All round performance tyre – 700 x 30/32/35

Hi guys,

I’ve recently gotten back into cycling and bought a Boardman CX Team (https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/road-bikes/boardman-cx-team-bike-50-53-55-5-57-5cm-frames) which I absolutely love due to it’s versatility. I’m using the bike about 3 times a week for 20 – 30 km cycle, taking in 60% country (rough) roads and 40% trails/gravel/wet mud.

I currently have 700×35 Rapid Robs on the bike as standard but I feel the bike is really squirmy/skittery on the road, and i don’t feel confident at taking corners on it. Off road it’s fantastic and i bomb along almost as fast as my MTB.

I really want to change the tyres to something that would inspire more confidence on road, without sacrificing my ability to go off road, as that is the part I enjoy the most. Whilst I don’t expect to be able to hit heavy wet mud for long periods, something that can handle 1 – 2 km at a time would be great.

I’ve considered changing to Schwalbe CX Pro (700×30) which allegedly are better on road but don’t sacrifice offroad, but the thinness of the tyre concerns me for off road. I’ve also seen various other all round tyres but not sure how they compare.

Would really appreciate some guidance from all you experienced guys.

Thanks,

Kevin

I’ve got some relatively inexpensive 33c slicks from On-O<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>ne on my t</span>ourer/commuter/go anywhere bike. <span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>: </span><span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TYPAJBB/jack-brown-blue-folding-tyre-with-puncture-protection  </span&gt;

With thinner tyres and speeds/terrain limited a little by the bike, having slicks doesn’t really limit you much over having some light some nobbles.  You’ll want to steer clear of off-camber wet grass, but you’d want to anyway unless you’re hurting yourself for an hour riding between bits of tape.

Everywhere else, grip’s much more about putting your weight in the right place and the wheels in the right place.  I’ve been surprised what I’ve been able to get up: loose and sandy, wet, muddy, rooty.  And you’re not held up at all on on harder surfaces.

Give em a go.  those ones aren’t too pricey for an experiment. I reckon you’ll keep them on!   And even if you do decide you want something nobblier, some slicks will be good to have in the cupboard if you get roped into some long road rides.

G-One Speeds are great in the dry, it helps the 30-something widths have a deeper tread than the 2.35″, but they will wear quite quickly on the road.

Recently put Ritchey Alpine JB WCS on and they’re blooming excellent for what you’re after.

That’s interesting guys, i would have taken one look at those tyres and discounted them as they have very little/no side knobs which would concern me for mud, grass and trails. To be honest, I’m probably looking for something a little more aggressive. What do you think of these?

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TYCLMSOXP/clement-xplor-mso-tyre

They’re supposed to be great, but I still think you should try some large slicks! 😀

Something from Challenge would suit. Almanzo, Grifo XS both come as open tubular https://www.sigmasports.com/item/Challenge/Almanzo-PRO-Open-Gravel-Clincher-Tyre/EY8N?

Or a schwalbe sammy slick.

I have two pairs of the Jack Browns and I wouldn’t go off road on them.

Try looking at Terrene Elwood’s were cheap on Planet X and get decent reviews

Schwalbe G-One Allround. Nice rounded file tread, fast on road, corners well and grippy off-road on pretty much anything although they don’t like damp off-camber grass.

Schwalbe do three versions of the G-One: Speed (a near-slick tread), Allround (uniform file tread) and Bite (a knobblier version). Best run tubeless. Think they do a 32c and a 38c width.

Thanks guys, interrogating these specs and taking a look at reviews has me narrowing in On Clement Xplor MSO. It appears I can’t get the 120tpi dual compound version (much higher RRP) than the 60tpi folding bead version, for the same price.

I figure it’s a higher quality tyre but just so I fully understand, what would the real life difference be between the two?

Left field option. Get a second set of wheels.  The boardman is a great bike but the wheels weigh a ton.  You could get a decent set of fulcrum discs from CR for relatively little money and keep the current set for dedicated off road use?

I wondered about that but thought I would need to buy a load of gear, rims, tyres, discs, gears etc, I figured that would cost a few hundred quid at least. Is my understanding correct or feel free to point out where I’m wrong as I’m a bit of a newbie to serious biking.

I bought some Vittoria Revolution G+ tyres in 38c width (also in narrower widths) to fit to my Genesis gravel bike for road riding and back lanes exploring.

Really pleasantly surprised how good they are. No lightweights, but I comfortably did an 80 miler on them the other day, and they roll amazingly well, and are really comfy on rougher lanes and roads.

I also did another route that took in a few miles of mixed (quite muddy in places) bridleways, and again I was surprised by how well they gripped in slippy conditions.

They’re only £20 a pair from Planet X, and I’d heartily recommend them.

Left field option. Get a second set of wheels.

This is is what I did when My CDA was doing road and gravel duties. Kept the original wheels and tyres  for mixed surface / off road duties and picked up a second hand set of wheels (XTR hubs and Mavic Open Pro rims) with road tyres and discs for around £120 from the classifieds.  Added an identical cassette and all I had to do was swap wheels and make a minor adjustment to front disc caliper (due to slightly different front disc alignment).  The ‘new’ wheels saved a chunk of weight for faster road duties with 25mm slicks, and it took a couple of minutes and the bike was ready for off road with 40mm tyres.

