Any suggestions? Looking to use my gravel bike as a winter road bike for training after CX season ends in the fall and am looking for a fast rolling 32c appropriate for wet/snowy conditions, rough broken asphalt and light (but wet) gravel.
Based on what I have seen so far am considering:
Continental Speed King CX Racesport (slightly higher rr than the Terra Speed but better puncture protection and wet grip)
Hutchinson Sector (well reviewed, fairly light but rolling resistance unknown)
GravelKing 32 Slick (slower than the Speed King but more puncture protection)
GravelKing 32 Slick Plus (likely slower again than the non Plus GK, heavier but increased puncture protection)
Continental Grand Prix 4 season 32C (heaviest of the options but one of the best wet grip tires according to BRR)
Narrowed my list above a bit by excluding tires that are >340g (Cinturato Velos, Roubaix, Terreno Zero/dry, Serac CX Sand, etc).
If the Corsa Control or PZero 4S are released in 32C they would be strong contenders.
Last winter I rode a '10 Tarmac Elite as a winter road bike with 25c Pirelli PZero 4S and did ride in wet, snowy conditions and occasionally on muddy gravel (and they were fine) but this year I would like to do some mixed terrain winter/spring races here in Canada. I’ve heard most just use 28c on their road bike for these BWR type events (but colder, wetter and not as long), understand the 32c will be a bit slower on the tarmac and heavier but hoping for increased grip and dampening to at least balance that out a bit.
I’d rethink these. Yes, they’re advertised at 375g but they durable, fast and set up a bit wide which is nice IMHO. They’re close to 35mm I think on my 23mm internal rims.
I think the other reason, I was trying to find something faster than the Roubaix is they are slower rolling than my 40C gravel tires (Tufo Thundero) so are most of the other options probably but am thinking a 32C road intended tire will feel better on wet asphalt than the Thunderos. Have read a lot of tires that I thought would be good have terrible wet asphalt performance like the Challenge Strada and Maxxis Refuse (look very similar to the Gravelking but apparently the gravel kings do okay in the wet).
The Cadex Classics 32 is another similar tire that I didn’t include in my list due to my arbitrary weight cut off but don’t know much about.
+1 for the spesh roubaix, liked them a lot. Had some Hutchinson 4 season before, but they were harsh and got lots of little cuts very quickly. Wish Specialized would make a 28/30mm version of the roubaix.
I‘d probably go for something with a file tread or so. Keegan Swenson ran Maxxis Re-Fuse in 40 mm, but they also make smaller sizes. (For some reason Maxxis‘ website only lists sizes up to 28 mm, but Swenson ran a 40 mm wide version and a quick Google search confirms that there exists a 32 mm version as well.)
I also rode the Corsa Controls in 28 mm, and I loved them, they worked flawlessly in the fall with wet leaves on the road. I have a hunch Vittoria will release wider versions of those, too.
The Maxxis Refuse has a higher rolling resistance than my 40c gravel tire, its also just about as heavy in 32c as my 40c gravel tire. From what I have read in reviews it also performs poorly in the wet. I have no idea why Keegan chose it, when Jonathan interviewed him, Jonathan brought up the higher rolling resistance and Keegan said he thought the lesser tread would make up for that…
I have heard good things about the G-one speed but also a slow tire >7 watts per tire increased rolling resistance over my 40c gravel tires. The G-One R is also significantly slower, the new G-One RS is supposed to be 20% faster but that would still leave it a couple watts slower than my current gravel tire.
Hoping to find a tire more suited to rough and wet asphalt in a 32C that is going to be faster and lighter than my current road tire and offer increased grip on wet and snowy asphalt.
I think Keegan mentioned puncture resistance as another reason. I have no experience with this particular tire, and the Maxxis tires I had in the past I didn’t like too much.
However, since Keegan mentioned them and I listened to the podcast this morning, I thought they were worth mentioning.
Yeah he did mention that, I didn’t hear of any Maxxis athletes puncturing. Andrew L’esperance and Haley Smith rode the knobbier but less rolling resistance Maxxis Ramblers in 60 TPI with silk shield and didn’t get any punctures either I believe.
Watched a short video of a guy who did the 100 mile event on the Challenge Getaways (one of the fastest rolling gravel tires out there) and it sounds like they completely self destructed, got a ton of flats, big gashes in the tires he had to abandon the race, couldn’t finish.
No plans for any level 3 gravel with these tires though, puncture resistance is good by bicyclerollingresistance’s scale would like something with >40 puncture resistance, despite riding year round and in sloppy conditions I don’t get a lot of flats even with tubes, really looking forward to rolling on the road with tubeless though as my current road bike has Turbo Cottons with no tubeless wheels (so tubes).
I know you said you want to do a few races, but I’m not sure if low rolling resistance would be highest on the priority list for a winter tyre for me. Grip in the wet and puncture resistance would be more important to me.
I did run the PZero 4S last winter which does have a pretty high puncture resistance of 65, the Grand Prix 4 Season is fairly similar (I think a larger tire generally has a lower puncture resistance though).
Did have the Cinturato Velo on my list (I just arbitrarily selected the 4 lightest tires from that list to get feedback on), if they release the Pirelli Pzero Race 4S in a 32c I would consider that as well.
The Cadex Classics is really well reviewed, wish I had wet grip and puncture resistance numbers for it.
I put the 32 Maxxis refuse on my CX bike for use as a summer graveler. They are a bit stiff and not fast feeling. But grip is fine and I wanted the durability and puncture resistance. Everything with tires is a trade off.
I’ve ridden most of the tires mentioned in this thread. Mixed terrain, all-round, all year. In the end I settled on the GP 5000 32c. Super fast rolling (= fun) and remarkably robust. Paris - Roubaix was won on this tire
I’m thinking they would feel remarkably faster than the Roubaix Pro. Interesting that the GP is thicker than the Speed King CX, the TL even more so (also the TL in more puncture resistant). I wonder if how the TR and TL compare in the struggle to mount them? Looks like they have similar wet grip according to BRR.
I wish BRR had a test of the Tufo Speederos in 36, I have the Thunderos in 40 and if there is a similar drop in rolling resistance in the Thundero from 40 to 36 as the Terra Speed, the 36 would be ~20.4w… If the Speedero is faster, than it may be <20w in 36c.
Would also be interesting to know how the 32C Grandprix 4 Season rolls. If it roughly doubles in rolling resistance from 25c to 32c both it and the PZero 4S (doesn’t exist in 32C yet) that I enjoyed would be pretty slow ~29w.
Which ones did you try specifically and how did they compare outside of rolling resistance but in wet grip on asphalt and behaviour in rougher terrain and gravel?
I have the Hutchinson Sector 32 that I bought on whim, but have been really impressed with. I run them tubeless and have taken them off road a lot and they seem to be really durable for gravel, single track, riding through all kinds of city debris, etc. They are bomber and a great choice for a long road ride or bike packing adventure where you may get into some rough conditions. The only downside IMO is they are not that grippy and can break loose easy and don’t have a great road feel. There might be better options if you don’t need a high level of puncture protection.