Conti GP 4-season 32mm
Acxtual size: 32mm true to size
tread pattern: slick
construction: 110 tpi, flat protection strong for a road tire (double vectran breaker belt), not particularly tubeless ready. (Note: Conti lists is as 330tpi, but it is actually 110tpi x 3 belts.
performance on pavement: Excellent. At 17 watts rolling resistance and only 320 grams, I find this tire as fast as my race tires when I’m doing non competitive riding.
(road tires tend to range from 10-22 watts resistance, touring tires from 17 – 33 watts
performance on firm and smooth gravel: Work great!
performance on deep or soft gravel: worthless in deep soft terrain or on wet non paved terrain
durability - TBD
ride – Excellent.
Comments: Work excellent on road or dry hard pack. Smooth ride, light, accelerates very well. No complaints.
The 32mm size took me years to find for sale outside of Germany. I finally found them on amazon, although the 622-32 tire is listed as a 32 inch tire. Go figure…
continental bicycle Grand Prix 4-Season
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Continental Gatorskin 32mm
Actual size: 31mm (folding) 30mm (wire)
tread pattern: slick
construction: 60 tpi, not particularly tubeless ready. (Note: Conti lists is as 180tpi, but it is actually 60tpi x 3 belts.
performance on pavement: good. At 19 watts rolling resistance and only 360 (w)/400(f) grams, they are not bad (road tires tend to range from 10-22 watts resistance, touring tires from 17 – 33 watts)
performance on firm and smooth gravel: Work great!
performance on deep or soft gravel: worthless in deep soft terrain or on wet non paved terrain
durability – May never wear out. I find the wimpy cloth sidewalls wear out before the tread does.
ride – A bit harder than the 4 season due to a thicker, stiffer tread, and less supple sidewalls.
My32mm tire on dirt:
Kenda Kwick 30mm
Actual size: 28mm
tread pattern: chevron center with deep lugs on side.
construction: 60 tpi, not particularly tubeless ready. Have a nice smooth ride, probably due to the fact that they seem to have no puncture protection.
performance on pavement: good and fast. Biggest drawback is that I can’t corner hard on them due to the lugs on the sides.
performance on firm and smooth gravel: Work great!
performance on deep or soft gravel: too narrow to float, but the side lugs do bite a little in sand, dirt, mud, grass.
durability – I have never seen a tire wear down as fast at these. A month or two of commuting made the center of the tire very smooth.
ride – supple.
Comments: About the only thing nice I can say about these is that they are small enough (fattish 28mm) to fit many road bikes (short to medium reach caliper), and will work great on a lot of gravel roads on a road bike for those that can’t fit anything larger. $12.95 – great tire for the price! (jenson USA)> They are light and fast and ride well, but its just an odd size for a tire with lugs.
Kenda Kwick Tires - Clincher Reviews - RoadbikeReview.com
Kenda Kwick Tire > Components > Tires > Dirt Tires | Jenson USA
Kenda Tires | Bicycle | Kwicker Pro
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IRC Mythos XC Slick
IRC TIRE BICYCLE TIRE OFFICIAL SITE |COMMUTER | MYTHOS XC SLICK
I don’t think they make this in 700c anymore, but they are great for a large cross/gravel tire. I’ve had these for years (way before the term “gravel” became widely used), and they are great. The concept of a high volume (42c) tire with minimal center tread and some good lugs on the side for bite, is wonderful. I have used 42mm tires (26x1.95”) for a fast mountain bike tire, and they also work great on a 700c gravel bike. This specific 700x42 tire is light, fast, easy rolling, and can do any terrain other than mud. The lower pressure and wider footprint help a lot. 42c is a good size for a light fast mountain bike tire, and works great on more difficult gravel routes. I can only fit a tire this big in my front fork, but that extra bite and floatation is what I need at the front. With these on a cyclocross bike, I can do the same trails I ride on a mountain bike, and still ride home at a brisk pace.
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