Originally Posted by
FlashBazbo
Actually, the tread pattern of the Speed Ride is a lot more street-oriented. I bought a set because they were cheap and, at first glance, I thought they might have a Gravel Grinder-type tread. I was disappointed with them. The Speed Ride is almost all file/street tread with little knobbies waaaaaay out on the fringes where they don't do anything. The knobbies are placed so far out that they are essentially decorative. You may as well ride slicks as Speed Rides. The Challenge Gravel Grinder knobbies are larger and are placed so that they make contact in turns and in deep gravel/sand/dirt.
To me, it looks like the knobbies on the Teravail Cannonball fall somewhere in between.
Having worn out two sets of SpeedRide's on gravel roads, I completely disagree that they are a street tire or anything like a slick. The small file tread (each with a little + indentation on it) really grips well on hardpack gravel and even dry singletrack. They are worthless in the mud, but are very fast on hardpack and even loose-ish gravel, and only lose traction on very loose climbs (where a tire with more lugs is certainly advantageous).
Also, haven ridden my 25c slick-tired road bike down several gravel roads, the difference in traction between a real slick and the Speed Rides is remarkable - those little lugs make a HUGE difference in traction.