Is a MTB tire the fastest and best tire for Gravel racing?

[TooManyDogs]

@grwoolf

I was a little surprised to hear how little they seem to rely on any kind of repeatable structured testing, seem to lean heavily on rider feedback for tire evaluation. Maybe we weren’t getting the entire story, but that’s how it came across. Not that rider feedback shouldn’t be highly valued, just figured there were other more objective tests as well.

I’m curious if that’s the same across the industry. With so many gravel surface variations I wonder what the approach would be to creating a repeatable environment in a lab

[jkarrasch]

@TooManyDogs

I’m curious if that’s the same across the industry

It’s not.

[crandallGA]

@grwoolf

I was a little surprised to hear how little they seem to rely on any kind of repeatable structured testing, seem to lean heavily on rider feedback for tire evaluation.

Continental has a tire testing/development lab that is at least as large as Schwalbe’s, but for whatever reason they do not feature it as part of their marketing or corporate profile in the same manner.

I took the discussion as more how the company helps their sponsored riders determine what tire/casing/compound to choose for their events and not what the company does to develop tires.

You can see some of their machines near the end of this old article: https://www.pinkbike.com/news/continental-tires-manufacturing-2012.html

[jkarrasch]

Not gonna lie… thought I’d hate these. I don’t yet.

Schwalbe g one speed PRO 29 x 2.35 results.

Absolutely insane tire.

[greenbike]

Nice!

How is traction with them on gravel cat 2/3?

[jkarrasch]

Surprisingly not awful haha. Low pressure and big volume really saves the day there.

[VikingMD]

I wonder how they would do at Leadville. 14 watts savings over many of the other tire choices people are using. Maybe ride them with inserts even to boost their durability.

[jkarrasch]

I actually talked to someone who finished Unbound XL on them.

Leadville… that seems like really asking for trouble but who knows.

[grwoolf]

@jkarrasch

Leadville… that seems like really asking for trouble but who knows.

Unbound xl is a much tougher tire test than Leadville (in my opinion). There are some clunky spots at Leadville, but not that much sharp stuff like the flint at unbound.

[jkarrasch]

Fair enough. I’m working on getting a Cervelo ZHT drop bar project together, and I’m sure will continue using these big Schwalbes out of pure curiosity.

[Andrewbn42]

Leadville actually has corners though, I don’t think I’d want it, at least on the front

[grwoolf]

Yeah, agree on the front. Even though there isn’t much technical corning at leadville, there are enough “pucker” turns on those fire roads (and bottom segment of powerline) at high speed that a little grip up front is nice.

[VikingMD]

Bummer they won’t fit my Enve MOG. I have plenty of room with width but the tire is too tall and rubs the seat post.

[tiptoppenguin]

CX/Gravel Tire Test: Schwalbe G-One RS Pro (black) 45

Was maybe going to run these at my upcoming race but these results have me second guessing…

[jkarrasch]

Maxxis Reaver HYPR-X 700 x 45 RESULTS

Possibly the most relevant round of testing I’ve done for this particular thread… finally got protocol dialed in for a 45 mm tire on rough gravel!