Gravel tires - different front and back

Equipment
1

I currently have Vittoria mezcal 2.1s on my gravel bike. But last week I had a sidewalk puncture on the front tire that took 2 bacon strips to plug so not something I’d think would be great to continue riding.

I have some continental race king 2.2s. Would you take off the mezcals and put on the race kings, front and back? Or just replace the punctured front tire leaving the mezcal on the rear and race king on the front? I don’t have any races coming up so there’s no consideration for what would work best for a particular race.

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2

As a roadie, I’m obligated to use matching tires, logos by valves, maintain crisp tan lines, and police sock height.

But you can let the spirit of gravel guide you and use whatever.

Seriously, if you aren’t racing, go ahead and get the use of the tire you have. As long as both tires are suited to your terrain, you’re good.

6 Likes
3

Keep running the rear Mezcal unless it physically pains you to run mismatched tires.

The rear will wear out quicker anyway and you can match eventually.

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4

Thanks. I couldn’t think of any real issues it would cause having different tires. So I’ll just put the race king on the front.

5

What gravel bike do you have as a matter of interest?

6

If the front Mezcal tire still holds air, I’d just trim the plugs and put some superglue around it and keep using the tire.

I had four plugs in one tire once and it worked totally fine for many more rides.

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7

I can certainly try that. It held air for the last 8 miles after the flat and it’s been a couple weeks since I’ve ridden it and it hasn’t lost any more air than I’d expect

8

I’m not familiar with either of the two tires, but you’ll want the more aggressive in front. There’s advantages to running mismatched tires - I do for my XC and CX bike.

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9

Mezcal might be slightly more knobby but not tremendously so.

I may super glue and trim down the bacon strips and see if it holds. I have a 20 mile gravel loop I do with some easy shortcuts back to start so if I have issues I’m not really in danger of getting stranded

10

I would avoid relying on a sidewall repair of any sort. Repairing sidewall punctures in general is seen as an emergency fix to get home, but one that’s bound to fail, and likely fail at the most inconvenient possible time. Bin the tire and replace it with a new one.

2 Likes
11

Been running different front and back tires on my gravel bike for a few years now. I’ll put a higher traction tire on the front and a smoother tire on the rear. I’m currently running IRC 42mm Boken Double Cross on the front and IRC 42mm Boken Plus on the rear. I’ve liked the combo.

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12

If you do that, rotate it to the back. You don’t want to flat the front at exactly the wrong time.

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13

I had a sidewall tear bombing down a rough section of a gravel race in Colorado this summer. Took 3 stops with 3 plugs to fill. Held fine after. Actually did an 82 mile charity ride on it waiting on a new tire.

Generally, would still not recommend!

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14

Yeah. I decided to put a new tire on. I didn’t have a lot of faith in the plug on the sidewall especially given the mezcal sidewall is thin and very supple

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