The reason for the bike spec is likely two fold: One, bike companies likely have a pretty large stock of smaller tires on hand, as they make these purchases in bulk with a lot of lead time. Two, bike companies are also likely betting on a lot of users purchasing a gravel bike for both road and off road riding, so their tire choice is a compromise.
2 Likes
My tire choice is pretty specific based on a lot of factors. I wouldnāt expect to buy a stock bike and have it come with tires I plan to use regularly. Iām sure they get deals from manufacturers, and the amount of discount they get probably plays a part in that decision.
Items like tires, handlebars(width), crank length, saddle, and a few other similar items are all things that would have me at a bit of pause in buying a complete bike from a manufacturer since Iād be swapping them immediately.
Alternatively, some manufactures get such discounts on drivetrains, that itās often still not worth getting a frame and piecing together a bike.
2 Likes
Yep, and RK 2.2ās are the tire specād on all of Alliedās standard builds. I think a big part of that is just highlighting the capability (since itās a hot trend), but probably biased towards the gravel around Bentonville as well. Having done a couple races on 2.2ās on the Bentonville gravel, Iām convinced a MTB tire is the fastest setup on those roads. If picking a tire for all types of gravel and some road, a 50mm tire is probably the sweet spot where a lot of bike companies will eventually land for their standard builds. Pretty solid on road and smooth gravel and good enough on most chunky stuff. With Unbound week coming up, it will be interesting to see if any new gravel bikes get released with sub 50mm clearance. The Checkmate basically got bashed over 45mm clearance even though Trek also has the Checkpoint with 50mm clearance.
2 Likes
At least for todayā¦ a gravel tire is the fastest and best tire for MTB racing. 
6 Likes
So weird to see this in XCC. Inverted trend.
3 Likes
Iām shook but also the Tracer 50 is probably my favorite tire Iāve ever ridden so this is good confirmation bias 
1 Like
Thereās a 50?
1 Like
Available for back order on the website. Looks like late June for us normies.
Iāve had surprisingly good luck getting specialized tires through my LBS even when they show out of stock on the website. Not sure about the Tracers, but good luck with scarce pathfinders in the past.
1 Like
Some pictures from Nove Mesto:
1 Like
Not sure itās a trend, but rather course dependent. The XCC finished on an uphill paved climb into a long paved finish. Itās well established that a gravel tire is faster on pavement than a MTB tire. So, if you have the skills/power to be there in the end despite your inferior tire, you will be rewarded in the finishing sprint where the race is won.
3 Likes
So as weāve been saying about the topic of this thread forever, IT DEPENDS. It was funny on Paysonās pod with Alexey that when Alexey said it depends Payson said, you have to take that back, are you serious? You donāt think that bigger is better? Cmon Payson.
I wonder if we get to a point where there are tire changes during races when terrain varies significantly. Iāve actually considered swapping to a smaller tire at the last checkpoint at Unbound this year since the last 3rd of the course is relatively smooth compared to the chunky middle section. Probably not worth the bother for me, but for the pros finishing with a potential group sprint on pavement, I could see it making sense.
I agree with the part where it makes sense. But man, that would further disintegrate gravel being cool and not road racing. Imagine the āF1 pit stopsā that they already have where it is a huge advantage to have teams of people waiting for you to power wash the bike, lube the chain, put your ice sock in your jersey, etc. also swapping wheels only because of tire preferences. The haves and the have nots would be even more separated than they currently are. Not to even mention the spirit of gravel. 
1 Like
I donāt think it depends. I think many people are stubborn and resistant to change, especially in such a costly equipment-based sport. At both the individual and industry levels.
If gravel tires continue getting faster as new generations are developed, and we see a better understanding and explanation of suspension losses as a race day variable; picking from a range of tire widths makes sense. Right now, the evidence and arguments arenāt there IMO.
It took many years for road racers to embrace wider tires, weāre barely into the third year for wider tires on gravel. Itās also less recognized that, for gravel, 38 was the fast size and then it was 40-42 and now āfastā is 45s.
1 Like
If it doesnāt depend, then why not race a fat bike with drop bars?
1 Like
The suspension losses are not large enough to offset the hysteresis losses nor the aerodynamic penalty. There are no fast fat bike tires available, which is the same problem that had to be resolved before road and gravel moved to larger tires.
If the original 60mm Schwalbe Big Ones were still made weād probably see people riding them now (or trying to) instead of Race Kings/Thunder Burts/Etc.
The only advantage gravel tires have over the fastest XC tires is aerodynamics. We are not yet to the point where they have equal or lower casing losses, and smaller sizes will always suffer more suspension losses. The main argument for narrower gravel tires is based on preconceptions that are still slowly dying - higher pressure, narrower width, lighter weight means a faster tire. We know this isnāt the right framework but itās still presented as argument.
Gravel tires are better than they were when this thread started, but they still have much marginal improvement available.
2 Likes
I do an early season āgravelā race (castell grind) that is almost 50% tarmac, the rest is pretty smooth gravel without any chunky selective sections. And it finishes on tarmac, typically in a decent sized group sprint. Are you saying the best tire for that course is the same as it would be for something like Big Sugar where there are a bunch of selective chunky spots and way less pavement?
Even a fast MTB tire is slower on pavement and super smooth dirt/gravel than a decent gravel tire. I ran a test years ago on pavement comparing a 2.2 Race King to a Rambler (notably slow gravel tire) and the Rambler was faster. I honestly canāt remember if the rambler was a 40 or a 44, but it was double digit watts faster on pavement. And thatās backed up by me doing many fast group rides on the road using both 2.2ās and a variety of 42-72 gravel tires. The MTB tires suck noticeable watts on the road at high speeds. And the gravel tires suck watts compared to a 32 road tire. Iām a big fan of MTB tires on gravel for many events (just bought a new frame so I could run them even when muddy). But I donāt think for a second they are the best tire for every course.
4 Likes
It does depend.
If you do testing there is a very large difference between mtb tires and gravel tires and one will be significantly faster than the other depending on the course and the sections where the winning move will go.
I run fast gravel tires or fast mtb tires (or even gp5ks) depending on the course and where you will win or lose the race.
For the chunky gravel races that are mostly on gravel or where the road sections are not decision points >50mm mtb tires win out, for a course where itās a mix of gravel and road but none of the gravel is chunky or difficult enough to need big tires (or the bad sections are small and closer to the start) a fast gravel tire will be quicker overall. For the āgravelā road races gp5ks are quicker.
Itās all very course dependent and rider ability dependent.
2 Likes
I understand the argument and anecdote, I donāt agree.