Gravel bike nobblies

Sweet baby Jesus, not another bloody tyre thread. I’ll make it quick…

My gravel bike is at the skinnier end of the gravel spectrum. I’ve 40mm Schwalbe G-ones on for most of the year but want something that’ll handle the woods and a bit of mud. And that wouldn’t be certain death on some roots. There’s maybe a smidge more room at the back but I could go a bit bigger up front. 700c. Tubeless.

What would you recommend?

I have wtb resolute they are decent.

Second for the WTB Resolute.

I like the Resolutes, but they’re pretty hopeless in most forms of mud. I’ve just switched to Vittoria Terreno Wets in 38mm, and they’re a definite improvement, but they’re heavy, and the nobbles are still pretty tame by MTB standards.

Panaracer Gravel King EXT TLC is another one to look at, but I’ve not tried them.

im on my second set of Teravail Rutlands, down south there is very little gravel its all woodland bridal way so gets very muddy this time on year. I absolutely love this tire little slow on the road im running 42s on some gr 531which is a nice wide rim. https://teravail.com/tires/rutland#TR2673

I’ve limited experience of gravel tyres but the resolute tread looks to me like it’d clog a bit easily Vs the Vittorias which look more along the lines I was expecting to head.

When I hit a root my gut feel is the Resolutes might better the Vittorias. Or perhaps any gravel tyre is a deathtrap on roots and I should forget that point.

This might all be a bit ‘moon on a stick’.

Edit: Or maybe those Teravails are a compromise somewhere in the middle. Interesting. Thanks.

Rims are 25mm external. Been fine so far with 40s on.

Resolutes can cope with all but the stickiest mud (clay) I run 650b & wtb senderos in deep winter 700 in spring to now.

No tyre will cope completely with slimy roots

I’ve had the Resolutes, OK as an all-rounder, but no real edge or bite in the mud, but I didn’t find they clogged up particularly. I looked at the Specialized Rhombus, which looks good (but in the event, went the other way, for a more dry-fast tyre, as I now have a monstercross for the slop!)

After numerous sleepless nights in search of the ultimate all round gravel tyre I now do a little tyre and bike shuffle for the winter slop. 650 wheels come off the gravel bike and that becomes the winter road bike with widish 700 road tyres. Rigid 29er gets shod with mud tyres and doubles up on gravel and mtb duties. Having come off a few times courtesy of wet roots (and green chalk for that matter) skinny mtb tyres feel a better bet.

My commute, which I only do around twice a week in winter is a 50km round trip of road, broken gravelly road, green chalk, mud and sheep shit. I’ve tried everything from a fatbike to a 25mm carbon road bike carried for the non road bits and my next experiment  is 650b with Senderos which are going on tomorrow. Hopefully they will allow me to ride up the wet slippy broken road (17%) where the nanos have failed and not kill me on the green chalk descent….but still allow a reasonable speed on the road sections.

Thanks folks. Funny things, gravel bikes – I guess if I wanted something genuinely better at this job I would indeed use a mountain bike, and although I’m not doing a good job of describing what I want, I don’t think it’s that.

I work away a few days every week. Home has loads of good mountain biking and I only ride mountain bikes there, pretty much. I work in a flat part of the country and my gravel bike is a lovely thing both on and off road there. I rode it last night off road after significant rainfall on some old borrowed CX tyres and although the tyres were a bit lacking they showed me that its capabilities are a little more than I perhaps realised and gave me a new but doable challenge and a load of smiles. And a couple of bruises. So I’m kind of exploring whether with these tyres I can continue that theme through the winter. Swap between them for local off road – bridleways and singletrack in the woods – and G-ones for road. Then again maybe that’ll get old quickly and I’ll just take a mountain bike.

Sendero tread looks ideal but I think they’re only 650b?

I’ve been on Teravail Rutlands for a month or so and they are a great tyre.

But since the weekend, I’ve noticed things feeling a lot sketchier. They deal with total slop well enough, but if you’re talking wet clay / roots … I think I’ll put Nobby Nic/Hans Dampf back on for darkest Winter, tbh. Proper monster.

Just fitted new 650b 3T wheels and Sendero’s to my Arkose….if they grip as good as they look I’ll be happy

Sorry this is a bit of a hijack
Im looking for some 700c tyres to fit on my gravel bike to used many on the road maybe to odd canal towpath
The wheels are 30mm internal width
The frame (on one space chicken) accepts up to 40mm according to them
Ive been looking at Panaracer gravel king sk in 38mm would this be a good choice

Thanks

Rene Herse do a 38 and 42mm tyre that are incredibly quick running for what is a very knobby tyre. They are expensive and don’t ever use the ultra lights!

I’ve limited experience of gravel tyres but the resolute tread looks to me like it’d clog a bit easily Vs the Vittorias which look more along the lines I was expecting to head.

