tyrion

Rene Herse Fleecer Ridge is getting rave reviews for its performance on a range of surfaces (and quietness on pavement for a knobby).

https://bikepacking.com/gear/rene-he...-ridge-review/

veloz

When we ran tubes, we used Pasela 35's for off road tours. Never had any major issue even on the roughest gravel. We use Graveling SS now, tubeless and 38mm which measure about 41 on 25id rims. Really like them and have bought them several times now.

djb

read the review, I guess the issue with some of these very fast tires is that one is always going to have to balance out price/durability that for someone racing or very much concerned about getting every kph and saving every watt is fine, but for a lot of regular riders with a given amount of money to spend on tires and expecting them to last X time, tires like this may very well be just too fragile or not lasting long enough.

after the review, a comment by one user made it quite clear that running tubeless with these Fleecer Ridge tires is challenging and he brings up concerns about the bead over time, a real issue for tubeless setups apparently.

I would say that in all biking, there are always going to be tires that are great tires, but have real longevity and or puncture resistance issues that might be fine for some riders, but not fine for others, especially for those not fine with a rather pricey tire that may not last long.

str

the nice thing about these Rene Herese tires is they are supersupple! great feel riding them, very comfortable stuff. in EU they cost now 110€!!! TOO expensive, I guess only fanboys buy them for the look ))

the last three month I had good experience with the GoodYear Connector tire, including a 10days tour Easter Week. they feel soft and at the same time strong enough. far from the hard concrete feeling like Schwalbe Marathon or similar tires.

at home I use the Vittoria Terreno Dry, great stuff, very thin, very light, super supple, like the lightest Rene Herse´s, and only 25€ 🤣

rumrunn6

impressive

RB1-luvr

I'm glad I saw this thread. I'm having a similar tire debate with myself after a gravel tour this past weekend on my 520 with 38c tires. They were 85% acceptable, but I think I can do a little better (for the less maintained sections of the trail). I'm thinking of moving up to 42 width, and the Gravel Kings mentioned come in 43 width, so maybe that's what I'll try.

djb

arvin and others,
one other thing to take into account if anyone goes for a very supple thin sidewalled tire, is that some riders are just like a bull in a chinashop when it comes to rubbing the sides of their tires against sharp rocks or whatever, so if you are one of those riders who can't visualize where their back wheel is going, you might be unpleasantly surprised by cutting the heck out of a $100 or $130 dollar tire pretty fast.

and no matter how your riding style is, if you are going to be riding in situations where you're going through big chunky stuff like this, its very easy to rub a sidewall against stuff, especially on technical terrain, so if this is the case, one should choose a tire that is appropriate to the reality of what you'll be up against.

LeeG

Agreed. I also believe in the placebo effect. Put the nice riding tire in front pretending the same is on the back but put the tough decent riding tire back there because that’s the tire that will get side wall tears and punctures more often. The rear gets the crashing and smashing offroad. Everytime I played the “performance” game for touring I was repairing something.
Long time ago I did a ride to Boulder CO from Ogden Utah on 27” wheels. Had a 1 1/8” handmade cotton clincher on the front that weighed about 310 gm and a 500 gm 1 1/4” Schwinn tire on the rear that was popular with tandem riders.. I was light and my load wasn’t more than 18 lbs I was riding for speed and fun with a fair amount of dirt road w loose sharp rocks and had no problems.

djb

Thanks, thats a great idea. Never would have thought of that. I get putting a fatter perhaps more knobby tire up front if you want to have a more planted front end, but thinking putting the tougher in back---smart.
This winter I inadvertently did this when I bought a couple of used fatbike tires, much knobbier than the nice light ones I had on the bike. Idea was to have more grunty traction in soft snow and steep hills, but I saw when I picked them up that one was a 120 tpi version and the other an older 27 tpi one, clearly heavier.
I put the lighter one up front just to keep the front lighter, but the bonus will be that if I take the bike out on trails without snow, the much tougher tire will be on the back, so thanks again, that's a good logical way to go at things.

Yan 

The Kenda Flintridge Pro has an almost solid center area that should roll very well on paved roads. It also has a reinforced sidewall variation if that's necessary. I managed to buy one for $30 last week, so it's affordable too when you can find a good deal.

https://shop.kendatire.com/Flintridge-p/212894.htm

Metieval

What tire did you tour on? And how are you liking that Unit X?

staehpj1

FWIW, I have found that XC race tires are really not that bad on pavement. Alt least I don't find them all that objectionable when on a mixed surface ride. Lots of small low knobs seem to get the job done well enough on any surface.

The thing is what will the surfaces be and what are your tolerances. Personally I'd rather have a tire geared more toward the worse surfaces on a mixed mode tour unless it is one with just a little bit of bad road. If doing a coast to coast ride with a little sand trail one day I'll use road tires and walk that day if I have to, but if I am on a tour with significant dirt roads and rough trail I really don't mind an XC tire on the pavement.

Of course if the dirt/gravel isn't bad then a gravel tire is designed for that.

arvin smee

I went with the Rene Herse Fleecer Ridge and I absolutely love them. Great on gravel, decently grippy on dirt, and surprisingly smooth rolling. They look way knobbier than they feel on pavement. Very supple.
I also got a set of Mezcal 2.6" which have been great. Just got back from a trip through WV riding them, about 60% gravel, 30% singletrack, 10% pavement, and they rolled pretty well on pavement and had great grip in the dirt. The only place they came up short was the mud, but that’s to be expected.
The Unit X has been great. I’ve put a lot into upgrades and modifications, so it’s pretty far from stock. But it’s a wonderful platform – comfy enough for 70 mi days on pavement or miles of singletrack. Handles loads really well. I do find myself missing a suspension fork at times. I could put one on the Unit, but I think I may build up a bike from scratch with all the left over parts from my upgrades – thinking about a Timberjack or Pine Mountain.

djb

I got a set of the lower end wire bead 26x2.1 Mezcals for my bike this summer and they worked great for the wide mix of surfaces I was riding on, including being not too shabby on pavement. I probably rode a bit more on pavement than you, but for all the gravel, double and single track stuff they were a great compromise and while I rode a certain amount in wet, at least it wasn't muddy and what there was wasn't sticky.
Once I got the pressures right for the surfaces, even at 2.1 inch they were pretty good and rideable on rough and loose stuff, which thankfully wasn't that often, but then rolled pretty nicely on all the other stuff.

Bill1227

Panaracer Gravel King SK 2”/50c is what I use on my ATB - have tried many others - that’s my go to