On the tyre front also have a look at Continental Cyclocross Speed.

I have two pairs of the Jack Browns and I wouldn’t go off road on them

You should!  You might surprise yourself.  Then, all of a sudden, your road-only bike and the routes you ride on it suddenly have a tonne more options!

It appears I can’t get the 120tpi dual compound version (much higher RRP) than the 60tpi folding bead version, for the same price.

£30 total difference if you want the 40c width.  The 32c is the same price as the 60tpi versions.  Higher thread count should give you a suppler casing, smoother ride, more grip, probably lighter.  Whether any of this is really noticeable in practice, I don’t know.  If you ride them back to back over identical terrain, maybe, but I doubt you’d give it any thought if you bought the 60tpi ones.   Dual compound – don’t know if this gives you harder rubber than the single in the centre tread so it lasts longer, or softer on the edges so it grips better.  Might be a bit of both.  Might give you a bit of extra life, bit more bang for your increased buck.   If you want the 40c, I’d probably go for the cheaper, but for the 32c, the DC 120tpi is the better tyre of the same price.

cx speed as above also worth a look. wears quickly, though and you’re back to a slick centreline.  Apparently not easy to set up tubeless if that’s your thing.

Got the G-One Bites 40mm and had them for 5 months now.very good all rounders, now set up tubeless. Don’t feel compromised on the road that much and apart from wet slippery limestone rocks I don’t feel too bad off road.

As with anything like that sometimes it’s about being positive when you use them.

Not sure how they are in a 35mm but worth looking for

Hi guys,

I really appreciate all the help, some excellent advice and guidance.

I decided to plump for the Clement X’Plor MSO 700×32 Dual Compound 120tpi for £55 delivered. Perhaps a bit more than I’d anticipated spending but I barely saw a bad or even mixed review, it was all positive.

I’m now intrigued by the second set of wheels… probably more do-able and cheaper than I realised but I’ll give the new tyres and existing Rapid Robs a few more blasts and understand the pro’s and con’s of each set up.

If you were going to buy a second set, would you stick to same cassette (SRAM XG1150, 10-42T, 11-SPD), discs (SRAM Rival Hydraulic Disc) and rims (Mavic XM319 – 32 Hole) for ease or would you mix it up a bit to customise a little more for road/trails/mud?

For example, I’ve seen these local to me which seems pretty cheap: https://www.gumtree.com/p/bicycle-accessories/road-bike-wheels-/1310324523

Thanks,

Kevin

If you were going to buy a second set, would you stick to same cassette (SRAM XG1150, 10-42T, 11-SPD), discs (SRAM Rival Hydraulic Disc) and rims (Mavic XM319 – 32 Hole) for ease or would you mix it up a bit to customise a little more for road/trails/mud?

I’d go with the same hubs and discs if possible – most hubs in spite of being the same nominal width will often have fractionally different rotor spacing and if you’re swapping wheels regularly it’ll mean a faff of readjusting the calipers every time.

It’s not the end of the world but it will become a pain once you’ve done it for the 14th time that month or rounded a caliper bolt out from trying to do it too quickly…

and some other opinions on the G-Ones

https://road.cc/content/review/240610-schwalbe-g-one-bite-microskin-tl-easy

I use G-One all round on my Arkose and they are great tyres, not draggy on the road but decent off it. Not enough tread to be any good in proper mud but otherwise I love them.

The only things the same on my second wheels are the cassette as a change in sizes would’ve been a right faff given chain length and derailleur adjustment.  Rotors are same size but different brand. As mentioned I have to make a slight adjustment on the front disc caliper but it takes seconds. Maybe I got lucky.

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I have two pairs of the Jack Browns and I wouldn’t go off road on them

You should!  You might surprise yourself.  Then, all of a sudden, your road-only bike and the routes you ride on it suddenly have a tonne more options!

I think our definition of ‘off-road’ differs.

I have no problems taking any bike in the shed along dry bridleways, fire roads, trails on those tyres. Technically off the road, but not really off-road

I wouldn’t do it in wet conditions when there is slop, steep descents, wet leaves, rocks etc. For those conditions I’ll take a treaded tyre, thanks.

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I’d go with the same hubs and discs if possible – most hubs in spite of being the same nominal width will often have fractionally different rotor spacing and if you’re swapping wheels regularly it’ll mean a faff of readjusting the calipers every time.

Or you can just shim the rotor on the marginally narrower hub to match the wider one.
I had to do it when I used to have an on & off-road set of wheels for my Inbred.
Syntace do decent quality rotor shims – I think they are 0.2mm thickness.

Hi guys,

Stuck the Clement X’Plor MSO 700×32 120tpi tyres on last night and had a 25km blast this morning, wow!

Much better than my previous tyres. I felt like I was on rails going around corners and didn’t lose any noticeable grip across trails and thick wet mud. Very impressed and happy with the purchase.

Thanks for your help and the direction towards these tyres, the G Ones just didn’t look aggressive enough for my needs.

It does make me think I need to get a second set or wheels dedicated to road… or even a lightweight road bike ha ha! I’ll get winter out the way and then worry about that next Spring, N + 1 has started…