The Greatest Gravel Bike Tires of 2023

One of many easiest, best, and most reasonably priced methods to enhance the standard of your gravel rides begins proper the place the rubber hits the dust highway – or, the gnarly singletrack, roots, mud, hardpack, crushed gravel, sand, or pavement. And in case you’re like many gravel cyclists, chances are you’ll encounter all the above throughout a season, and even throughout a single, epic journey.

The excellent news is that tire producers have created an unbelievable vary of tire fashions for each taste of gravel conceivable, and every is available in quite a lot of widths, casing constructions, and weights that help you select the best tire for the type of gravel that you just journey most frequently.

All these decisions may make deciding on a tire overwhelming, particularly in case your price range limits you to purchasing new treads as soon as in a blue moon.

We’ve chosen 12 of one of the best gravel tires out there in 2023 and examined them over tons of of miles in quite a lot of real-world situations to make it simpler so that you can select. So, whether or not you like rail trails, clean dust roads, previous logging roads, flowy singletrack, or routes that blend pavement along with your dust, you will discover the best match on your distinctive driving type under. To check the fashions we examined at a look, try our comparability chart. And in case you’re simply moving into gravel biking or are prepared to change from the identical previous tires you’ve at all times used, try our shopping for recommendation and FAQ part on the finish of this text.

Editor’s Be aware: This overview was up to date on November 2, 2023, with the addition of the Teravail Rutland and the Problem Gravel Grinder tires, and to make sure that our product choice is updated and the data is as correct as attainable.

The Greatest Gravel Bike Tires of 2023

Better of the Relaxation

Gravel Bike Tires Comparability Chart

Tire Mannequin	MSRP	Measurement Examined	Weight of Measurement Examined	Meant Use
WTB Raddler	$76.95 (w/ SG2)	700 x 40	522 grams	Blended gravel, hardpack, free, dry, moist
Vittoria Terreno Dry	$61	700 x 38	490 grams	50/50 on/off-road, hardpack
Panaracer GravelKing SK+	$75	700 x 43	540 grams	Gravel, dust, tough pavement
Maxxis Rambler	$70	700 x 38	376 grams	Hardpack, free over exhausting, dry
WTB Resolute	$76.95 (w/ SG2)	700 x 42	565 grams	Hardpack, free, dust, moist, dry
Problem Gravel Grinder	$65	700 x 38	390 grams	Hardpack, clean gravel
Pirelli Cinturato Gravel S	$84.90	700 x 40	550 grams	Smooth, moist, muddy
Continental Terra Path	$72.95	700 x 40	460 grams	Hardpack, free over exhausting, gravel
Teravail Rutland	$68	700 x 42	440 grams	Coarse gravel, moist situations
Schwalbe G-One Overland	$88	700 x 40	515 grams	50/50 paved/off-road, hardpack
Maxxis Receptor	$70	700 x 40	417 grams	Pavement, hardpack, clean gravel
Vittoria Terreno Combine	$61	700 x 38	500 grams	Blended gravel, cyclocross

Why Ought to You Belief Bikerumor?

The crew at Bikerumor is actually obsessive about all issues biking. Not solely is it our job to report on the newest information, tech, and merchandise throughout all disciplines, however we additionally like to journey bikes of every kind. Many people have been driving gravel earlier than it was even cool, whereas others jumped on the bandwagon because it has steadily gained reputation over time. Both approach, we’re at all times searching for one of the best gravel bikes, elements, and tires to reinforce our expertise and delight on our rides. And, in case you’re trying to improve your driving package in different methods, we even have complete opinions of protecting gear just like the greatest mountain bike helmets and highway bike helmets, footwear just like the greatest mountain bike sneakers, and attire like biking bib shorts.

For our gravel bike tire purchaser’s information, we tasked Jim Graham with testing and evaluating twelve totally different tire fashions. Jim lives in southern central New Hampshire, the place an abundance of wonderful gravel driving is accessible from his residence or only a quick drive away. An avid out of doors adventurer for the previous 4 a long time, Jim enjoys human-powered exploration, whether or not that’s from the saddle of his gravel or mountain bike, clicked right into a pair of cross-country skis, or laced up in a pair of path trainers. He usually participates in endurance occasions together with gravel grinders and cross-country ski races. After a few years working in journalism and better ed communications, Jim is having fun with early semi-retirement and the power to spend much more time pursuing the sports activities he loves. He’s at the moment spending time engaged on his home, volunteering at close by sporting occasions, and taking over some freelance writing tasks for varied out of doors publications, together with for us at Bikerumor.

