GRAVEL TYRES

£45-£55 The best rubber for off-road adventures

01 PANARACER GR AVELK ING SK T LC £45 ★★★✩✩

SIZES 700c x 32, 35, 38*, 43, 50mm; 650b x 1.75, 1.9in; 26 x 2.1in (*tested) WEIGHT 425g (700c x 38mm)

The GravelKings excel on gravel and dry hardpack, offering a great compromise between grip and low rolling resistance. They also really stick on tacky hardpack, but as soon as things get wetter you can wave goodbye to grip. Also, I did have a few wheelspins on dry steep, grassy climbs. They are nippy on the road, with little drag, but I did get a large puncture on the first ride, which I had to plug, although the tyre held up okay for the rest of the test. The tyres inflated easily to a slightly square profile.

02 V I T T ORI A T ERRENO DRY T LR £45 ★★★★1/2

SIZES 700c x 31, 33, 35, 38mm*; 650b x 47mm

WEIGHT 450g (700c x 38mm)

Billed as a hardpack tyre for dry conditions, the semi-slick, aggressively shouldered tread pattern delivers more than you’d expect with impressive grip in nearly all conditions, including rocky sections and even wet roots. On drier, smoother surfaces the really low-profile central tread offers little rolling resistance, yet when riding through muddy slop and cornering in the wet, the shoulder knobs reduce sideways slides. This TLR model is the lightweight option; after sustaining a sidewall tear on a flint bridleway I’d recommend the more robust TNT casing. Tubeless setup was marginally tricky with a tight fit on the rim, and they run wide, the 38s inflating to 40.4mm.

03 MICHELIN POWER £49 ★★★★✩

SIZES 700c x 33, 35, 40*, 47mm WEIGHT 480g (40mm)

With a shallow, less aggressive tread pattern, these tyres are formulated to deliver grip and speed in drier conditions on hardpack, gravel and tarmac. They feature a protective layer from bead to bead, which gives great puncture protection. Setup was a doddle and on 23mm internal rims they measured 41.5mm at the widest point with a rounded profile. On dry hardpack and loose gravel trails grip is plentiful, encouraging you to lean into the corners and carry more speed, plus they roll fast on tarmac. When it comes to sloppy mud, for a hardpack tyre there’s a surprising amount of grip on the straight.

04 TER AVAIL CANNONBALL LIGHT AND SUPPLE £50

★★★★1/2

SIZES 700c x 35, 38, 42*, 47mm; 650b x 40, 47mm

WEIGHT 450g (700c x 42mm)

Designed as a gravel racing allrounder, with a fast-rolling centre and plenty of shoulder tread for cornering, these offer generous grip over a wide range of terrain and excellent puncture protection. Even some of the wettest weather couldn’t put a dampener on this rubber, as these tyres hook up well through slimy mud and when splashing through puddles. In drier conditions they perform very well off-road, giving oodles of confidence at speed and through corners. They’re no slouch on the road either. Tubeless setup was supremely easy, though it inflated just shy of 42mm. As a solid all-year option the Cannonball is hard to beat, and it comes in a ‘Durable’ version too.

05 WTB BY WAY SG2 £55

★★★1/2

SIZES 700c x 34, 40*, 44mm; 650b x 47mm

WEIGHT 470g (700c x 40mm)

With a low-profile tread pattern optimised for dry conditions, the Byways are best suited to rougher roads and light gravel, but offer decent grip in tacky conditions over hardpack, gravel, roots and rocks. They did come unstuck on steep, loose descents, though. On the road they are speedy and confident in the corners. With WTB’s new nylon insert and an increased thread count of 120 TPI, puncture resistance is very good. The tyres blow up narrow; our 40s just made 38mm, and while tubeless setup was straightforward they did need reinflating a few times.

06 PIRELLI CINTUR AT O GR AVEL M £55

★★★★1/2

SIZES 700c x 35, 40*, 45mm; 650b x 45, 50mm

WEIGHT 500g (700c x 40mm)

These tyres really live up to their name: M for ‘mixed terrain’. Their aggressive tread and SpeedGRIP rubber compound means they can deal with roots, rocks, mud, hardpack and gravel. In the slop the knobs cut through the top layer of mud to find grip underneath. The tread also sheds mud really well. At lower pressures, these tyres give a fantastic ride feel and don’t feel at all squirmy in corners, perhaps in part thanks to the reinforced woven casing that gives brilliant puncture protection too. Rolling along on road and hardpack sections, the closely spaced central knobs give a smooth ride. The Cinturatos took the most effort to set up and blew up wide to 41.7mm.