Gravel tires for mountain bike
 

I've got a mountain bike with 27.5 wheels. Haven't fully committed to the idea of buying a gravel bike so would like to use my mountain bike to ride some of the gravel roads in my area. My mountain bike has some knobby tires which obviously slows me down. Looking for some gravel tires to make me slightly faster

The Compass 650B x 48 Switchback Hill is the right size and tubeless ready. A slick in this size has plenty of traction if you avoid wet earth.


https://www.compasscycle.com/shop/co...itchback-hill/

I got a very cheap pair of Vee Rubber tires, small block treads not to bad for roads or dirty broads but bad for pure Mt biking. If road where you will ride I say not for you but if dirty trails is your thing they work well. I have a drop bar 26 inch conversion MT bike I ride.

My first thoughts go to conti speed king or geax barrio race.

Panaracer has a fine selection of reasonably light 650b tires suitable for gravel riding and the prices aren't bad. I'd check out the panaracer gravel king and the t serv protite with a folding bead. I'm running the t serve protite on my gravel bike (26 x 42c). It's fine in betweener tire with good flat resistance and the weight is very decent at 470 grams per tire (in the 26 inch size).The gravelking comes in 38 and 42c in 650b; it's lighter than the t serv (350grams in 650b x 42c) but not as flat resistant.

Schwalbe G-One and Thunder Burt tires are excellent choices.

The Thunder Burt comes in 27.5 x 54 (2.1 inch), so they're more like a fast MTB tire. They're surprisingly fast for a semi-knobby tire; great for almost all purposes.

The G-One comes in 27.5 x 40 mm (1.5 inch), so they're a skinnier, faster tire with a small tread. More gravel and road-centric.
If your 27.5" MTB has generous clearance, Schwalbe makes a 27.5 Plus version of the G-One in 70 mm (2.8 inch) width, which would be a fast and floaty tire on dirt, sand, grass, etc.


With any Schwalbes, get the Evolution line tires; they're much lighter and higher-performance than the budget "Performance" line.
The Thunder Burt offers Liteskin (light weight) or Snakeskin/TL (puncture protection and tubeless-ready) casings.

I buy my Schwalbe tires from bike-discount.de in Germany. You can get 2 tires shipped for about the price of one tire + tax at US retail.

For a slick tread (like the Compass tire that @Barrettscv recommended), but at a lower price, I recommend the Panaracer Pari-Moto. It's a very lightweight tire that rolls extremely fast; almost as fast as the Compass tires. It's available all over the internet in 38 mm and 42 mm widths.

Another slick option is the WTB Horizon, in 47 mm width. But I understand that it's not as lightweight/supple as the Compass or Pari-Moto.

+1

WTB Horizon 650b is a killer tire if you want a slick type tire that is not too fragile.

Those look good. Thanks.

Great! Lots of options. Budget is definitely a consideration. I want to be able to ride a little faster with my MTB on the gravel roads to see if I enjoy it enough to buy a gravel or cx bike. My road bike can only fit 25s so that won't cut it.