-163234.html installed on my commuter that does a small stretch of "gravel" on the way home.

They size small (~33mm iirc), roll well and no fairy visits since fitting it ~6 months ago.

emanresu

veronese68 said:

It's strange how experiences differ, I was running tubeless and tried different sealants but still found they were cutting up badly and sealant would just get sprayed out until pressure was below 30psi, then it would seal. Small pointy flints were invariably the cause.

If we're on about gravel king sk's I had the same experience, frustrating to say the least. My worst run was three punctures in three rides and every time they lost loads of pressure and I had to get the pump out.

daniel_b

N0bodyOfTheGoat said:

I have a 35mm version of https://www.merlincycles.com/schwalbe-marathon-supreme-folding-touring-tyre-700c-163234.html installed on my commuter that does a small stretch of "gravel" on the way home.

They size small (~33mm iirc), roll well and no fairy visits since fitting it ~6 months ago.

I'm liking the look of those bad boys, to my mind, that seems to be the closes description to the Durano plus without going full Marathon plus.

Have found the 40 for £36 a pop, and presumably if it sizes small would come up at about 38, which would just fit in under the mudguards.

35s are available elsewhere for £41 I think I found - not sure which is best for mainly road

DeVlaeminck

If you are going to be doing bridleways etc I'd say you either need to go tubeless or go for something very puncture resistant and accept they'll roll like **** on tarmac.

My gravel bike came with some file tread Conti cyclo-cross clincher tyres but they just punctured far too often to be practical.

If however gravel means old railway paths etc you may be ok - it was thorns rather than flints that were the issue.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

If I were to get a gravel bike to ride the increasingly shocking tarmac on the western South Downs lanes, I'd put a wider tyre like the 40mm Supreme on the rear (that I'd expect to be ~37mm) and a narrower 32mm or 35mm on the front, for comfort without too much aero/speed loss.

What size you put at each end and what type of tyre you choose gets more tricky with increasing relative time duration offroad and just how wet/gnarr that offroad is.

A wider version of the same tyre would offer more important front end grip in trickier conditions, because it's usually easier to save rear end slides, as you have probably found at some point on mountain bike rides offroad.

But in mud, something like a Schwalbe X-One Bite is going to perform better than a 35mm Supreme.

mrb123

Been very impressed with my Panaracer Gravelking SKs set up tubeless. The 38mm size worked well for the Dirty Reiver and haven't felt too slow on some hilly road rides. They do a 35mm size I believe.

daniel_b

I don't 'need' to ride bridleways on it, I will still have my mtb, and also a boardman hybrid that does wear Marathon pluses.

However I suppose if I do want to go 'gravel riding' then bridleway like surfaces will happen in all likelihood.

It comes with Syncros RP 2.0 wheels, and as luck would have it, in time I'll end up with two sets, so there is a potential to set one up with more road orientated tyres, and one for more gnarly dude hipster riding.

daniel_b

Schwalbe Marathon supremes are still looking to be favourites, though slightly frustratingly the 35s do not appear to be in stock anywhere currently, whilst the 40s I can buy for £35 each which seems reasonable.

Pretty much set on there I think, unless anyone else has any stunning suggestions, so should I wait for 35s to appear or will the extra comfort of the 40s offset any extra rolling resistance and not differ much in overall speed?

N0bodyOfTheGoat

What size(s) did you buy in the end? A 32mm Supreme up front and a 40mm on the rear would give a decent speed/comfort compromise, which you could switch if planning a more offroad route for a bit more grip.

daniel_b

I went for a pair of 40s, precious little else is in stock currently.

Just saw the idea of running a Marathon plus on the rear as well which makes a good deal of sense.
Additionally your idea of running a narrower tyre up front makes a lot of sense as well

Having said that, if I go that route, I can then just keep the original front as a spare rear tyre, so not a big issue, especially as you would imagine the rear will wear faster than the front.

I'll have a 2nd set of identical wheels with the original tyres on which I could switch across to if I can be @rsed to remove the mudguards.

roger_merriman

veronese68 said:

singleton said:

I ran 32mm gravel kings last winter for road riding and found them to be very good.

I'm surprised at that, I eventually gave up on mine after getting a flat every third or fourth ride. This was after a couple of years flat free with Victoria Voyager plus. Back to the Vittoria for me. Unfortunately for Dan I don't think you can get them any more and this is a pair in 37mm I had in the garage, unfortunately they don't fit under my mudguards.

Wasn’t quite as bad as that for me, but did seem remarkably puncture prone!

The issue I found is as my gravel bike is a fairly early one, it’s clearances aren’t huge, so the GravelKing seem to be slightly oversized.

Settled on the Schwalbe G-ones as well seems to play to Gravel bikes strengths ie fast rolling stuff.

longy

I use the Schwalbe G-One All Rounds on my gravel bike which are good but the speed version may be better for your purposes.