trail_monkey

I recently went from 32 Bontrager tubeless tires to 42 Cazaderos with tubes. I like both tires honestly but when I went up to 42s I was expecting a much more noticeable ride improvement on chunky gravel but I am not sure I am noticing a "whole" lot of difference. Some yes but nothing astronomical. And even though the Cazaderos have a smooth center strip for pavement you are still pushing a wider tire. Rolling resistance is noticeably greater on pavement than my old 32 knobbies that I had. Besides that I do really like the Cazaderos. I am just curious if going wider than 35 is all it is cracked up to be. I feel only an Iowa or Missouri gravel rider can offer a fair comparison as we seem to have the chunkiest gravel on the planet lol. If I am wrong I apologize. The question is in the title.

Barrettscv 

I've used a wide range of sizes, everything from 700x30 to 700x45. I find that a 700x36 is the most versatile. I use a Clement tubeless MSO. Bigger was useful on washboard soft gravel at faster speeds, but had no other advantages.

bikemig 

32c is fine for most gravel roads but on a B road I prefer a wider tire like a 42c. I run 26 x 42c tires when riding gravel.

trail_monkey

I am not giving up on my Cazzies lol. They were my first wider tire on my gravel bike....Not counting the times I rode my mountain bike with 2.2s on gravel but thats another story. They roll smooth and ride nice but I guess I was dillusional when I put them on thinking that it was going to be night and day difference over my 32s and so far I don't see that huge of a difference.

Jackmen

I am riding the 700X38 Schwalbe G ones tubeless. I noticed your post said with tubes, and this does make a tremendous difference. The tubeless allows you to get the tire pressure down which is the best shock absorber you can get especially for chunky missouri gravel.

I run my schwalbe G ones at 42 Rear /40 front and the tires are very fast yet on the hard pack gravel.

With tubes if you get that low you are subject to pinch flats. Also the flats basically disappear when you are running tubeless.

This could be part of the difference of you not noticing going to the larger tires, because adding the tubes back in.

trail_monkey

Funny as I have a large shop size container of Orange Seal begging to be used again. I may play around removing the tubes.

Primitive Don

I did have a set of Ritchey 32s that were decent, but I did appreciate moving up to Challenge Gravel Grinders in 38. That was a noticeable improvement on smaller size but deep gravel. Having ridden on some chunky railroad bed gravel, I would not want to chance that on narrower tires.

I did a couple of events in Michigan recently that were primarily all dirt that formed big mud ruts/puddles; I was definitely glad to have 38s with small knobs for those surfaces (Panaracer Comet Hardpack in 38).

mstateglfr 

40mm which measure 40mm.

Wide enough for me to feel comfortable and confident up to now.

canklecat

I haven't found that I needed pronounced knobbies like those Cazaderos on gravel or even dry grass (climbing around the levee banks). I've been riding 700x42 (nominal, actually closer to 38 wide) Continental Speed Rides for a few months on my rigid fork mountain bike and they suit me well. Fairly shallow file tread main contact section, with some side knobbies that might come into play on grass and open fields, but probably not on gravel.

Durable and grippy, but smooth running on pavement too. I've put about 1,500 miles on 'em so far and they still look very good. I weigh 160 lbs and run the Contis at 40-55 psi front, 50-65 psi rear, depending on conditions: softer for grass and field climbs and gravel with lots of washouts and ruts; a bit firmer for good condition gravel; a bit firmer still if I'm riding mostly pavement and chip seal. No pinch flats, and I've hit plenty of bombed out roads that pinch flatted riders in our groups.

The roughest stuff I've encountered is a few short stretches of railroad embankment ballast. The trickiest has been loose pea gravel over rural asphalt and chipseal. Our MUP gravel trails are a mix of chat trail with pea gravel, rutted in some areas with washouts filled with sand, pea gravel and coarse gravel. I've heard a couple of local mountain bikers say the groomed chat/gravel trails are more slippery than the single track MTB parks they prefer to ride (I talked with them during a rainy season when they couldn't ride the single track trails). That surprised me, to hear that what I considered an average gravel trail was uncomfortably slippery to experienced single track enthusiasts.

Both my 700x42 Conti Speed Rides and Michelin Protek Cross Max 700x40 (nominally, actually closer to 45 wide) tires handle this mix of gravel just fine. Only problem with the Michelins is they're very heavy at 1,100 gm each, due in part to the 5mm thick Aramid puncture shields. The Conti Speed Rides are around 430 to 500 gm, depending on folding or wire bead.

If you prefer narrower check out Continental's Cyclocross Speed 700x35 tires. Basically the same design and tread as the Speed Rides. Pricier, though. You can buy the Speed Rides from Jenson for about $15 each. The Cyclocross Speeds are about double that.