I switched to the Vittorias after ending up in a bush on the Resolutes after encountering some not very deep mud on a descent. I reckon it’s not so much an issue of clogging as density of nobbles. To get grip, you need the nobbles to pierce through the mud to something more solid. With the Resolute there’s more nobble than gaps between them, so there’s no where for the mud to go, and the pressure on the nobbles is going to be lower because it’s spread out over more of them. The Vittorias are definitely better but the nobbles are still surprisingly short, so I think there’s a limit to what they’ll get through.

It’d be nice to see some more down-sized MTB tyres, rather than up-sized CX tyres as options.

@jobro the 42mm nobbly from Rene Herse is the Hurricane Ridge, which looks to me not to be available in the UK, sadly, because it looks awesome. Are you aware of a UK supplier? Steilacoom is the 38mm one, looks like pretty much the same tread. Crikey are they pricey but they do look to be far more suitable than other options.

@snap the Schwalbe G-One All-rounds I have at the moment would be an option. I find them to be quite workable as a road tyre, grippy enough for gravel type surfaces, and have lasted ok. I like them. And in 38mm they look good value at £27 from Merlin right now. I’m sure I paid a lot more than that. 30mm internal rim width on a frame that takes a max 40 tyre sounds a bit of a mismatch though.

I’ve just switched from 35mm g-ones to 40mm WTB nanos and they seem pretty good.

I rode through some right boggy shit today and and over some decent roots and they seemed to have decent grip. Gravel bike is not a mountain bike so a bit of sketchyness is good right??

Nanos are fantastic – can’t believe how fast they are on tarmac for such a chunky tyre, but I’m hoping my new sendero’s will work better in mud and on green chalk (though to be fair nothing really grips green chalk except an ice axe)

I’m cool with a bit of sketchiness but at c.40mm width and the reasonably compromised use case of all these that’s inevitable anyway! Plus, yeah, it’s part of the fun.

Nearly £60 a pop but I’ve taken the plunge on the Steilacooms in standard casing. They look ideal. 42mm might’ve been even better but I doubt there’s much in it and I couldn’t find any anyway.

@jobro the 42mm nobbly from Rene Herse is the Hurricane Ridge, which looks to me not to be available in the UK, sadly, because it looks awesome. Are you aware of a UK supplier?

luket The Hurricane Ridge do come in 700c. The importer is Sven cycles in Weymouth and I know Woods Cyclery in the New Forest have them.

Terreno Wets are excellent as a mud cx race tyre. Been very impressed with them for that. Not sure I’d want to be riding them on the road much though. Terreno mix are ok with a nicely manageable amount of grip but not much shoulder knobs. Not massive sizes for 700c either. Gravel King SK do tend to clog up if the mud is clay based or has leaf mulch in it.

Goodyear connectors. 54 a pop last time I checked. Pricey but a very good compromise between road/gravel and trails. Tried and tested. Grippy as pig shit to a carpet.

GY connectors 40mm tubeless £45 on CRC ATM.

Steilacoom tubeless. Surprisingly fast on road and hardpack,  and great in the rougher stuff and mud.

Another vote for WTB Nanos.They are a proper MTB tyre but smaller.Not specifically an MTB mud tyre but best all rounder imho.

I went for the Steilacooms. That bit of extra mud clearance might be nice too.

Really looking forward to trying them out but it’ll be a couple of weeks now. Tan wall as well.

Another vote for WTB <span class=”skimlinks-unlinked”>Nanos.They</span> are a proper MTB tyre but <span class=”skimlinks-unlinked”>smaller.Not</span> specifically an MTB mud tyre but best all rounder imho.

Yep. I wish they were available in 650×47 too!

Teravail Rutlands arent bad for mixed conditions but you will get the most grip out of Schwalbe G-one Ultra bite at the expense of rolling resistance.
its all relative though and even the 2.0″ dont have the grip of a proper mtb tyre

@snap

Ive been looking at Panaracer gravel king sk in 38mm would this be a good choice

I currently running 38mm Gravelking SKs on my Planet X London Road which does a mix of commuting into London (so fully road) and weekend duties on bridleways etc so similar to what you want.

I find them really good, nice and comfy and a good compromise between grip and rolling resistance.

However, I’m probably about to swap them out from something with a bit more grip to deal with the muddy bridleways. I’m sure they’d be ok if it was just gravel but I have to deal with mud also and it’s getting a bit slippery! So I guess, they would probably suit you well in the summer, winter it’ll depends on what the camel toe path is like in terms of surface and condition.

Been quite impressed by my Bruce Gordon rock N Road 43mm on the gravel bike.

They’re a bit noisy on the road, but off road they are great and not bad at all in the slop last few days.

Cheap too

Has anyone tried the Maxxis Rambler?

Received, fitted and ridden once the Steilacooms. I was absolutely gobsmacked at how they manage to be so good in the wet slop and still fast on the road/hard. They also have a really comfortable give to them and don’t mean certain death on roots either. Phenomenal things – very much likey!