How We Examined

After deciding on a various assortment of twelve of one of the best gravel bike tires in the marketplace, every mannequin was completely examined over the course of a number of months. Every set of tires was mounted on Jim’s private bike at residence utilizing a bike pump or tubeless booster and ridden on take a look at loops that included every thing from pavement, clean gravel roads, and rail trails, to chunky New England logging roads. As anticipated within the northeast within the summertime, the climate ranged from sizzling and dry to exceptionally moist and sloppy, offering ample alternative to strive every tire in each situation conceivable. Every mannequin’s efficiency was assessed and analyzed, permitting us to zero in on our favorites and those who excel for particular causes.

Shopping for Recommendation: Select Gravel Bike Tires

It’s straightforward to really feel overwhelmed if you start in search of gravel tires and with good purpose. Amongst simply the ten tire fashions that we examined, there are greater than 100 choices for width, casing building, puncture resistance, and weight. Under, we break down the important thing factors that may ease your shopping for choice.

Why gravel tires make a distinction

A gravel tire that’s designed for the kind of floor and situations that you just journey will make for a greater total expertise – supplying you with a extra snug, sure-footed, succesful, and safer journey. And that signifies that your gravel rides may even be extra enjoyable and hassle-free. 

In the identical approach that totally different tires for automobiles and vehicles are designed for driving on highways, going off-road, hauling hundreds, or racing Components 1, gravel tires are available in a variety of decisions for optimum efficiency based mostly on how and the place you journey your bike.

The place to start

Answering two key questions will assist put your search on fast-forward:

1. What kind of gravel do you journey — most frequently?

Most gravel cyclists we all know will cowl an enormous vary of situations and terrain on their rides, from gnarly singletrack to compacted dust roads and rail trails to pavement. The excellent news is that trendy, high-quality, all-purpose gravel tires can deal with most situations fantastically. Our all-arounders supply an excellent one-tire answer for all kinds of terrain and situations, from moist to dry, gentle to gnarly.

However let’s say you journey solely, or perhaps 90% of the time, on only one kind of floor – compact dust roads, rail trails, boggy logging roads, tough metropolis streets, or clean pavement, and so on. There are additionally loads of choices for tires designed to work greatest in sure, extra narrowly outlined situations.

Fortunately, specialty gravel tires normally carry out “adequately sufficient” on situations exterior their supposed vary. A mud-specific tire, for example, shall be okay on pavement, though it would really feel slower, heavier, and noisier. Likewise, a smoother, sooner rolling tire will do okay if you find yourself in free or chunky situations, though you’ll wish to journey much less aggressively in these situations than you’ll on a knobbier tire.

2. Will they suit your bike?

Wheel measurement is an apparent issue, however the main consideration right here is width. Many highway bicycles and even cyclocross frames are too slim to suit wider gravel bike tires. Be sure you know what width tire your bicycle body can accommodate before you purchase. Don’t know, or aren’t certain in case you’re measuring the tire area in your body appropriately? Your native bike store may also help you out, and may supply suggestions for tires that work greatest in your space.

Elements to think about

Tire Width

For gravel, 700c tires are available in a variety of widths from round 30mm as much as about 50mm with 650b/27.5-inch tires maxing out round 2.1 inches. Typically talking, tires which can be round 40mm vast are the most well-liked. Width-wise, this places them on the candy spot between narrower highway bike tires, normally round 28mm or much less, and wider mountain bike tires, round 59mm. Being wider, and due to this fact having extra air quantity, than highway tires means gravel tires will be run at decrease air pressures — which makes them extra compliant, or softer and extra snug feeling, and higher at absorbing the roughness of dust and gravel roads. On the identical time, being narrower than mountain bike tires signifies that gravel tires usually roll extra simply and rapidly over dust roads and tough pavement.

Riders searching for a extra snug, forgiving journey, or who journey rougher surfaces or lose situations will usually go for wider tires. The added width creates a bigger quantity of air and a extra “plump” tire that may extra simply take in suggestions and impacts and the bigger contact patch will usually present extra traction on free or blended surfaces (relying on the tread design). On the flip facet of that coin, these driving on clean surfaces primarily can usually profit from the sooner rolling properties of a narrower tire that has a smaller contact patch. Once more, how vast of a tire you’ll be able to match in your bike shall be a limiting issue right here, though many trendy gravel bikes are designed to accommodate tires as much as round 700 x 50mm each entrance and rear.

Wheel diameter

The most well-liked measurement wheels and tires for gravel biking are 700c, the identical measurement as most trendy highway bike wheels. Many tires are additionally out there in 650b/27.5” measurement, which generally permits a gravel bike to run even wider/greater quantity tires than on a 700c wheel. Some bikes are made to work with one measurement wheel or the opposite, whereas many can work with both wheel measurement relying in your wants and needs. It goes with out saying, however we’ll say it anyway, when selecting tires, they should match the wheel measurement you’ve gotten.

