Gravel tire rolling resistance tested

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nickf
Posts: 1427
Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2010 10:34 pm

by nickf

DrimeOser wrote:
Wed Mar 09, 2022 7:18 pm
Just a note on the Terra Speed: it does roll well. But, that is about it in my opinion. The grip is very mild on anything other than well groomed gravel tracks. I had set them up tubeless and after a few weeks the air was going through the whole of the casing. Also, the tiny knobs on the rear dont last long.
I expect the center knobs to wear quickly on the TS. Fortunately, most of my routes/races are pretty well-groomed and I don't ride if there is even a chance of rain. The gravelking SS never let me down, even with the mostly smooth center section traction was never the issue. Curious to see how the TS compares in the long term. I have about 200 miles on them at this point in both hardpack/sugar sand clay roads and marble-sized gravel. Hard cornering and at speed going downhill on dirt the tires tracked well, never felt like I was at the limit of the tire. Same experience with the king SS off-road. Again the road sectors the TS shines.

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ricerocket
Posts: 596
Joined: Mon Sep 27, 2010 8:38 am

by ricerocket

DrimeOser wrote:
Wed Mar 09, 2022 7:18 pm
Just a note on the Terra Speed: it does roll well. But, that is about it in my opinion. The grip is very mild on anything other than well groomed gravel tracks. I had set them up tubeless and after a few weeks the air was going through the whole of the casing. Also, the tiny knobs on the rear dont last long.
Perhaps use the Terra Trail for the rear?

I have 35 and 40mm Terra Speeds, but I'm still in winter mode, milking these Gravelking slicks. I'll probably toss the Terra Speeds on when I'm ready to redo the sealant, these Gravelkings were impossible to get the bead to seat and I'm not looking to repeat that.

mathias720
Posts: 242
Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2021 8:14 am

by mathias720

vinuneuro wrote:
Wed Mar 09, 2022 6:27 pm
mathias720 wrote:
Wed Mar 09, 2022 12:48 pm
so looking for a new tire.
currently running gravel king SS 38 mm

in the run is:
s-works pathfinder
conti Terra speed 40mm
challenge strada biance pro 40mm
challenge getaway pro 40mm

Currently leaning toward the strade 40mm but weight seems high (stated at 460g) same as getaway, so might go for a little more grip.

Getaway seems to have the best punture protection and grip off them all. with a low rolling resistance.

would that be the best tires even though i dont feel like needing more grip from my GK SS 38mm
There is also the Gravel Grinder which seems to be a GK SS style of tire, in the spectrum between the Strada Biance and Getaway. However according to BRR this has a much higher rolling resistance on smooth surface compared to the two you mentioned. It was tested in 2020 so maybe there was an older version. Looking at the tread it is not intuitive for it to have more resistance than the Getaway.
was looking at that one, but seems to only be able to buy up till 36mm in the handmade version.
seems like you want the handmade one in challenge tires to get the best quality, but strade and getaway is recently released in the wider handmade version, som grinder might come aswell. thanks for the tip.

aslo noticed that it was tested by BRR and the grinder is 33,9 watts 24,7 for the getaway. seems crazy high. wont know if its because it

Marin
Posts: 4035
Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2014 11:48 am
Location: Vienna Austria

by Marin

You need the HTLR with Challenge, pretty sure the Gravel Grinder tested will have been a slower casing.

TobinHatesYou
Posts: 12455
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:02 pm

by TobinHatesYou

DrimeOser wrote:
Wed Mar 09, 2022 7:18 pm
Just a note on the Terra Speed: it does roll well. But, that is about it in my opinion. The grip is very mild on anything other than well groomed gravel tracks. I had set them up tubeless and after a few weeks the air was going through the whole of the casing. Also, the tiny knobs on the rear dont last long.

My progression for tires is basically:

Strada Bianca Pro HTLR for the lightest gravel
Terra Speeds for looser dirt
Ravage/Rambler combo for all else

CampagYOLO
Posts: 705
Joined: Thu May 06, 2021 3:58 pm

by CampagYOLO

"Ravage/Rambler combo for all else"

The Maxxis tyres never come out well in tests but in my real world experience I find them to be excellent. I love the amount of grip they have, properly confidence inspiring

uppis
Posts: 89
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2020 8:05 am

by uppis

I have been looking for transparent terra speeds in 40-622. It seems to be out of stock from most of the stores. Found a few with stock, but the tires have an E25 marking for approval on e-bikes up to 25kmh, which the ones from for example bike24 doesn't have. The non E25 on bike24 are marked to weight 420g, when the ones marked E25 are 475g on R2. Contis own site isn't helpful, no mention of E25 at all in the text or pictures, but they say the transparents weight 475g.

I assume I'm overthinking this and there is just one version that has had its graphics updated, does anyone have more info or confirmation to this?

https://www.bike24.com/p2407705.html
https://r2-bike.com/CONTINENTAL-Tire-Gr ... ection-TLR
https://www.continental-tires.com/bicyc ... erra-speed

emotive
Posts: 613
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2016 10:40 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

by emotive

uppis wrote:I have been looking for transparent terra speeds in 40-622. It seems to be out of stock from most of the stores. Found a few with stock, but the tires have an E25 marking for approval on e-bikes up to 25kmh, which the ones from for example bike24 doesn't have. The non E25 on bike24 are marked to weight 420g, when the ones marked E25 are 475g on R2. Contis own site isn't helpful, no mention of E25 at all in the text or pictures, but they say the transparents weight 475g.

