Gravel Tyres for London

[Rhysito]

In my ongoing quest to find one bike for all my none road riding needs, I am trying to find a gravel tyre which can withstand the streets of London. Last year, having got fed up with getting punctures on my commute I moved to tubeless and am using the beautifully supple Gravel King SK 32mm. These are great for gravel riding but are so soft that I have had to fix multiple slow punctures with tubeless tyre repairing kits.

I am looking at the Gatorskins, but they are not designed for gravel riding I hear you cannot ride them tubeless.

Any adice?

​

 

[rivers]

I've been using 40mm Hutchinson Touaregs on my gravel bike. No complaints on or off road

 

[Teamfixed]

Not sure what "designed for gravel" really means but I do know that gatorskins are very tough but still good rolling.

 

[vickster]

Schwalbe G-One all around?
https://www.merlincycles.com/schwal...aceguard-folding-gravel-tyre-700c-100498.html
https://www.merlincycles.com/schwal...oskin-tle-folding-gravel-tyre-700c-91923.html

 

[vickster]

Not sure what "designed for gravel" really means but I do know that gatorskins are very tough but still good rolling.

I guess slick...gravel tyres normally have little knobblies for grip. Gatorskins are road tyres.

 

[MichaelW2]

Most off road gravel tyres have softer compound than high milleage commuter tyres and wear out more rapidly. Schwalbe do a plethora of commuter tyres with good p resistance and enough tread for canal tow paths. The basic Marathon is your benchmark. You can go tougher heavier and slower, or lighter and quicker.

 

[cougie uk]

In my ongoing quest to find one bike for all my none road riding needs, I am trying to find a gravel tyre which can withstand the streets of London. Last year, having got fed up with getting punctures on my commute I moved to tubeless and am using the beautifully supple Gravel King SK 32mm. These are great for gravel riding but are so soft that I have had to fix multiple slow punctures with tubeless tyre repairing kits.

I am looking at the Gatorskins, but they are not designed for gravel riding I hear you cannot ride them tubeless.

Any adice?

​

I have gator skins on my gravel bike. Granted most of my riding is on road but they cope with canal paths and ten miles or so of gravel paths.

I don't think you'll get one tyre that's perfect for gravel and roads.

 

[bikingdad90]

Schwable CX Pro in 30mm or the CX comp version which has a slicker middle thread?

 

[freiston]

What sort of off-road surfaces are you riding on, how much compared to your road riding and how wide can you go? imho, you only really need big tread/knobbles for when the going is soft. Loose surface gravel can be a bit like soft going but can be done without much ado with touring/commuting tyres (which often have very good puncture protection). A wider tyre will put more rubber surface area in contact with the track surface, can take a lower pressure (which in turn puts more rubber surface area on the ground) and this should improve traction.

As for recommendations, I don't know much about what tyres can be used tubeless (I use tubes happily and relatively problem-free with hardly any punctures this millenium - my tyres were Marathons but are now Vittoria Randonneur Pro II & my riding is mostly really mucky, gravelly single track lanes but also some decently surfaced roads, glass-littered urban roads and bridleways/towpaths). My inkling is to look for wider touring/commuter tyres unless you cycle a lot on soft ground or you ride mostly on gravel - then I would look for a gravel tyre. If you separate your road riding from your off-road riding, then a possible solution would be to swap out the tyres according to the activity - but I suspect this would not be easy with tubeless.

 

[freiston]

I do have to say though, that on my bike today, (32mm touring tyres, 70 psi), I pulled into a farm driveway, sloping upwards from the road, that was covered in quite deep fine gravel, to let a car pass me on the single track lane. On the way into the drive, my front wheel skidded sideways and on the way out, my back wheel spun. On an off-road self-compacting type gravel path on the same ride, I had no problems but I didn't take any bends/corners at speed.

 

[cougie uk]

I do have to say though, that on my bike today, (32mm touring tyres, 70 psi), I pulled into a farm driveway, sloping upwards from the road, that was covered in quite deep fine gravel, to let a car pass me on the single track lane. On the way into the drive, my front wheel skidded sideways and on the way out, my back wheel spun. On an off-road self-compacting type gravel path on the same ride, I had no problems but I didn't take any bends/corners at speed.

That's a high psi unless there's s lot of weight on the bike?

I run my 32 at 50 front and 60 rear without issues.

 

[freiston]

I have a habit of pumping them up to that and then leaving it ages until I pump them up again, starting hard and letting them soften with time. The tyres I had on before had terrible rolling resistance below 60 psi and that's how I got the habit of pumping them high except for I pump them up less often now. I regularly cycle on tracks and loaded up (and I weigh a fair bit myself). Once when I had gone a long time between pumps, I could feel the rim hitting the bumps - so I don't like them to get low. I last pumped them up on Monday. When I stuck the hose onto the valve, the gauge read about 35-40 front and back iirc. Tbh, I don't pay a lot of attention to tyre pressure unless it causes me to.

 

[Regular.Cyclist]

I’m currently using Michelin Power Gravel tubeless, in 33mm variety, on my commuter. A pair in 35mm variety has arrived this week for the wife’s commuter. Hope to fit them at the weekend.

 

[T4tomo]

In my ongoing quest to find one bike for all my none road riding needs, I am trying to find a gravel tyre which can withstand the streets of London. Last year, having got fed up with getting punctures on my commute I moved to tubeless and am using the beautifully supple Gravel King SK 32mm. These are great for gravel riding but are so soft that I have had to fix multiple slow punctures with tubeless tyre repairing kits.

I am looking at the Gatorskins, but they are not designed for gravel riding I hear you cannot ride them tubeless.

Any adice?

​

Get the "plus" version of the gravel Kings. Has a much better puncture protection layer.

 

[PaulSB]

I have a habit of pumping them up to that and then leaving it ages until I pump them up again, starting hard and letting them soften with time. The tyres I had on before had terrible rolling resistance below 60 psi and that's how I got the habit of pumping them high except for I pump them up less often now. I regularly cycle on tracks and loaded up (and I weigh a fair bit myself). Once when I had gone a long time between pumps, I could feel the rim hitting the bumps - so I don't like them to get low. I last pumped them up on Monday. When I stuck the hose onto the valve, the gauge read about 35-40 front and back iirc. Tbh, I don't pay a lot of attention to tyre pressure unless it causes me to.

Tyre pressure should be checked before every ride. It's a two minute job.