Bought my wife a Trek superfly 29er currently builtup with Bonty Rythm Pro tubeless and some Bonty 2.2 tires

Now my wife has decided she is just doing mixed road/packed dirt/gravel riding and the wheel/tire setup is bombproof for single track, but way too slow for gravel/packed, particularly when she hits long road sections.

Any recommendations for a different tubeless tire? Someone recommended Maxxis Crossmax.

Should I consider a CX tire?

Thanks!

I'm new to the mtb world having just built up a 29er and I got a set of Geax Mezcals from chainlove for $35 each and am running them tubeless. They don't have aggressive tread and are great on the street and hard packed dirt. they are around 600 grams each so on the lighter side of things for full on 29er tires. Iniitlaly i was experimenting with just putting some 32c cx tires on my surly disc trucker when I decided that wasn't enough and I wanted a legit 29er. if you are really considering CX tires, you should probably consider selling the whole bike and getting soemthing else.

This happens a lot. Many women don't like crashing, or any sport that seems dangerous. Anyway, I wouldn't bother selling the bike. It's way overkill for gravel, yes of course, but it's fine to use it there.

I really like my Geax Saguaro for singletrack and gravel roads, but the Geax AKA is even better. Both of them roll really well and wear well. The Maxxis Crossmark doesn't wear as well and is heavier, so I wouldn't use it. I wouldn't put a CX tire on there because some gravel roads have spots with loose sand and that will get sketchy on narrow CX tires. If the bike were ridden by you, instead of your wife, on gravel then yes I'd use a 32-35mm file tread CX tire.

Then again, maybe I'm reading too much into this.

Actually she is a fairly skilled rider. She just decided to focus on mixed gravel for off season training and I really didnt want to buy another bike. Thanks for the geax recommendation, I will check those out!

I see. For a skilled rider, I'd use a Michelin Cyclocross Jet or Vittoria XN or XG. I have the XG on my cross bike right now and it's a great all-rounder. Since I don't ride in the mud, though, I will probably use the XN or Jet next.

I'm not claiming it's the best but it's another option. Schwalbe Sammy Slick 35c. Fast and light on road and I go pretty good off road with em too.

I ride my Kenda Smallblock 8's everywhere. I commute on my MTB and have no issues on the road, I ride old railbeds with my wife and again no issues. I do run into problems sometimes when I ride single track and XC though. The tires are not aggressive enough for when things get muddy or loose.

yeah,me too, i like it, have the XG on my cross bike right now and it's a great all-rounder.thanks for your sharing,

I'd vote small blocks too. but any knobby tire will wear out faster on pavement

I actually don't like the SB8 much. It doesn't roll well for what it is-- nowhere near as well as the Vittoria cross tires I mentioned, or even the Geax Saguaro MTB tire. And it punctures readily.