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Mixing road & gravel – 1 set-up for everything

Posted by Gerard Vroomen - 17 March 2020

In a previous post (now updated) we looked at gears and tires if you have 2 wheelset: 1 gravel, 1 road. That’s a great set-up if your road and gravel rides are clearly separated. But many people go on mixed rides, with sections of road and gravel/dirt on the same ride.

You might do that because it’s fun or because the gravel/dirt sections where you live don’t connect into a large enough loop. Whatever the reason, you’ll need to find a tire that works well on all these surfaces, presuming you don’t have a team car behind you with a spare set of wheels!

Option 1: It’s mostly gravel

Think about how much asphalt you need to link together your gravel sections. Obviously, if your rides contain 90% off-road, you don’t really want to make any changes for the 10% on-road of your route. You pick the tire that suits the gravel/dirt where you live and you’re done. This can be anything from a beefed up road tire if the gravel is very smooth up to a 2.1″ mountain bike tire if you ride very rough stuff.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Option 2: The road is long and the gravel easy

If it’s the other way round and your gravel/dirt sections are few and far apart, it’s a little more complicated. For option 2 we assume there isn’t that much gravel and the sections that you encounter are easy. In this case, you pick a road tire with just enough tread and toughness to avoid walking and punctures on the gravel or dirt. Go for tubeless if you can.

This is the type of riding you can do on skinny road tires, but if you have a gravel bike, why would you? Since you have the tire clearance, you may as well go with a bigger road tire for extra comfort, grip and puncture protection.

The Pirelli Cinturato road tire (there is also a gravel tire by the same name) is a great option, as it is a high-quality, smooth-rolling road tire that comes in a 35mm tubeless version. The WTB Expanse & Exposure are also great options in various widths, with or without some small side knobs.

Continental has the GP-5000 Tubeless in a 32mm width, which on most rims will be wider than that (for example on our Discus 45 | 32 carbon wheels, it measures 34.2mm wide. Schwalbe has the Pro One TLE and One TLE in 30mm wide, or even the E-One which is designed for e-bikes and offers some extra protection. Note that the WAM (width as measured) on these Schwalbe tires is a little low, so combine it with a wide rim to get the volume you need.

If you like small companies that make great product, take a look at the René Herse Bon Jon Pass TC which is 35mm wide (or its siblings in widths from 26-55mm!) Note with René Herse that every width has a different name but they are often similar in style.

Panaracer has the GravelKing, which despite the name has a profile perfect for rough roads. It comes in widths from 32-48mm, standard and tubeless.

What all these tires have in common is that the extra width (and therefore air volume) gives you cushioning to avoid flats and allow you to ride at a lower pressure for better grip. As an added benefit, they also make your paved sections more comfortable. Not a bad thing since a lot of places we ride have asphalt with cracks and potholes that make gravel roads look like advanced technology.

Options 3: When the going gets tougher

If the gravel or dirt sections are very technical, then you will need a certain “level” of tire and range of gears to conquer them and avoid walking. Because no matter how speedy your chosen tire is on asphalt, if it causes you to walk, you’ll be slower overall. Even more importantly, you’ll be grumpy, tired and sore.

Even if your ride is 90% on-road, if the off-road sections requires a knobby 2.1″ tire, you have no choice but to go with it.

However, your tire choice still matters. Among the chunkier tires, there are some that roll much better than others. Key factors here are the knobs in the center (can you get away with smaller knobs there?) and the casing design (this is harder to assess for consumers).

Schwalbe has some large 650b casings that rank among their best regarding rolling resistance, even compared to their 700c road tires. The Racing Ralph, Rock Razor, G-One Allround and G-One Bite are examples of this. We know from our tests that some of these do not perform that well in the windtunnel but you can’t have it all.

There are also 700c options with chunkier treads. Not as grippy as the more extreme 650b offerings, but a WTB Nano 40c or a Panaracer GravelKing SK might just be tough enough for this purpose.

Option 4a: Truly mixed terrain – dry-ish

However, most people find themselves in a different situation. Where most people live, you will need significant portions of asphalt to complete your rides while mixing in as much gravel and dirt as you can. The ratio could be 40/60 or 60/40, that doesn’t really matter.

