Gravel tire rolling resistance tested

[CampagYOLO]

Thundero HD's have been tested by BRR. Marginally slower and tougher. I'd say the trade off is worth it and the HD's look like an excellent tyre.

https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.co ... hundero-hd

[warthog101]

I am scarred by my experience with the regular thundero and speedero.
They were piss weak with respect to puncture resistance ime.
May give them a go at some point. They will need to be cheap though, as after that I don't rate them yet.

[RDY]

I am scarred by my experience with the regular thundero and speedero.
They were piss weak with respect to puncture resistance ime.
May give them a go at some point. They will need to be cheap though, as after that I don't rate them yet.

Whilst their tread isn't the most puncture resistant (sidewalls seem almost impregnible), they're far better than other light fast rolling gravel tires. Here, G-One RS and any variety of non-plus gravel kings are unusable. Even if you don't get a load of punctures on your first ride, the rubber gets torn to pieces and have large cuts all over them, which absolutely will turn into punctures or tire ruining gashes later ... this usually happens within 5-10km, on or off road. Anything remotely sharp cuts or gouges them. I wouldn't mention the Getaway Pro HTLR in the same breath, because it's not a *light* tire, though it is a fast rolling one - my 40s were 50g more than Thundero 40s, and the 45s 65g more than Thundero 44s. I haven't tried Terra Speeds yet, but I have some 45s on the way ... given how badly they score in BRR's latest puncture resistance review I'm not confident though. Albeit Conti tires do generally seal / plug better than anything else.

[warthog101]

Whilst their tread isn't the most puncture resistant (sidewalls seem almost impregnible), they're far better than other light fast rolling gravel tires. Here, G-One RS and any variety of non-plus gravel kings are unusable. Even if you don't get a load of punctures on your first ride, the rubber gets torn to pieces and have large cuts all over them, which absolutely will turn into punctures or tire ruining gashes later ... this usually happens within 5-10km, on or off road. Anything remotely sharp cuts or gouges them. I wouldn't mention the Getaway Pro HTLR in the same breath, because it's not a *light* tire, though it is a fast rolling one - my 40s were 50g more than Thundero 40s, and the 45s 65g more than Thundero 44s. I haven't tried Terra Speeds yet, but I have some 45s on the way ... given how badly they score in BRR's latest puncture resistance review I'm not confident though. Albeit Conti tires do generally seal / plug better than anything else.

Great run out of gravelking sk here so far as have others. Nobody still uses Tufos anymore. One lass double punctured out of a race on them. She now uses Schwalbe.
Terra speeds wear quickly, Getaway pro were better. Cinturato gravel h better too but I have punctured them. About 15k of gravel so far. I ride far less road now as it is so good being away from cars despite tyre problems.

The Tufos can't handle our sharp shale here. I even put a stick though the tread on my Speedero. Fixed that and it punctured elsewhere the very next ride. Binned.
These will need to be significantly stronger.

[fizzaz]

Whilst their tread isn't the most puncture resistant (sidewalls seem almost impregnible), they're far better than other light fast rolling gravel tires. Here, G-One RS and any variety of non-plus gravel kings are unusable. Even if you don't get a load of punctures on your first ride, the rubber gets torn to pieces and have large cuts all over them, which absolutely will turn into punctures or tire ruining gashes later ... this usually happens within 5-10km, on or off road. Anything remotely sharp cuts or gouges them. I wouldn't mention the Getaway Pro HTLR in the same breath, because it's not a *light* tire, though it is a fast rolling one - my 40s were 50g more than Thundero 40s, and the 45s 65g more than Thundero 44s. I haven't tried Terra Speeds yet, but I have some 45s on the way ... given how badly they score in BRR's latest puncture resistance review I'm not confident though. Albeit Conti tires do generally seal / plug better than anything else.

Great run out of gravelking sk here so far as have others. Nobody still uses Tufos anymore. One lass double punctured out of a race on them. She now uses Schwalbe.
Terra speeds wear quickly, Getaway pro were better. Cinturato gravel h better too but I have punctured them. About 15k of gravel so far. I ride far less road now as it is so good being away from cars despite tyre problems.

The Tufos can't handle our sharp shale here. I even put a stick though the tread on my Speedero. Fixed that and it punctured elsewhere the very next ride. Binned.
These will need to be significantly stronger.

I just went back through this thread and holy shit. This guy is like a broken record about these tires. I'm not sure I've seen someone make a year's worth of posts about a bad experience. Straight up, do you work for a competitor or something? Otherwise, we get it. Move on.

