Gravel bike mod using narrower tyres

[Prisoner 24601]

I was going to get a cheap 2nd hand endurance bike to use 'on-road'; however, i have ditched that idea now and want to try and make my existing gravel bike a bit more tarmac friendly. Starting with the tyres, I am thinking of switching out the 700x38cc to 700x32.

What do you all think? Good idea or not? Please feel free to recommend some half decent 32 tyres that are more aligned to 80% road, 20% bridle paths.

Cheers all.

[stargazer30]

Most folks get a 2nd wheel set and put 30mm road tyres on. That’s what I did. If you want to run one wheel set only and you are mostly road I’d suggest a 38mm pathfinder pro as they are one of the fastest gravel tyres on tarmac.

[Prisoner 24601]

Thanks Stargazer - those tyres look great!

https://muddymoles.org.uk/reviews/specialized-path...

Forgive my ignorance, but having a different wheelset would also require a further cassette?? or do you attach and detach the cassette each time you swap? :-)

[Discendo Discimus]

You can swap cassettes over, but it's probably easier to buy a second one.

I'm eyeing up these for my Canyon Grizl for road use:

https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Panaracer-Gravelking-Slic...

or these

https://www.sigmasports.com/item/Continental/GP500...

That said, the gravel tyres it comes with are fairly quick on the road. Remember to use the Silca tyre pressure calculator to get the best setup for your needs. Made a big difference to my riding.

[Prisoner 24601]

Thank you Discendo - much appreciated.

https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/

Interesting website. I will use this website to check the test results and summary analysis of each tyre recommended on here.

Plenty of people online saying the 42 version is faster than the 38 version.

[frisbee]

I've got fairly mild gravel tyres on a set of wheels, proper road tyres are noticeably quicker.

The gravel tyres are fine for road sections between gravel sections and for 5 mile commutes but hard work if you are with people on pure road bikes.

[stargazer30]

I run the 42c sworks pathfinders, they size up bigger on my rims though at closer to 46c. They do have a lower rolling resistance than the 38c version so your bike can clear them, go for it. They have discontinued the sworks version now too and the replacements are not quite as good.

For road I use 30c gp5000s which are obviously quicker than any gravel tyre on tarmac, but limited of course, they can’t handle knarley gravel or single track.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

stargazer30 said:

If you want to run one wheel set only and you are mostly road I’d suggest a 38mm pathfinder pro as they are one of the fastest gravel tyres on tarmac.

Indeed, that was my choice. I'm 80% road/20% canal paths and the like. I have 38mm Schwalbe G One P Speed. They're very road orientated.

[Prisoner 24601]

Brilliant - thank you everyone. One thing is apparent after a few hours looking around.....it's an absolute minefield. Each tyre brand and family, has 7-8 different variants. That Rolling Resistant website is useful but also a major hurdle, as you think you have found something, then the website trashes it in their review.

[oddman]

This is exactly what I did.

I bought a Specialized Crux from Certini at a decent discount and 0% credit and set it up with some Roval Alpiniste wheels which were also a very good deal. I've put 32mm Conti GP 5000s on them running TPU tubes.

The Crux has a heritage as a CX racer so is on the race end of the gravel spectrum. As such it makes an excellent fast endurance type bike. Super comfortable fast and light. It 1 x and spins out at 50+ kph - so what. I've set PBs on local training routes (in perfect conditions) which beat 8 year old times set on a race bike when I was fitter. It's that good.

I have 2 mates each with a Specialized Aethos. They are lovely bikes but mine is 90% of those as a road bike and their Aethos can't go in the other direction due to delicacy and clearances.

Unless you need a road bike (for racing) or want a road bike (because they are fantastic) then a gravel bike which two sets of wheels is the nearest thing to the one bike quiver.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

oddman said:

Unless you need a road bike (for racing) or want a road bike (because they are fantastic) then a gravel bike which two sets of wheels is the nearest thing to the one bike quiver.

Agreed. But the 2nd nearest thing, and not a long way adrift of the 2 sets of wheels option, is a gravel bike with road focused gravel bike tyres. And you don't have the faff of changing the wheels. That suits me better but everyone will have their preferred option.

[lufbramatt]

Prisoner 24601 said:

Thanks Stargazer - those tyres look great!

https://muddymoles.org.uk/reviews/specialized-path...

Forgive my ignorance, but having a different wheelset would also require a further cassette?? or do you attach and detach the cassette each time you swap? :-)

If you have disc brakes then you'll need a pair of disc rotors as well. Worth trying to get wheels with the same hubs as sometimes the offsets of the discs and cassette can vary, so you end up having to tweak the gear indexing and brake caliper alignment each time you swap wheels.

[Prisoner 24601]

lufbramatt said:

Prisoner 24601 said:

Thanks Stargazer - those tyres look great!

https://muddymoles.org.uk/reviews/specialized-path...

Forgive my ignorance, but having a different wheelset would also require a further cassette?? or do you attach and detach the cassette each time you swap? :-)

If you have disc brakes then you'll need a pair of disc rotors as well. Worth trying to get wheels with the same hubs as sometimes the offsets of the discs and cassette can vary, so you end up having to tweak the gear indexing and brake caliper alignment each time you swap wheels.

Thank you - that is 100% not happening! so I just need to find a suitable set of tyres that I can keep on the bike.