Gravel / Gravé / Gnarmac / Groad / ATB

they are the very ones sitting in my basket

Get it done, very capable down a gravel path too

anyone wanna buy some brand new wtb riddlers?

Go bigger. I ran 42c on mine and that’s with guards. Super comfy on the road and still quick and was able to drop them down to like 20psi for rocky gravel paths an it’s like a magic carpet

42 you say? for example...?

'tis but a scratch

If you're riding slicks, you may as well go as big as you can get. You won't be riding in mud much so no need to worry about cloggage. So much fun riding huge squishy tyres & rolling over everything.

anyone tried the continental contact speeds? they do those in a 42c

Yep <3

had better dig out the old bmx for trade in $$'s this weekend

Not 42c, but the Paselas come in 38c as well. I have them on a pair of 19mm internal width rims, and they measure out to about 36,5 mm. Highly recommendable.

I've read good things about the Schwalbe Marathon Supreme and Marathon Almotion as well, and they come in 42 and 40c. Don't let the Marathon name fool you, they're supposedly not as "dead" as the Marathon Plus.

WTB Nanos! Best “big” tyre for roadie and off road use

As far as the whole “fit the biggest you can thing” I tried that and found that actually big tyre are just really heavy and don’t feel very “spritly” or roll that nice. You can run 35c with barely any air in and they feel nicer imo.

Although I do like a bike to feel pretty fast and I can deal with a bit of uncomfort.
I run the 35c Schwalbe X-One (even on a 19.5 internal rim they only measure 33mm) on my cross bike and despite it being a full on cross tyre it rolls amazing on tarmac too and I’ve been on pretty pacey club rides and not hated them.

that was kind of what i was thinking. i thought there must be a limit where they start to feel heavier but to be honest i should probably worry about shedding the excess kilos from my gut before i need to worry about the weight of my tyres

still getting those big arsed 42's i see though. in reality 95% of my miles are my commute so comfort>perceived speed

Schwalbe X-One

They're exceptional tyres. If I had the clearance, would totally run. Felt just as fast as G-one speeds.

Better then 40c g ones?
I have a pair of both laying around and seeing I will mostly be doing tarmac I reckoned ild try the g ones first.

The problem with the nanos to me was that the centre strip wears out fast on the road. Also, the side knobs are great off road but be careful on damp roads.

Some good prices on gravel-ish tyres at PX at the moment.

I've got some Gravel Kings in 38 flavour, they're great, fine in the cross section on my commute.

Another for the 42c Conti Contact Speeds. Roll way better than Paselas, mind most things do.

Everything added to the Evans basket just waiting for the stupid C2W certificate to come through to push the button. Managed (with price match and trade in deals) to save myself over £100 which is nice too.

.

Looking for some advice on gravel bike geometry please, for a dilemma I'm now facing. Is it normal to size down on a gravel bike?

I've always ridden a 56cm frame and so have ordered the Vitus Adventure in a large - it has less reach and more stack than any of the three bikes I ride on the road (CAAD10, Scott CR1 and Ribble 525).

Since ordering, I realised the geometry chart also suggests body sizes - which suggest a large is for someone 6'1" to 6'4" whereas I'm 5'11

I then looked at various other gravel bikes - for my height and inside leg, everyone else (Canyon, Rose, Ribble, Planet X) suggest a similar stack and reach to the Vitus in a large

I contacted Wiggle and Vitus to ask why they suggest a smaller frame than seemingly everyone else - they just pointed me to the geometry chart and repeated what it said

So, opinions on frame sizing for gravel bikes will be most appreciated

ta

Steve

Don’t know about others but I ride 56cm frames at 6”1. Road, gravel whatever, no difference