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The favourite tyre: Continental RaceKing
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The labelled width of it: 2.2”
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The max clearance your frame allows: 27.5x2.2” or 700x45c
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any reasoning as to WHY this is your fave: I really like that they have a round shape and pretty consistent knob height/area across the tread for paved cornering and descending. They’re light for their size and don’t roll appreciably slower than the Terra Speeds I had prior on pavement and smooth gravel, but feel like a cheat code on double and singletrack. I run 27.5x2.2” as a) that’s what my frame fits and I already had some 27.5 XC race wheels (thanks, Nino…), and b) it has close to the same diameter as 700x33c, which combined with my frame’s geometry keeps the handling fairly cyclocross-like.
Favourite tyre: Schwalbe G-One RS Pro
Width: 45mm
Max frame clearance: 55mm measured (quoted 43mm max tyre width recommended)
Why?: Most of my rides are mixed terrain (road, bike path, smooth gravel, small amount of rough gravel). When it’s been raining there are typically only a few slippery sections (in which these are scary). In that context, these tyres roll so fast and provide just enough grip from the side knobs when leaned over. A little bit slidey but predictably so. I’ve been running these tyres for 2.5 years (a few sets in that time) with zero punctures. In summary: fast and reliable for mixed terrain.
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Tufo Gravel Thundero in 36mm, they need to fit in my gravelbike with full heavy duty mudguards.
Labelled width is 36mm on 23mm rims they measure 37mm.
Max clearance is 47mm but of course with mudguards 37mm (measured) is the max.
Love them, fast but haven’t flatted them and for what they are (fast rolling gravel tire) the grip is good and they have been easy to install on at least 3 rims I used them with!
Tufo is not really well know and a bit underrated but everyone should at least try something of them, I also love their roadtires!
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Maxxis Maxxlite 29 is a bit of a unicorn that is ticking all my boxes but won’t be for everyone. I’m a believer in prioritising air volume over tread for comfort and traction.
Crazy light at 345 grams. Non-tubeless with tpu tubes saved me 350 grams over 45mm tubeless Ramblers. My gravel is smooth, little pinch flat risk and I don’t get out very often so I wanted to avoid the tubeless sealant maintenance. I’m yet to flat in 18 months running 20psi at 80kg.
Round profile at 50mm casing width on 25mm internal rims means it doesn’t have strange cornering transitions on sealed surfaces.
Finally it’s a 170tpi casing which, all else being equal, should mean low rolling resistance and great ride feel. That’s certainly been my experience.
I’m on a Specialized Crux listed as 47mm clearance but seems to clear these 50mm tyres fine. Note that the 50mm width is at the casing rather than the tread due to the lack of cornering knobs. So that width is at less radius from the axle.
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GravelKing X1+ 45mm. Holds well most of the dirt here in NWA, including under-biking type of stuff. Rolls fast enough on Tarmac. And DURABLE - these things take a beating, even with Bentonville sharp rocks, and keep on rolling. Good value for money to boot.
Tufo Thundero 44
used for the grangaunche in november, fantastic performance on road and gravel.
Lately been using it on muddy Yorkshire gravel, and has been performing well too, maybe something knobblier would be good but no issues. Beautiful tyre and very affordable too
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2.1 Thunder Burts, they’re only blowing up to 50 on my wheels with a 25mm internal. They’re fast rolling, they grip well in corners, they have a people name. There’s niche race situations I would change them for but definitely my go to.
bike is a trek Checkpoint gen 3, brand says 50 max clearance but I’ve comfortably gotten 2.2s in it.
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Been running Tufo Thunderos in 44mm front and rear for the last two years and have been very happy with them. I just ordered my third set. They are tougher than they look and the roll well on road too. They also last forever - I got 6000kms on my last one. Recently put a G-One RX Pro in 45mm on the front and pretty happy with it. Just a bit more grip for not much more RR - that I can feel anyway. I ride a Curve GXR3. I think max clearance is around 45mm.
