Best Gravel tire width for racing

[mecheng89]

39 minutes ago, Mongoose! said:

Today is Tuesday not Friday... 

LOL, the suspense is killing me!

[droo]

1 hour ago, BuffsVintageBikes said:

I'm currently running Rambler 45c's at 2 bar and I'm finding them a great all-round tire (excuse the pun). Sidewalls are maybe a little too thin to risk lower pressures but it's a compromise. Weirdly enough, they feel like they roll a whole lot better than the stock 38's that came on my Revolt.

That's 100% a consequence of it being a better tyre, not the width...

Stock tyres on most new bikes are the cheapest and nastiest things the purchasing manager could find.

[Wannabe]

Where do you find 50mm wide Gravel tires?

I found that the 38-40mm wide tires on my hybrid bike (hardtail Mtb converted to gravel bike) is just too narrow for use on anything but hard hardpack/tarmac.

I rummaged through my stash of used Mtb tires, and found one Spez Renegade 29x1.95 which I fitted to the rear (measured with vernier, it is just on 50mm on my old narrow width Mtb rims I'm currently using) and it fills the rear out nicely and looks a lot more "correct"

I've been scouring all the sites, and it seems 1.95 tires are impossible to find in SA, as the latest trend on Mtb tires is, the wider the better. And I'm not keen on importing tires myself. 

 

[Baracuda]

I have been asking the same question and found way too much advice online. From my own riding and watching all the clips, it seems like 40-42mm is the sweat spot for Gucci Gravel i.e. reasonable gravel roads without large rocks and corrugations. I am going to try 40mm for the Swartberg Fondo.

It seems like once conditions get rougher and you move to 50mm, you should be on a bike with some suspension and then one is on a slippery slope to just riding your mountain bike.