700c 28mm - Gravel-ish tyres

[Landsurfer]

As a member of the Rough Stuff Fellowship I can attest to the suitability of 28mm tyres for gravel and off road riding. Decathlon puncture resist, Schwalbe Marathons, are good ... but for me Vittoria Adventure are tough, reliable and cheap, ... And i’ve never had a puncture with them off or on road ....

 

[Venod]

Yeah, would want the Plus version ideally but seems they're impossible to find

Do they do the Semi Slick in the plus version at 28mm ?

 

[MichaelW2]

The Plus version are heavier, more sluggish and possibly not as grippy as the plain std version. I find ptotection level with plsin Marathon to be just fine and performance on tracks and trails quite good.

 

[DRM]

Schwalbe G one All-round SPEED start at 30mm but they come up very narrow (rim depending) Super grippy although not a huge lifespan.

G-One speeds come up quite wide in 30mm, I fitted some to a Verenti Technique that came with Continental Ultra Sport 28 mm that fitted with ease, the Scwalbe fit, but only just, these are on Shimano R501 wheels

 

[le_al_khemista]

As a member of the Rough Stuff Fellowship I can attest to the suitability of 28mm tyres for gravel and off road riding. Decathlon puncture resist, Schwalbe Marathons, are good ... but for me Vittoria Adventure are tough, reliable and cheap, ... And i’ve never had a puncture with them off or on road ....

Thanks for the suggestions. Vittoria Adventure don't seem to come as 28mm, as far as I can see.

P.S. Wasn't aware of the Rough Stuff Fellowship, pretty cool!

 

[le_al_khemista]

Do they do the Semi Slick in the plus version at 28mm ?

They do according to the link shared by T4tomo:
https://www.panaracer.co.uk/shop-c1/gravel-c2/panaracer-gravelking-semi-slick-plus-folding-tyre-p76

 

[Scottish Scrutineer]

Try Schwabe Marathon Greenguards; decent puncture resistance and have some tread for reassurance, but without the weight penalty of Marathon Plus.

 

[matticus]

P.S. Wasn't aware of the Rough Stuff Fellowship, pretty cool!

You bet. And we have less members than Cycle Chat. I joined last month - I think it's the smallest national organisation I've ever been part of (despite a big leap due to media coverage in the last couple of years)

More here https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/touring-or-bikepacking.270594/page-10#post-6263389

 

[T4tomo]

Yeah, would want the Plus version ideally but seems they're impossible to find so it's a toss up between the semi slick non-plus and the Paselas PT.

Any guess on which one would offer better puncture resistance?

The Plus version are heavier, more sluggish and possibly not as grippy as the plain std version. I find ptotection level with plsin Marathon to be just fine and performance on tracks and trails quite good.

The question is about Panaracers, your answer is about Schwalbe Marathons ....

le_al_khemista
no personal experience on the non plus gravelkings, but they don't have the PT (ProTite) shield that the Pasela's and all the gravel king plus range have, so i reckon Paselas for better protection, gravel kings (non plus) for a more grippy rubber compound and gravel king plus for both!

my gravel king SK plus have been delivered just now , so will fit and test over the BH weekend.

 

[le_al_khemista]

The question is about Panaracers, your answer is about Schwalbe Marathons ....

le_al_khemista
no personal experience on the non plus gravelkings, but they don't have the PT (ProTite) shield that the Pasela's and all the gravel king plus range have, so i reckon Paselas for better protection, gravel kings (non plus) for a more grippy rubber compound and gravel king plus for both!

my gravel king SK plus have been delivered just now , so will fit and test over the BH weekend.

I think MichaelW2 was replying to my previous question about Marathons (both Schwalbe and Panaracer have plus and non-plus versions - why do brands make it so hard??) but even the original GreenGuard (non-plus) version seems like a hefty tyre so not sure that's what I'm after.

I'm tempted to go with the GK (non-plus) just to try something different. As I said, I've had Paselas PT before and I found them a very average "does the job" type tyre and can always go back to them if I really hate the GKs.

Quite like the look of the slick GKs+ but they might not be suitable for what I need.

 

[battered]

Schwalbe CX Comp are available in 700 x 30 and I think 28. They are on my towpath bike, work fine in wet greasy conditions and light off road.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

The Plus version are heavier, more sluggish and possibly not as grippy as the plain std version. I find ptotection level with plsin Marathon to be just fine and performance on tracks and trails quite good.

I've ridden on gravel and dirt with 28mm Marathons and Delta Cruiser+ (same puncture resistance, different rubber compound), and they are fine so long as you don't ride through rim-deep mud with limited traction. So long as you are on a firm surface they are OK, albeit 28's don't offer the plushest of rides. In my case, I can't really go any wider on my Dawes frame as it is quite close clearance in the rear stays, being designed for sporty rides/training rather than touring.
TBH, a fairly sporty, close-clearance bike is not the best choice for off-tarmac riding anyway. Having multiple machines, I tend to opt for one with 35 or 38mm touring/commuting tyres or even an MTB when the surfaces I'm going to ride are poor.

 

[Andrew Br]

I'm a long term user of GravelKing SK in 32mm. Not puncture prone IME but, when the time came for replacement after 5500 miles, I went for the new more puncture resistant (+TLC ?) Semi Slick version, also in 32mm. So far so good on dry trails and better on tarmac in my limited experience on them.
The SK is available in 26mm and 32mm (the latter with a +TLC version) and the SS is available in 28mm with +TLC versions starting at 32mm). The SK is better off-road but the extra 2mm of the SS might compensate on bumpy tracks if there's no mud.
I should also add that the GK slick is a good road tyre (secondhand view, they're on my GF's bike; she reports good wet and dry grip and they roll well) but they're definitely not for off-road. From direct experience, they're fairly puncture resistant and they're easy to get on and off. I recently replaced the original set with another pair so the "easy on-off" part is still fresh in my memory. The replaced tyres had done 5800 miles.

Panaracer info here:- https://www.panaracer.co.uk/shop-c1/gravel-c2

If you shop around I'm sure you'll get them cheaper. I ordered the new SS through my LBS and I had to wait a couple of months for stock to come in

 

[matticus]

Some of the tyres discussed here are slicks. Period.
I'm pessimistic that they have any "off-road" properties above tyres pitched as regular (training/winter) tyres from 10 years ago. Stick "gravel" in the name and magic fairy dust will flow onto the trail just before you traverse it! But I haven't used most of the tyres on this thread, so I'm just spouting.

You can ride in a lot of places on slicks - as a teenager I did it without thinking about it! - but they will show limitations at some point. Otherwise CX riders would use slicks in dry conditions.

(I'm not saying there are better knobbly alternatives in 28mm. I think at this size you have to accept some compromise... )

 

[T4tomo]

The question is about Panaracers, your answer is about Schwalbe Marathons ....

le_al_khemista
no personal experience on the non plus gravelkings, but they don't have the PT (ProTite) shield that the Pasela's and all the gravel king plus range have, so i reckon Paselas for better protection, gravel kings (non plus) for a more grippy rubber compound and gravel king plus for both!

my gravel king SK plus have been delivered just now , so will fit and test over the BH weekend.

Haven't done any off road yet, but did 50miles on the road yday on the 35mm gravel King SK+.
Very impressed with them, they roll really well and very grippy, clearly something isn't the new compound is doing its job. They were also super comfy, much more so than the WTB riddlers they replaced same size and pressure, more supple side walls maybe.
They also sound like an old school BMX if you lock the back end up😂