am8117

Not really, just got my hands on the G-Ones speed and very surprised by how subtle the texture of the tire is. I understand there's the All-round with bigger knobs, but at 30mm* width, does this low-profile round-dot centreline tread actually does anything at all on the gravel (dry crushed limestone type) as opposed to wide road supple slick?

Is this just a design feature to keep its look with the more knobby siblings?

EDIT: Sorry it is 30mm, got this confused with X-Ones ...

msu2001la

It's more of a dimpled texture than a knob. The tire basically looks like a road slick and I doubt the tread is doing anything at all on dry gravel, but it might offer a bit more grip on wet?
If I had to guess, it's entirely aesthetic.



The BRR review/test results on this tire are interesting:
https://www.bicyclerollingresistance...be-g-one-speed

am8117

Ok so I'm not the only one glad to read that.

So if it's just design / marketing than why not go eg GP5000 with 1/3rd lower rolling resistance? I mean I don't know the others off the bat but even schwalbe has popular road ones that are made wide enough to compare and will have less rolling resistance. Weight won't be higher and pricing about the same. In case of schwalbe even the compounds I believe would be same with some road ones.

shelbyfv

Shouldn't be a problem if you prefer GP5000. It's available in both 30 and 32.

msu2001la

IMO the GP5000 is hands down the best 25-32mm tire on the market. I have done a lot of light-duty dry gravel riding on tubeless 32mm GP 5000s and they're great for that. That same tire will be fast on pavement.

Compared to the G-one speed, the only downside I see is cost and maybe giving up a little bit of flat protection, though if you are running tubeless this shouldn't be a problem.

am8117

Yep I know I can do that, I just really wondered what's the catch. At least Conti do not have confusing marketing with their Terra Speed and Terra Trail, the actually DO have knobs.

To compare apples with apples even Schwalbe has road slick, it's One TLE, comes 25-32 and it says the compound is ADDIX so that's exactly the same as the G-One Speed. I know the G-One Speed comes with wider sizes too, but for ~30mm is that it? Just marketing? Just to look more "Gravel"? Both wide road slicks and narrow Gravel "Speeds" being equal?

Links for convience:
https://www.schwalbe.com/en/road-rea...hwalbe-one-tle
https://www.schwalbe.com/en/gravel-r...be-g-one-speed

am8117

Almost forgot, Schwalbe has the 35mm Kojak, which is totally slick also ADDIX w/RaceGuard and not heavy either. I know it's marketed as urban tire, but then the G-One Speed ... is that with "dimples" indeed.

dwmckee

Have you ridden the G1 Speed to make a good side by side comparison? I have ridden both, and I can say that they both are fantastic tires in this width range. And the Rene Hearse is also a fantastic tire, but a wee bit more flat-prone. I ride RH currently on my gravel bike. You cannot go wrong with any of these three.

am8117

I am sure they are good tires, but what I wondered about mostly was if the dimples are not for any practical purpose and they have comparable compounds then having a road slick on (of the same width) basically makes it better because ... the road slick will always be better on tarmac and not worse (the latter being hypothesis here) on hardpack. Both will be terrible on mud, grass, etc. but that's alright.

msu2001la

I've not ridden the G one speed, I just see no reason why I'd run anything other than the GP5000 for this size range (30mm). If I were looking for wider than 32mm I'd probably consider it.
Same with RH tires. If RH had a 28-32mm tubeless road tire I'd definitely consider it. I don't want to run tubes though. Their wider stuff is fantastic.

And yeah, I've read Jan Heine's commentary on tubeless for road tire sizes. I disagree.

cyclezen

If we look at surfaces we ride on, it's easy to use a perspective of what we see from our standing height and our visual acuity. What seems 'smooth', always has some surface irregularity/corrugation. Depending on that irregularity and the inflation pressure of the tire, the tire will deform around those irregulaties, and put more surface area of the tire to the 'riding surface'.
the nubs have pliability, just as big deeper knobs have.
On a 'harder' irregular surface the small nubs should grip better than just a fully slick rubber tire surface. Small visual differences, which might have a big effect on handling in those situations.
I wouldn;t expect great differences from 'slick' type on loose surfaces like sand or deeper silt, but harder/packed soil, smooth rock and packed gravel, I'd expect these nubs to be realizably better gripping than slicks. A rider with good handling skills and looking for more speed, might like the balance/trade off of this type tire.
Question for me would be, how long BEFORE the center nubs wear enough for the tire to become essentially a 'centerline slick'...
Ride On
Yuri

chas58

Agreed, they are all great tires. I have the original G-one allround, original speed, and original GP5000. Yeah, the GP5000 is significantly faster (roughly 10%).

chaadster

I used the 30mm S-One, which was later renamed G-One Speed, and could not figure out which conditions were ideal for that tire. Prior to entering the gravel collection, it was billed as a Classics tire, for like cobblestones and that kind of Flanders-ish stuff. It did not add any performance, insofar as I could tell, over a GravelKing (slick…that’s all there was back then), and actually seemed worse in dusty hardpack.

I generally like Schwalbe tires a lot— I have Pro One on two bikes now, and ran Kojaks on another until recently— but the S One tread pattern didn’t do it for me.

That’s not necessarily a commentary on the G One Speed, though, as the tread compound is different, as is the casing, so really could be much better now.

I’m quite chuffed with Herse Extralight casing rubber for my fast, summertime gravel needs (though I gotta run ‘em tubed with Schwalbe Aerothan).

chas58

the OG speed was a 60mm tire designed for beach racing in the Netherlands. Worked great for that I imagine. At the time, there was nothing on the market like that. It had the lowest rolling resistance on bicyclerollingresistance by a large margin (in its category) - I had never experienced a tire with so much cush and so much speed.

chaadster

Do you mean the Big One? I remember when that and S-One launched in ‘15, maybe as a MY16 line, and I rember first seeing Big One fitted on a Koga Beachracer, which looked so cool! Never rode the Big, though.

The first G-One Speed, as I recall, was the same 30c as S-One, and described as a rebrand of the S-One.

chas58

Yeah that is it. I put a set on my wife's MTB - since she doesn't ride off road ;-) Taking the "big apple" concept from commuter tire to race worthy 60mm slick.