Some folks have noted the unimpressive "coarse" thread count of the Contis but I'm happy with 'em. They feel supple to me, and I'm picky -- I have a busted up back and neck with permanent C2 damage, so I'm looking for a reasonably cushy ride.

If my bike could fit 'em I'd try Schwalbe Big Ones. A friend just put 'em on his gravel grinder (the 29er x 2.35") and they look amazing, very confidence inspiring for a novice like me. Similar shallow file tread as the Contis, no side knobbies but file tread across the shoulders. They weigh less than 500 gm. And rolling review tests show the Big Ones have incredibly low rolling resistance so they should be ideal for gravel and sand, as long as there's nothing sharp to puncture or slash the thin walled tires. Jenson has the 29er x 2.35" for only $20 right now.

But I'd need to modify my bike to fit the Big Ones. At a minimum I'd need to replace the cable clamp bolt on the front derailer, possibly even replace the derailer or convert from a triple to double or single chain ring. It'd be a tight clearance for the rear. And I'd need to deflate the tires to mount them to clear the canti brake pads.

chas58

Where was that review?

also, the big apples come in 3 sizes as I recall: 50, 55, 60mm. 55mm can fit most mountain bikes if the 60's won't work.

chas58

Well, the biggest ride improvement will be lowering your pressure 10-15psi from the 32mm tires.

trail_monkey

I had success going tubeless on my cazaderos this afternoon but shortly after getting them mounted and taking a test ride around the block I got called back to work so a good test ride will have to wait to see how they perform tubeless.

canklecat

Bicycle Rolling Resistance review for Schwalbe Big One LiteSkin.

arcocelli

I live in Kansas. I have an old lower end road bike I ride on gravel. I was using Continental Tour Ride 700x37mm for more of an all around tire. They handled okay on gravel, paved roads and bike trails and I never had a puncture. They are heavy and being fairly puncture resistant, not as comfortable as other tires. I just started riding a 94 Schwinn High Plains on gravel. The tires it had on it when I got it were 26x1.75. They were old and there was some cracking, so I did a few rides on them after I had got the bike cleaned and ready to go. They handled much better on gravel than my other bike. I needed to replace them though, so I put Nashbar Grinder MTB tires on. They are 26x2.25, so a big jump in size! The first thing I noticed is I lost about an inch of standover height! I've done a few rides on them, 20-45 mile range and they are less nimble than the 26x1.75 tires but the ride is better and I seem to have better traction. Even though they are less nimble, I feel at times they handle better. I feel a little more confident on cornering and when the road gets pretty rough, especially when there's a lot of fresh large gravel out. Hope that helps!

prj71

29 x 2.25

ckindt

I ride on 50s. I have ridden on 32s and, while it's possible, it's no fun when you hit the rocks (SWIA gravel). You know what I mean.

The difference between 50s and 32s is the difference between rolling over and maintaining your line or getting deflected off your line as you shoot the rocks in random directions - pretty scary stuff on downhills

It's a compromise though. Even 120psi 23s would be ok on the hardpack rockless sections, but I choose to be prepared for the chunky stuff at 25psi at the expense of being slower on the firm parts.

Planemaker

It's been said but, the most important thing you can do is go tubeless and lower the psi. Try getting down to about 40 psi.

trail_monkey

Check out my other thread on this forum. I did it today but haven't had time for a ride yet. I currently have 30 psi in them and that was a comfortable gravel psi in my old 32s. I can't wait to try them. I ran around 40 with tubes and there wasn't a lot of squish

trail_monkey

Yeah the rocks around here will definitely deflect your tires.

prj71

40's and less don't do well here. This is part of the course on a midwest gravel race. Last year I did a 95 mile gravel race on my fat bike. Worked great for loose sand and rock sections.

Maverick 13330

im thinking of doing the SPOTTED HORSE 200 and planning to set up my bike on a 32mm front back wheels. You think that its not a good idea for that kind of Iowa gravel?

trail_monkey

Just a couple just a couple hours north of me, in Iowa, the gravel is kind of sandy and fine. But everywhere I've seen in southern Iowa it's big chunky white rock. I've ridden many miles on 32s and they will get the job done but as one poster already stated the skinnier tires have a tendency to get bounced around by the big rocks and that can be kind of scary on a fast downhill.

shoota 

Where exactly are you referring to?

FrontRanger

One of my favorite all-road tires is Schwalbe's Super Moto (29 x 2.35). As you might expect, flotation is excellent, and because it has a road-style tread, it rolls nicely. Unfortunately Schwalbe discontinued it.

rumrunn6

I got rid of tires with a very course chevron tread but which had a hard solid center line for wider tires with a shallow overall tread. I noticed a difference. meaning, if both your tires had the same course tread w hard solid center line, I don't think you'd notice a difference. you didn't say what model Bontrager. sounds like a slick? anyway, if you kept the same model but went wide you'd probably notice more

my change