I assume I'm overthinking this and there is just one version that has had its graphics updated, does anyone have more info or confirmation to this?

https://www.bike24.com/p2407705.html
https://r2-bike.com/CONTINENTAL-Tire-Gr ... ection-TLR
https://www.continental-tires.com/bicyc ... erra-speed
https://www.continental-tires.com/bicyc ... ng/e25-e50

E25 is E-Bike approved. It looks like they upgraded the design to be a little more heavy duty and there is no more 420g version.

https://www.continental-tires.com/bicyc ... erra-speed

uppis
Posts: 89
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2020 8:05 am

by uppis

emotive wrote:
Fri Apr 01, 2022 9:48 pm
uppis wrote:I have been looking for transparent terra speeds in 40-622. It seems to be out of stock from most of the stores. Found a few with stock, but the tires have an E25 marking for approval on e-bikes up to 25kmh, which the ones from for example bike24 doesn't have. The non E25 on bike24 are marked to weight 420g, when the ones marked E25 are 475g on R2. Contis own site isn't helpful, no mention of E25 at all in the text or pictures, but they say the transparents weight 475g.

I assume I'm overthinking this and there is just one version that has had its graphics updated, does anyone have more info or confirmation to this?

https://www.bike24.com/p2407705.html
https://r2-bike.com/CONTINENTAL-Tire-Gr ... ection-TLR
https://www.continental-tires.com/bicyc ... erra-speed
https://www.continental-tires.com/bicyc ... ng/e25-e50

E25 is E-Bike approved. It looks like they upgraded the design to be a little more heavy duty and there is no more 420g version.

https://www.continental-tires.com/bicyc ... erra-speed
Yep could be, R2 have 40-622 cream and transparent as E25 and black as non-E25. But black and cream are 435g weighted, transparent 473g, makes no sense to me if the tires have been reinforced.

https://r2-bike.com/CONTINENTAL-Tire-Gr ... ection-TLR

FlatlandClimber
Posts: 2491
Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2020 3:37 pm

by FlatlandClimber

https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.co ... er-s-works

Test is there. It’s basically just as fast as the Pro, just lighter and with lower knobs.
So a Great light weight Option with strong puncture protection, but a little upsetting on the speed.

For me, the Getaways stay on for now.
Cervelo P5 Disc (2021) 9.1kg
Factor Ostro Gravel (2023) 8.0kg
S-Works SL8 (2023) 6.3kg

*weights are race ready, size 58/L.
Sold: Venge, S5 Disc, Roubaix Team, Open WI.DE, Émonda, Shiv TT, Crux, Aethos, SL7

warthog101
Posts: 872
Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2013 10:05 am

by warthog101

Tufo thundero tests well also.
https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.co ... l-thundero
Pretty reasonably priced too.
Running a thundero on the front and speedero on the rear at the moment.

req110
Posts: 866
Joined: Thu Nov 22, 2018 10:23 am

by req110

warthog101 wrote:
Sat Apr 16, 2022 10:38 am
Tufo thundero tests well also.
https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.co ... l-thundero
Pretty reasonably priced too.
Running a thundero on the front and speedero on the rear at the moment.
Wow!!!
This i amazing.
I run these tires for last few months, reliable in terrain and speed is acceptable, but I was planning to purchase terra speeds again because of rolling resistance. Now I won't.

The only downside of these is that they are not completely straight so they wobble a bit. But that happened with 1 of 2 terra speeds I had installed.
SW SL8 RTP 56cm @ 9270 / CLX II / CS OSPW / CEMA BB
S Epic 8 L @ XX T-Type / Berg Ratheberg 30 / Quarq / Fox Transfer SL 100mm / 3p

warthog101
Posts: 872
Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2013 10:05 am

by warthog101


req110 wrote:
warthog101 wrote:
Sat Apr 16, 2022 10:38 am
Tufo thundero tests well also.
https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.co ... l-thundero
Pretty reasonably priced too.
Running a thundero on the front and speedero on the rear at the moment.
Wow!!!
This i amazing.
I run these tires for last few months, reliable in terrain and speed is acceptable, but I was planning to purchase terra speeds again because of rolling resistance. Now I won't.

The only downside of these is that they are not completely straight so they wobble a bit. But that happened with 1 of 2 terra speeds I had installed.
I haven't found mine wobble at all.
Perhaps not the strongest tyre in terms of puncture resistance is my guess.
I haven't tried many other tyres yet as I am still fairly new to gravel.
Pinch flatted the sidewall of the front (thundero) and punched a stick, about 6-7mm diameter, through the rear tyre.
Both patched now.
Actually haven't got the speedero back on the rear yet. Running a Cinturato gravel H on there at the moment.

lulo42
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Jan 15, 2022 8:25 pm
Location: Mainz, Germany

by lulo42

If the Tufo Thundero scores so well the Tufo Speedero will probably be even better? Thinking of trying this when my Terra speeds are down in 1-2 months

jromano89
Posts: 22
Joined: Sat Oct 02, 2021 6:48 pm

by jromano89

Image

I've been swapping between 32mm GP5000s and 38mm Pathfinder Pros (both with latex tubes on a 21mm rim) depending on the ride. Today I decided to quantify the difference with some tests. So I did a 45min warm-up ride, followed by a neighborhood ride across 3 paved segments. I also did the same ride on my XC hardtail for another data point. I didn't use a power meter, but my heart rate was within 3bpm across efforts.

My main takeaway is that the times are surprisingly close. Previously I found the GP5000 much faster, but there was some placebo effect involved, because I never ran them back to back like this before.

by Weenie


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