My guide to choosing the best gravel tyre. How wide and what tread pattern is right for you?

- go the widest your frame can handle, regardless of road/offroad - think about how much puncture protection you need. a massively reinforced tire will be slow and sluggish to accelerate, as weel as harsh riding due to the thick sidewall - choose reinforced sidewalls if you often ride offrad with sharp stones, otherwise a lighter nimble tire is fine most of the time because: - tubeless is your friend, will seal punctures and has less rolling resistance especially at low pressures - a wide slick run at low pressure grips surprisingly well offroad, as long as you are mostly on dry stuff and adjust your cornering speeds depending on conditions - if you are in muddy terrain, you kneed far spaced knobs - large shoulder knobs can squirm on the road when cornering fast - 650b will be a bit nimbler and lighter than the same tire/rim size in 700c - go 650b if you want BIG volume (2.0" MTB tire and up) - go 700c for 32-45mm for max compatibility and big selection of road, gravel and touring tires, as well as wheels - 30 - 35mm tire for quick and nimble handling, mostly on road use and hardpacked forest roads - 35 - 45mm tire for allround use - 50mm/2.0 inch tire for more offroad oriented use (there are still very quick and not too heavy tires in this range, especially slicks like the schwalbe g-one speed that fly on pavement and grip well offroad as long as its dry and the pressure is adjusted) - 2.1" 650b MTB tires for more offroad oriented use and cushion of stones and roots with low pressure - 2.1" and up 650b MTB/touring tires for slower paced, multi day touring focus and lots of baggage on the bike

Best video I have seen on this subject. Thank you very much.

I have to say David your videos just keep getting better and better. Really informative and easy to watch. I’m sure dragging a tripod (I presume that’s what you use) round with you is a bit of a pain but as a viewer they’re really good to watch. Cheers.

Just had my first ride on the wtb ventures. All road miles but I’m impressed with low rolling resistance. Wednesday is gravel and single track test.

Just FYI, I have to plug my favorite gravel tire of all time (So far 😁). The Panracer Gravel King Slick in 700c x 38mm. This tire amazes. Run it high pressure, it flies on pavement and hardpack. Lower the air pressure and it handles chunky gravel surprisingly well. Only thing it doesnt do well is mud, but most intermediate gravel tires do not do well in mud anyway. I am eyeing a set of 45-50mm chunky gravel tires to keep on a second wheelset for those rough trail, muddy adventures. Looking especially at the Schwalbe Ultra Bite for that duty, but very hard to find in stock atm.

Schwalbe x-one’s and tubeless oh and tyre pressure just as important. Nice video again Dave.

great content, David! appreciate this a lot, very informative! subscribed! cheers mate

well done. informative video. understandable terminology. covered all the basics. and the video editing was entertaining.

Thanks, David - great video for gravel newbies like me. One suggestion, maybe links (or at least descriptions) of the tires in your post. Thanks again!

Knobbly tyres all year round for me on my gravel bike and CX bike.....I've recently converted both of these bikes to tubeless (and 2 MTB's) and it's a no brainer...Stan's sealant seems very good. I'm running WTB Resolutes (700x42c) on the gravel bike (good tyres) and Vittoria Terreno Wet (700x38c) on the CX bike (great tyres) as they suit the riding I do, which is singletrack, hero gravel, rough gravel, bridleways and byways etc with minimal tarmac. Both tyres shed mud well when you change surfaces too, which is always a bonus. Prior to going tubeless, I used to run cheap and cheerful Schwalbe Rapid Rob and Smart Sam and they were pretty good.

I got some WTB Byways, and I have to say, surprisingly grippy even on loose, rocky terrain as long as the tire pressure is not too high. Very happy with them, and they just glide on tarmac.

Main consideration - manufacturing tolerance. As in, will it install tubeless securely, will it hold pressure (or will the side walls leak and the beads be loose), will it hold off flints and thorns, and is it true to size. After that, will it grip if you lean over, is the sidewall nice and supple, and is it light and rolls well. Challenge and WTB seem very fast but poorly made, Vittoria and Schwalbe seem extremely good.

I’ve been running the panaracer gravel king SK+ 43s for a month now, love them. A little heavier but it would take a bullet to puncture those things lmao.

I think it's interesting that we don't really talk about running different tyres front and rear on these bikes. I've started doing it recently and am loving it. eg. Semi slick in the rear, small knobs on the front. I'm running a Sawtooth front/Snoqualmie Pass rear combo at the moment. It's great fun (and the Sawtooth is surprisingly grippy).

Great looking bike and some beautiful trails in your area! Tubeless is great for off road riding, but my Schwalbe bite tyres leak sealant through the side walls which I’m not impressed with! At just over 2,000km in the last couple of months they already look really worn. I must say I expected better than that for the price!

Compromise I think is the optimal descriptive when it comes to gravel tyres, such is the variety of terrain you’re drawn to when enjoying exploring in a gravel bike. It’s easy to say “go big” to cope with any eventuality but there is always the likelihood you will be on tarmac for any given amount of time, during which a big spongey tyre will be sluggish (not that it’s all about speed). I’ve experimented with a few tyres - Conti 5000 32c, Hutchison Override 35c, WTB Exposure 36c slick, Specialized Pathfinder 38c, Schawalbe G-One Bite 40c and Specialized Pathfinder 42c. I’ve settled on the 42c Pathfinders for the vast majority of the time with the Conti GP5000’s on my second wheel set for faster road stuff, but still capable of a bit of light off road. Anyway, another great upload David 👍🏻

Hi David, Thanks for the video - very helpful. I have a Specialised Diverge A1 Sport, which currently has 700c x 28 Gatorskins on it. I'm doing more bumpy canal paths and gravelly footpaths at the moment, and feel like I could do with some bigger tyres for a smoother ride. I'm probably doing 60% bumpy canal paths (often with bits of bricks and tree roots sticking up) and gravelly footpaths, and 40% smoother roads and cycle paths. Gators have been pretty bullet proof, so ideally something similarly hardy! What would you recommend? Many thanks!

Excellent video !

Good video - I think we have to say that there is almost too much choice, its difficult to know what to choose. At the moment for my Trek Crockett I've got 40c WTB Byway on a set of wheels, plus 32c Panaracer GravelKing SK on another. I also have a few sets in the shed ready for use; 35c Continental Cyclocross Speed, 31c Vittoria Terreno Dry, 33c Vittoria Terreno Mix, plus a 33c Challenge Baby Limus for muddy conditions. And finally, when I ride my TCR on less smooth Tarmac roads I'll use a wheelset with 30c Schwalbe G-One Speeds.

Speciaalized Globe Pro 2007 allows 50mm tyre, I fitted drops and mini Vs and it's the perfect lightwieght all round bike that you can fit guards/rack and even a front rack on the carbon fork mount. You can pick up the Expert as well and gte a machine that is more versatile than most machines made in recent times