If the gravel and dirt sections are really tough, that’s not really Option 4. Then Option 3 above applies. For Option 4, picking one tire that gives you enough grip on gravel and rolls nicely on pavement is the key.

If you live in a drier area where grip comes from surface area and even a slick road tire will work off-road (and of course be great on-road. Then you can pick any of the road tires from Option 2, trending towards the wider René Herse, Panaracer and WTB options as your off-road sections gets tougher. To add additional puncture resistance, dive into the various protection layers these companies offer.

The Pirelli Cinturato H is another option with a small profile for hard surfaces. The Schwalbe G-One Speed is also worthy of consideration.

Option 4b: Truly mixed terrain – wet

Again, if the gravel/dirt sections are very tough, that’s Option 3, not this option. Option 4b requires more profile because of the wetness, so surface area alone is not enough for grip.

Schwalbe offers the G-One series for this. They come with small, medium and aggressive knobs indicated by the suffix Speed, Allround and Bite in their names. Widths range from 35-60mm.

The only one I would not recommend is the G-One Speed in 27.5×2.35″. That tire is very hard to set up correctly; either the pressure is too low and it rolls poorly on-road or it’s too high and it doesn’t grip off-road. I am sure there is a perfect pressure somewhere so that it all works well, but I haven’t found it yet.

Other options are Panaracer with the GravelKing SK (several widths) or Pirelli with the Cinturato Gravel in several widths and two profiles: the aforementioned H with a small profile and the M with a deeper profile for mixed terrain). WTB offers the excellent Riddler & Nano while René Herse has the Steilacoom TC in 38mm.

Note: 650b vs 700c

You may note that in the above, I don’t really talk much about 650b vs 700c. That’s because it’s largely irrelevant for the ride. It doesn’t matter what the rim diameter is, it matters what the tire diameter is (that’s what you roll on). Tire diameter hardly differs between 650b and 700c because the 650b tires are not only wider but also taller, making up for the smaller rim diameter to create a similar tire diameter. In addition, tire width has a much bigger effect on rolling resistance, drag and air volume.

Sometimes people tell me they want 700c “because I am used to that from my road bike”. But what are they really used to? Are they used to a rim that is 622mm in diameter (because that’s what 700c means) or are you used to a road tire that is around 685mm in diameter (the outside diameter of an average road tire)?

Of course it’s the latter, all your ride feel and all steering dynamics come from the tire diameter, not the rim diameter. Nobody can feel what the rim does, you feel what the tire does. So if 685mm is what you are used to, it will feel much more similar to ride a 650b x 47mm tires that is also 685mm than to ride a 700c x 47mm tire that is 715mm in diameter. (not to mention the toe overlap, head tube rise, etc).

But my real point is that neither really matters. You pick the tire width based on the terrain you ride on and your speed/skill level and then you figure out if that best fits on your bike in 700c or 650b (based on tire clearance and resulting bike geometry).

As always, if you have comments or questions, let me know in the comments below.

 

 

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14 responses to “Mixing road & gravel – 1 set-up for everything”

  1. M

    Mark Smith says:

    08 December 2020

    To follow up on your last point (650mm vx. 700mm), I have always ridden road bikes with 700mm wheels. I am now considering getting a gravel bike with which I anticipate riding 80% or 90% of the time on roads (many rough) and the rest off road. Even though I’ll spend most of my time on roads, I look forward to enjoying the softer ride of bigger tires. I do like to go fast, but am willing to sacrifice a bit of speed for added comfort and the ability to go off road. So, would you recommend I buy 650s or 700s?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      15 December 2020

      For the ultimate ability to go off-road, go with the 650b. And don’t get hung up on the rim size you’ve always been riding. You’re not riding on the rims, are you? You’re riding on the tire, and the outside tire diameter doesn’t change much from a 700c road bike to a 650b gravel bike. It would change more if you stuck with 700c rims on the gravel bike.

      Reply
  2. J

    Jeffrey Thompson says:

    16 November 2020

    Interesting comment on the 2.35 g-one speed. I had the same experience with a 2.3 speed king (in 26er) which is similarly light and fast and near same width.

    That was my only experience on a gravel bike with tires that wide, but it led me to believe there is no point in exceeding ~2.1″ on a gravel bike (which I run and work well), but it could have just been that tire.