Does anyone know where to even buy the Tufo HDs at the moment? They seem like the goldilocks tire for fit-and-forget.

[marcusdarmstrong]

I can chime in with a couple thousand miles on some Thundero 40s, with no punctures to speak of. Of course, I can only speak to conditions in my area (the northeastern US), but they handle(d) my riding just fine. Biggest test I've put them through was probably the VTXL route (https://bikepacking.com/routes/vtxl/), which was pretty roughed up after this year's flooding, but never had to even pull out the dynaplugs.

[warthog101]

I just went back through this thread and holy shit. This guy is like a broken record about these tires. I'm not sure I've seen someone make a year's worth of posts about a bad experience. Straight up, do you work for a competitor or something? Otherwise, we get it. Move on.

I went back through too and searched my posts. I have commented a handful of times. Quoted however also as you just did, repeating the comments.
Enjoy your riding.

[fizzaz]

No links to the new HDs though? I've got a gravel event this weekend where in sections I'll really put the non-reinforced to the test. Luckily my cx background allows me a little more room on some stuff but still.

I've been stoked with the Thunderos thus far in any case. They seem like a better gravelking.

[ghdana]

I've been running Tufo Swamperos for almost a year at this point and am a huge fan. 0 punctures that Silca hasn't sealed. They feel faster than the S-Works Pathfinders that I also tried. So much grip in the mud and still plenty fast on the pavement.

[DouglasDDX]

I've been running Tufo Swamperos for almost a year at this point and am a huge fan. 0 punctures that Silca hasn't sealed. They feel faster than the S-Works Pathfinders that I also tried. So much grip in the mud and still plenty fast on the pavement.

Nice! I have a pair of 44s waiting for me to be put on. Next week hopefully.
I have been running the terra speeds lately, really impressed with them. Better wet grip than the previous thunderos, little bit less comfort, same speed or faster (hard to tell but acceleration feels a little quicker).
Actually they have imo better wet grip than Pirelli M and Ramblers that I used last winter.

[RDY]

No links to the new HDs though? I've got a gravel event this weekend where in sections I'll really put the non-reinforced to the test. Luckily my cx background allows me a little more room on some stuff but still.

I've been stoked with the Thunderos thus far in any case. They seem like a better gravelking.

You can order them direct from Tufo's site, though they don't yet have the 48 HDs. On my new gravel bike I'll be trying a bunch of different options front and rear. Ideally I'll be running either a Conti Race King 2.2" Bernstein or Schwalbe 2.1" Thunder Burt Speed / tan on the front. With hopefully a Thundero HD 48 fitting on the rear. If not, then it'll be either a Terra Speed 45 tan, Getaway Pro HTLR 45, or Thundero HD 44. If a 50 will fit, I might try either the Conti Terra Hardpack 50 (albeit no tan wall option) or Getaway Pro HTLR 50 when it becomes available, though I'm expecting that to be very heavy. What I really wish I could run on the rear is a 50mm Thunder Burt but unfortunately Schwalbe have yet to do it, though from what I gather from their customer service, it is under consideration.

[stoney]

Regarding tires, drum tested rolling resistance and aero penalty at 15+ miles per hour. I've have a relatively flat course with a mix of dirt and gravel and the 38mm Pathfinder Pros are way faster than 2.2 Race Kings. Average speed is 17 to 18 mph on this course. Over a 6 mile segment I'm at least a minute faster on the Pathfinder Pros versus the Race Kings. If you believed Bicycle Rolling Resistance I should be faster on the Race Kings. People forget about the aero penalty of wider tires at speeds over 15mph.

[jfranci3]

New Tour Int aero tested every increment of tire 28 to 2.2 this month. XC tire (g-one bite) are a 13w aero penalty over a 40c g-one RS (assuming front aero penalty only) which was 9w slower than a 34mm pro one @45kps of wind.

[stoney]

New Tour Int aero tested every increment of tire 28 to 2.2 this month. XC tire (g-one bite) are a 13w aero penalty over a 40c g-one RS (assuming front aero penalty only) which was 9w slower than a 34mm pro one @45kps of wind.

Yep, depending on the course speeds wider isn't always better.

[RDY]

Horses for courses. Pathfinders or similar are completely useless on loose, rocky stuff - technical climbs more so than descents. If I was riding flat or rolling stuff that wasn't loose I'd use SBs or perhaps the 40mm Pirelli P Zero 40s if they test well.