Weight

Basically, lighter tires are sooner. Weight-wise, gravel tires are normally lighter than mountain bike tires and heavier than highway bike tires. It’s price mentioning that wider tires are usually heavier than their skinnier counterparts, and that options like extra sturdy casing constructions and knobbier treads may add to the load of a tire. Whereas the variations within the weight of gravel tires don’t fluctuate as considerably as mountain bike tires, it may nonetheless be noticeable given the tire’s location on the surface of the rim. Generally known as rotational mass, a heavier tire can really feel extra sluggish when accelerating and gradual you down barely over the course of a protracted journey or prolonged climb. For that reason, racers and long-distance riders will usually be extra involved with the load of their tires than leisure riders.

Tread

Gravel tires are available in a variety of tread patterns and rubber compounds which can be optimized to offer the best steadiness of grip, pace, and sturdiness. Basically, beefier treads with deeper, broadly spaced lugs and knobs will grip higher in tender, free, and/or muddy gravel situations. Lighter, or semi-slick, treads will normally roll extra simply and quietly on hardpacked dust and pavement.

However tread alone isn’t the one determiner of grip or pace. We’ve discovered that some tires with beefy-looking treads are surprisingly clean and quiet on pavement. Likewise, some tires with semi-slick tread patterns deal with tender, slippery situations higher than we anticipated. That is why our gear opinions at Bikerumor concentrate on driving in real-world situations and cyclists with a few years of expertise.

In case your driving consists primarily of a mixture of pavement and clean hardpacked dust highway situations (or your gravel bike performs double obligation as a highway bike), then a smoother, faster-rolling tread design just like the Maxxis Receptor could also be one of the best guess. In case your gravel routes embrace surfaces from pavement to tough gravel and every thing in between, an all-around tire just like the WTB Raddler, Panaracer GravelKing SK+, or Continental Terra Path will probably have you ever lined. And, if you’ll be experiencing particular situations, like mud, for instance, then a muddy situations particular tire just like the Pirelli Cinturato Gravel S will carry out greatest.

Threads per inch

At their most simple, tire casings are product of a number of layers of finely woven material which can be impregnated and lined in rubber compounds, usually with a further layer of puncture-resistant materials. Bonded collectively, these layers give a tire its form and journey high quality and might add safety from cuts and punctures. Basically, casings with extra threads per inch (tpi) – round 120tpi or greater – are extra compliant and lighter, giving a extra snug, supple, and faster-rolling journey high quality. Heavier casings, round 60tpi, are normally sturdier, heavier, and extra sturdy. However you can too discover the identical mannequin of tire in a 120tpi casing that really weighs greater than its 60tpi counterpart, usually as a result of addition of a layer of puncture safety on the 120tpi model. Each tire producer lists particulars of tire weights, casing choices, puncture resistance, and tread compounds for every mannequin of tire they make.

Tubeless or interior tubes and compatibility

The long-running debate over utilizing interior tubes vs tubeless will most likely rage on the Web so long as bicycles have tires. In truth, both choice works simply fantastic. With regards to deciding on gravel tires, the primary and most necessary factor to know is that if they are going to be suitable along with your wheels and rims. 

Tubeless tires have been round for a while, and in case you aren’t already acquainted, they don’t use an interior tube to carry air, therefore the title tubeless. As a substitute, they depend on a sealed, tubeless-ready rim, the casing of the tire, and a few tire sealant to keep up air strain within the tire. Provided that tubes are/have been the most typical level of failure when getting a flat, tubeless tires have resulted in a decrease frequency of flat tires whereas additionally permitting them to be run at decrease pressures which boosts consolation and management. This isn’t to say that tubeless tires are impervious to flats as a result of they definitely will not be, it’s simply usually a lot simpler to pop an interior tube than a tubeless tire.

Most new gravel tires are tubeless-compatible and also will work with interior tubes. But it surely’s clever to double-check to ensure they’ll suit your rims before you purchase. If doubtful, verify along with your native bike mechanic.

All the tires on this overview are tubeless suitable and have been mounted tubeless on a Stan’s Grail and/or Hunt Gravel Race Wheelset (22mm inner width), utilizing a Schwalbe Tire Booster, with both WTB TCS Sealant or Orange Seal Endurance sealant. A commonplace ground pump would probably work for many of them, or a Tubeless Booster pump just like the ToPeak JoeBlow Booster or the Bontrager TLR Flash Charger. All have been simply mounted and seated simply as effectively, with out important sealant leakage, though a number of needed to be re-inflated a time or two earlier than they held air strain effectively in a single day. Not one of the tires skilled punctures or important sidewall cuts throughout our testing.

Regularly Requested Questions About Gravel Bike Tires