28mm Tyres for Gravel?

Tim76

Hi all. I’m looking to beef up my old endurance bike (Giant Contend) to take on a bit of lightweight gravel. The first thing I’m going to look at (and possibly the only thing) is the tyres. The rim brakes on the bike will be the limiting factor, so 28mm is the widest I can go. I’m veering towards a pair of Conti Gatorskins at the moment but if there are any only 28mm tyres out there that might offer better performance then I would appreciate any advice. Thanks!

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It's not optimal but on lightweight gravel they will work fine.

I'm going to switch to 650b wheels on my gravel bike(as I have them anyway) and I'm just wearing out the 700 gravel tyres I have.

I just left with one wtb raddler in the front but have an old 28mm Schwalbe durano plus on the rear. Really rugged and no issues.

I used them for years in road before and while not lively they are reliable.

You will get them cheap enough on Rose bikes and the like

Paddigol

Plus 1 on the Schwalbe Durano Plus over the Gatorskins. They are light years ahead of them on anything wet, and extremely hard wearing. I've been commuting on them for a few years, along crap N11 roads/ surfaces/ cycle lanes coated in debris/ wicklow back roads coated in chippings... only had one puncture, and that was due to a staple somehow perfectly piercing the tyre.

Macy0161

iirc you can get gravelking slicks down to 28mm. The issue I ran into was the tyre volume as much as width when I tried to convert 2016 Defy Disc (albeit on the stock PR2 wheels).

Tim76

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120239972#Comment_120239972

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120239690#Comment_120239690

Thanks lads. Will check out the Schwalbe Durano Plus.

Tim76

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120240311#Comment_120240311

That's an interesting point. I hadn't really considered any volume increase, only width. I'm running PR2s as well with Shimano BR-R561 rim brakes - the manufacturer's state that both should be able to accommodate 28s but it could be tight if there is any substantial volume increase.

Macy0161

You may have more luck than I did. It was actually the fork that I ran into the issue, so I did consider changing that. But in the end I went for a second hand canti cx bike!

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The real Waterford Greenway 😀

Some surfaces the 28mm durano plus on the rear dealt with just fine last weekend.

I wouldn't fancy a narrow slick on the front in the wet stuff. The rear moves about a lot which is fine, the front moving rarely ends well

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120268732#Comment_120268732

Where is that?

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https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120269206#Comment_120269206

https://irishwaterwayshistory.com/abandoned-or-little-used-irish-waterways/waterways-of-the-south-east/the-brickey-navigation/

That's the "Greenway".

The woods are to the west and above. Preferably reached by

https://strava.app.link/LHAGyWX9Axb

😀

siochain

folks I see two types of Durano Plus on bikeinn which one are you using?

https://www.tradeinn.com/bikeinn/en/schwalbe-durano-plus-smart-guard-addix-performance-road-tyre/137417452/p

https://www.tradeinn.com/bikeinn/en/schwalbe-durano-plus-performance-addix-smartguard-twinskin-foldable-road-tyre/137432990/p

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https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120314143#Comment_120314143

One is "rigid" which I take to mean wire bead, the other is foldable.

I'd always go foldable, but that's only available in 25.

You might get on Rose, bike24, bike discount etc

devonp

do foldable tyres have a higher max psi than wire (rigid) in general ??...just noticed from the specs on those