    I guess my question is given unlimited clearance, where’s the upper limit (assuming aero is not a major concern)

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      16 November 2020

      I don’t think it has much to do with the width as the combination of that, the tread pattern, the casing, etc. The 2.35″ Schwalbe Rock Razor is great tire for example.

      Reply
  3. N

    Nick says:

    03 November 2020

    Hi Gerard,

    for the option 2, would you prefer a pure road tire like (32 or 35mm?) or something like the Pirelli Cinturato Gravel Hard 35mm?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      09 November 2020

      Pure road unless it’s often wet.

      Reply
  4. R

    Roland says:

    09 August 2020

    Hello Gerard,
    Thanks for sharing your knowledge, interesting to read.
    For a heavy rider (110kg), are 650b wheels with a wider tires a better option then 700c with the smaller ones (in case of 1 set-up). Or is terrain the most import choose?
    What is the maximum weight for de 3T wheels (especially the discus 45/32 ltd) , I can’t find that anywhere.

    Greetings,
    Roland

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      10 August 2020

      Hi Roland, rider weight definitely plays a role too. You need more air volume to support a higher weight. so a 23mm road tire might become a 28mm road tire for a heavier rider, and the same applies for bigger tires. So that also means that a 40mm 700c tire becomes a 47mm 650b tire for a heavier rider, for example. Thus it really still depends on the terrain, you don’t need a 650b wheel set if you’re riding Dutch gravel (so where I am) but if you’re 110kg and riding the Jeroboam Franciacorta (where the 3T office is), you definitely want a 650b setup and the biggest tire you can make work.

      Reply
      1. R

        Roland says:

        11 August 2020

        Thanks for the quick response. Cool that you keep up this blog so well!
        I would like to know what the maximum weight is that the 3t rims can handle.
        Is there any formal advice from 3T

        Reply
        1. Gerard Vroomen says:

          25 August 2020

          In general we use 110kg for all parts. Some parts can hold much more, and we test to higher levels than that, but that’s our general rule.

          Reply
  5. M

    Mark_S says:

    21 July 2020

    Hello Gerald,

    Not sure if this is the place to write, but other blogs where you address non-standard gravel gearing options are perhaps a bit too old. I have a 2020 GT Grade Carbon Expert with an R7000GS derailleur (34T max, 39T capacity) and plan to try a Sunrace 11-40 cassette and change the inner chainring to 32. This is 45T or +4T. I don’t plan a roadlink because it does nothing to increase capacity, but suspect I may need to turn the b-screw around. This is all a bodge and, while there are videos on ‘tube of people pulling this off, I’d like to know what you would expect from this setup if you have time to respond. I’m doing this because I regularly do 10% climbs and don’t like a low cadence. I chose 46/32 and 11-40 over 46/30 and 11-36 because I haven’t been too fond of the 16T drop in front. Hope that wasn’t a mistake. Thanks for your time.

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      23 July 2020

      Hi Mark, unfortunately we don’t have experience with some of the parts you mention, and as a result, I don’t have any expectations. I’m sorry. Aside from the drivetrain parts, it’s also hard for me to predict how things will work on a frame with a different geometry than ours as that also has an effect on performance.

      Reply
  6. A

    Andrzej says:

    21 April 2020

    Hi Gerard,

    I have one question regarding your Discus 45 wheels. I’m actually thinking of having them on my Exploro LTD (not only they look great together, but are also wide as I want). My only concern is their weight – they are pretty heavy and when taking into consideration the price. You could find wheels, like Roval’s CLX, that are not only wide but way lighter (below 1300grams). Why are those wheels so heavy and does it really matter? (I live in hilly area, so probably it does)

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      23 July 2020

      Hi Andrzej, you cannot really compare the two. The Discus is an aero wheel that is wide, and both aero and wide require extra material. There are some CLX models that are wide, and some that are deep, but none that are both (at least not to the extent that the Discus 45 | 40 is and even the 45 | 32. So if you want the aerodynamics on a gravel bike, you need both the width and the depth. If not, then it’s best to go with a non-aero wheel (that at least has the width).

      The one thing you definitely don’t want to do is go with a narrow aero wheel, then you get a weight penalty without any benefit.

      Reply
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