DarKris

Ok, so after getting a bad cut to my current commuting tire I am looking to get a new set of tires for my bike. I wanted cross/gravel tires but after I realized that most of my riding will be on pavement I decided to look for semi-slick tires that could last long on pavement so if I have the option to go off-road I can do so confidently.

I will be getting new tires rather soon (next 2 days) and the two that I decided on were the Continental Speed Ride and the Challenge Gravel Grinder. Both are folding, have a semi-slick center that mimics a road tire (more so with the Challenge), have puncture protection, and have side knobs that will help off road but are low profile so that they won't be too much of a hindrance on pavement.

The main difference I can see is in price. I can get the Conti for $45/pair and the Challenge $68/pair. The one thing that I am concerned about is durability. If I buy the Challenge tires I'd want them to last long so I don't feel like I spent more for nothing. In contrast I also don't want to spend less and get a tire that will only last 3 months of regular commuting (<100mi/week for me) despite the fact that I am slightly on a budget.

I didn't want to rush to buy any new tires because I wanted to get some opinions on the things that I mentioned and see what tire I should go for. Thanks in advance.

Craptacular8

See Rivbikes has the conti for $30, and they give them a good review, so don't see how you could go too far wrong. I've not used that particular Continental tire, but do have a set of town & countries on a rigid mtb that i use for crappy weather gravel/road riding, and they have held up good. I think what I'm using is a stiffer sidewall than what the speed ride sounds/looks like, and they are maybe a touch chunky weight-wise, but I've used them for several hundred miles with no complaints. I have the Challenge Gravel Grinders on another bike, don't have a ton of miles on them yet, but the ride is very good on both gravel and pavement.

DarKris

Well, it appears that I must retract what I stated about rushing to buy. My LBS was doing 15% off on tires, so I actually picked up a pair of Specialized Borough Sport. That said I would love to still look at picking one of these tires up as a back-up considering my current back-up tires are now very underwhelming.

Ben I.

My X-Trail came stock with Gravel Grinders and I really like that but the file tread is clearly wearing down on the rear tire with about 500 miles on it so far, mostly limestone but fair amount of pavement as well. First experience with non "racing slicks" tires but seems a little fast wearing to me. If you can get them for a really good price though, I'd probably get them again but I may look for a longer lasting tire depending on how much life they have left.