Gravel Tire Question - what to get for off road specific tire
 

So I got a Revolt Advanced 0 that came with Maxxis Velocita, 700X40 tires. They are pretty much fat road slicks. They roll pretty nice on the pavement, but I replaced these with GP5000TL 32mm tires on the stock carbon wheels for road riding. Definitely at least a 1 mph difference in a very small and unscientific test. I am getting a second set of wheels...much less nice than the stock ones for us off the pavement. Question is this...should I just use the tires that came with the bike, or will I be much happier getting something a bit nobbier? One tire I was looking at was the WTB Resolute. Any suggestions would be helpful. Wheels come in a few days, so looking to mount this up and don't want to be changing tubeless tires back and forth a lot given it's kind of a mess/pain. Thanks!

No idea on the Maxxis Velocita tire- it could be awesome or crap, I havent a clue. It certainly looks the part of a fast rolling tire, given the TPI and weight.

I ride on WTB Resolutes and love em. They inflate to 43mm tubeless on my 25mm external rims.
For me they are a good mix of speed, traction, and reliability. They seem to roll fast on pavement...fast enough for me to not feel like they are measurably sucking away power.


The 3 differences you should consider-
- WTB has tread and Maxxis doesnt. Both can be perfectly fine on hardpack dirt roads and sparse gravel. A tire with tread will often handle looser gravel or a loose top surface of dirt better than a slick because the tread can get down to the firm surface for traction. Which is best for you depends on how/where/what you ride.
- WTB is 42/43mm wide and the Maxxis is 40mm wide. That isnt much difference on paper, but it can be seen on a tire. Does the higher volume matter to you?
- WTB is tan sidewall and the Maxxis is black. Its vanity, but it seems to matter to some.

Is 40+mm width a negative for mostly pavement? I have yet to get any tires for my gravel build and my bike probably won't see much gravel. Would say 80-90% pavement. Would sticking to 38mm and under tubeless be a better idea? I'm very old school I really don't have a clue. I would like to get it ready to ride by this autumn so I have plenty of time to consider my options.

As always, it depends. I like riding 40mm tubeless on the road, especially if it's rough, super comfy. But you'll def give up some speed (or work harder to hold the same speed, depends on how you look at it lol). This morning I took an easy ride on the MUP, which has a lot of bumps and cracks from tree roots, and it was great on the gravel bike with the tires at 40psi (they're fixing it, but it's pretty rough if you're on a road bike).

If 10-20% of your ride will be gravel, I would focus on a tire for the 80-90% of riding. I guess the only reason to focus on the smaller % would be if its extreme, as in if the gravel you will ride is absurdly loose and riding a smaller tire will make that 10-20% of riding a miserable experience.

A Schwalbe G One in one of the faster options(there are a handful of G One options) could be great for what you need, if the gravel segments are mostly hardpack dirt, packed limestone trails, and hard gravel with sparse loose rock on top.
If I am going to do 30mi rides on average, I would want to pick a tire that will work best for 24-27mi or riding rather than pick a tire that will work best for 3-6mi of riding.

Following. I've been thinking of getting the resolutes. My Gestalt sees more pavement than dirt, but the dirt is sees can be pretty intense. And the whole point of the bike is to get off road, even if more than half the ride is getting to and from the trails. I am a bit worried about the knobs while cornering on pavement though. My stock tires are 35s and not quite so knobby but still ok for deeper gravel and occasional sand. Just would like something for more mtb type terrain, lots of bumps, rocks, roots, mud, etc.

Everyone's gravel is different. I ride a lot of gravel, because that's what I live on, and have the most access to. I don't value knobs around me, cause they'd never be tall enough to hit anything firm to dig into. Similarly, I don't "corner" like I do when riding on pavement. I've ridden Rene Herse Bon Jon's, measuring out to 39 for the past few years, and they have been just fine when my roads are "decent." When they aren't, 2.1 isn't even hardly enough float, so I just use my fat bike for quite a bit of the year gravel riding. Just too much sand/silt/loose material, that's far too deep most of the time.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...0817bcc391.jpg

This isn't even wet. It's just got nothing firm for a foot down, and all the loose crap they pile up lets a heavy vehicle just sink down like this. The crowns heaved something terrible with this management.

Surly Knard. 700x41, excellent allrounder. I use them for my commute which is 11 km pavement and 6 km dirt/gravel railtrail and can ride them hard on single track as well.

a couple friends have this tire. One is 120tpi tubed and the other is 33tpi tubed. At almost 1# of combined difference between the two, there is a huge range within this tire's lineup.
One is going to feel like a slow heavy tank compared to the other. Then there is the tubeless too.

Wide range in feel/quality for sure.

Oh wow that's pretty wild!!

OP didn't you mention you're in MA and riding packed dirt? I think the design of the maxxis with its mini diamond lugs will be a good compromise. Ride it and report back, that tread pattern looks like something I'd be interested in.

Knards are really good. They hook up surprisingly well on almost anything, even standing up to hammer climbs on the loose dry sandy crap we have here in places. Good bang for buck too. I have the cheap heavy tubed variety.

But I have WTB Ventures 47s on my main ride, tubeless. I think they are excellent. They're not "knobby", but the tread just works on anything I've thrown at it, including plenty of SoCal singletrack. And they feel as good on the road as something slicker like the Byways.