The Future of Gravel Tires

Gravel races are being won on wide tires. In fact, gravel riders aren’t even using “gravel” tires; most gravel racers are finding that mountain bikes are faster for these races. This trend has caused a shortage of these tires, as more people are buying them for their gravel bikes. Yet, I remain unconvinced that 2+ inch tires are the answer for the average rider? 

Typically brands end up offering the best product for the consumers because companies are incentivized to offer what the consumer wants. However, just because the consumers think they want a specific type of product, doesn't mean that it is the best for the community as a whole. In fact, there is one big example that comes to mind where cyclists voted with their wallet, to embrace a type of product that damaged the industry as a whole. 

The example that I'm thinking of is also related to tires. Not that long ago, everyone was running 23mm road tires, even on their endurance road bike. During this era, narrow tires were thought to be faster, and that is why racers of this era were using 23mm or narrower. However, consumers really wanted to set up their bikes like the pros. This led to road riding being less fun. 

Looking at the Specialized Roubaix as an example of a prominent endurance/all road bike in the category: when the Roubaix came out in 2004, it could fit 32c tires. This is not wide by current standards, but is not overly restrictive. Although, to highlight how much the consumers were not concerned by tire width, by 2009, the max tire clearance was reduced to 28mm, and they came with 23mm tires as stock. 

As a result of everyone riding narrow tires, the bike felt overly harsh, and was unforgiving to ride. I’m positive this turned away many riders unnecessarily from the sport. Now, the gravel segment is going to the other extreme when regarding tires. 

While wider tires have many benefits, like improved comfort, grip, and even sometimes speed too; but they also can feel slow and dead when riding on smoother terrain. I have had two gravel bikes over the last 7 years with clearance for 2 inch tires. What I have found is for the type of riding I do, I just have more fun riding with a more conservative width tire.

This obviously is going to vary based on what type of riding people are doing. I have found most riders that I talk to use their gravel bike for not just riding on rough gravel, but also for road and smooth bike paths. Through my experience working in a shop, I have seen many customers who have put on 2 inch XC tires on their gravel bike, just to find out that the improvements on rough gravel are not worth sacrificing the sporty feel of narrower tires. 

My biggest concern is that as an industry, we will end up following the pros, and start pushing wider tires on the everyday cyclist. In doing so, we will give these riders bikes that feel dead and bland on the routes that people actually ride. The result of giving these riders a bike that lacks personality is simply that they will enjoy riding less, and even turn people away from the sport. 

In this uncertain time in the bike industry, our first priority should be to give people bikes that they love riding, which is not always the flashiest or fastest bike. As leaders in this cycling community, we need to set the example that it's okay to ride a bike setup which brings you the most joy, even if it is different from what the pros race on.