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Wasn’t expecting to see so many Tufo’ mentions here, on the road I’ve never seen anyone but me ride them, and they are so good!
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Favourite tyre: TUFO Thundero HD (Fr) + Specialised Pathfinder (Rear)
Width: 45mm/42mm
Max frame clearance: 45mm
Why?: TUFO gives a good grip for my local surface, with the Specialised giving a better wear factor. May consider TUFO F/R but so far the pathfinder has been very durable as a rear tire
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Rene Herse knobbies that measure 51mm on Mavic Crossmax rims. I ride Northeast gravel and singletrack that goes from Champagne to Class 4 and worse. They handle better on the road than my big slicks. They really shine on descents.
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I’m kind of surprised the Specialized Pathfinder Pro in any size hasn’t been brought up more often here yet. Maybe it’s just a Specialized town but it seems to be the default all-rounder when I hit up the Front Range gravel group rides even amongst those not on Specialized bikes.
I haven’t personally ridden that tire but Bontrager’s counterpart, the Girona, in the 42mm width does balance straight-line speed with confident cornering traction fairly well. It’s definitely lacking in braking traction which shouldn’t be a surprise.
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- Hutchinson Caracal Race
- Labelled width 45 mm
- Measured width 46 mm
- Max. frame clearance 50 mm
I have not found any other tire that quite feels like this one. Fast as a road tire on paved roads, which are unavoidable part of most of my gravel rides. Very fast on gravel as well, as tested by @John_Karrasch . Not the grippiest in corners, but I am ok with that. Not a single flat in over a year of using them. I tested many other tires (Schwalbe G-One RX, G-One RS, G-One R, Thunder Burt, Continental Terra Competition, Maxxis Reaver), but I keep coming back to the Caracal Race.
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I think, for a favorite, my pick is the Maxxis Reaver, 40mm width. That width feels like it still strikes the best compromise for everything I want my gravel bike to do and if I want more tire I just grab my hardtail mountain bike.
The Reaver visually shares a lot of features with the Aspen ST but in more typical gravel bike widths. Out of tires I’ve tried running I found it to strike the best balance between traction and speed in all situations.
I am a little surprised not to see more variety here but I am enjoying seeing what folks ride. I guess a lot of people are balancing on and off road performance. I had imagined more folks were doing purely unpaved riding on their gravel bikes.
I would probably swap tires regularly for rides if I was rocking tubes but tubeless makes swapping tires kind of a chore.
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Holy cow I’m floored at the specs of the Maxxlite. I just voted for it to be tested on bicyclerollingresistance.com. If you’re reading this, and are curious, go vote for it too!
Don’t know for other people, but for a graveltire I do still take rolling resistance into account and the Specialized Pathfinder Pro are very very slow and it also doesn’t have the puncture score that would account for that extra RR. And I know websites like BRR aren’t the end all but there is so few group tests between tires that I still look at that website to advise me when I need a new tire.
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Well for most people gravel is a mix between paved and unpaved or at least between lightly offroad and some less technical single track. If it was all technical offroad an MTB would be, in my opinion, still be a better option.
The trick to quickly swapping tubeless tyres, is to have more wheels 
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I’ve tried A LOT of tyres over the last 5 years.
I live in the northern part of the UK so lots of rooty, rocky, singletrack lite ‘gravel’ which informs my tyre choice.
Vittoria mezcal - great all-rounder
Vittoria Terreno wet - noticeably slow, but if you want to ride in mud, these are basically the only gravel tyres that allow you to do this.
Thunder Burt - wow they’re fast, only used a front which was ok when dry but no-go on anything slippy. Would make a great rear if you have the clearance.
Current fav - Schwalbe RX pro 45mm rear / 50mm front (I’d ride both 50mm if I had the clearance. Really versatile tyre, good at a lot of things and pretty fast. Used for the Traka and Dirty Reiver
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