Best Gravel Tires Reviewed: All the Fast, 40 mm Gravel Tires I Used This Year

I’d argue that the most important part of any gravel bike is the tire. The best tires for gravel roads provide lots of grip when you don’t expect them, and a cheap tire will not only be more likely to puncture but will often provide a performance upgrade that few other components on a gravel bike will match.

But what do you do when you want to find the best and fastest tire for a gravel bike? That takes a bit more work.

Finding the fastest gravel tire for your use is often based on a number of factors. An average gravel bike ride looks quite a bit different in Southern California than in Kansas or Vermont or Texas. For this exercise, we’re focusing on what is fast for gravel events like 2024 SBT GRVL. These events emphasize tires that roll fast on smooth surfaces, manage plenty of tarmac, handle well on loose over hardpack surfaces, are reasonably durable, and come in a 40 to 45 mm width.

There are a vast number of other tires out there that fit the bill from Continental, Maxxis, Specialized, Pirelli, Teravail, Michelin…the list goes on. These seven tires from Bontrager, Challenge, Panaracer, Schwalbe, Vittoria, Kenda, and WTB are tires I had never used before this summer and were options that people wanted to know about.

What does it take to find the fastest gravel tire for your upcoming rides? How much do you need to spend on a good gravel tire? And better yet, do you need tire inserts for your gravel tires? We break it all down.

 

 

Gravel tires in review

Bontrager Girona RSL

The Bontrager Girona RSL is the American component arm’s fast gravel tire. It uses a center tread not unlike that of the Specialized Pathfinder, Panaracer Gravelking SS, or the Vittoria Terreno Dry tires we brought on. The outer edge features small, uniform knobs on the side that aim to smooth the transition between straight-line rolling and cornering. Inside you get a bead-to-bead nylon layer to protect against punctures.

Installation was decidedly straightforward; both Girona RSL tires were installed on both hooked and hookless bead rims without needing tire levers. Further, I found the tires to mount and pop into place with only a floor pump. While the tires held air overnight without sealant, 3 oz of sealant per tire worked wonderfully.

Out on the road, the Girona RSL is a noticeable step up from the old Bontrager GR1 tires, both in how fast and how quiet they are. Against the other tires, I rode this year, however, I found that they weren’t quite as fast on pavement as I had hoped. They’re also comparatively loud tires initially, though some time wearing them in proved to quiet them down.

Cornering grip was good, but not the best here. The same can be said about rolling resistance on dirt and gravel: decent, but not the best here.

Quick take:

I wouldn’t replace Bontrager Girona RSL if they came on my bike, but I’d likely go with another option if I were going for the fastest tire possible.

Challenge Getaway

Pull a Challenge Getaway gravel tire out of the box, and you’ll be impressed by just how flat this tire is. That is thanks in large part to its open tubular construction, which is a whole lot like a tubular tire, built with a bead that sets up on a clincher or tubeless-ready rim. While most open tubulars use a cotton construction–which makes the casing extremely supple–the Getaway uses a 260 TPI polyester fabric that’s said to be more durable than cotton. The tread cap consists of tightly-spaced center knobs, with the knobs spreading out as they edge to the corners.

Open tubular tires have a reputation for being tough to install the first time, largely due to how flexible the construction is. These Challenge tires were the most challenging (see what I did there?) to get the bead onto the rim, but they were far easier than other Challenge tires I’ve installed. Nonetheless, they did not seat with just a floor pump, instead requiring a compressor to get on. They also needed the 3 oz sealant to hold air, a necessity as these tires aren’t infused with rubber like a traditional vulcanized tire is.

Once on the bike, however, I felt that these were some of the fastest tires here. The straight-line rolling resistance on gravel and dirt feels as low as the Schwalbe G-One RS, but these grip quite a bit better in the corners than the Schwalbe tires do. The downside to that grippiness and performance is that these tires seemed to be the most fragile of them all, with a total of three tubeless plugs used between the two tires.

One thing to note with these Challenge Getaway tires is that you’ll likely run a higher tire pressure than you might expect, again having to do with the sheer suppleness of the tire’s casing. I ran most of these tires in a 29/33 PSI combination front to rear, but these tires felt fastest on gravel with an extra 5 PSI in each tire.

Quick take:

The Challenge Getaway tires are lively and one of the fastest-feeling gravel bike tires here, but they require a bit more patience and babysitting to find that performance. Make sure to get the tubeless-ready (HTLR) version.

Kenda Alluvium Pro

The Kenda Alluvium Pro isn’t the first gravel tire that comes to mind when someone is looking to maximize for speed on the dirt. Nonetheless, I was quite curious to know why that’s the case, and how they stack up. For starters, this semi-slick gravel tire features a slew of hexagonal-shaped center knobs down the middle, with larger, directional lugs on the sides to offer a bit of cornering grip. Inside is a bead-to-bead GCT casing that feels a bit stiffer than the other tires on test here.

Setup was among the easiest of the tires on test. Both Alluvium Pro tires got on the rim with ease, popping into place without needing a tire lever. Better still, the mounted into place with only a floor pump, and they held air overnight without sealant! 3 oz of sealant in each tire was all they needed for the test period to keep pressure. Very low maintenance overall.

The downside of that ease of installation is that the Alluvium Pro tires felt about as quick to ride on as the Bontrager Girona RSL tires. There’s a bit of road noise that comes from them at speed, which I think has to do with the comparatively stiffer casing that was so forgiving in setup. That said, they’re faster than I thought they would be both on road and gravel. All of this is with the tan sidewall tire option, however; tires with the black sidewall decidedly felt like the slowest here, particularly in a straight line.

Quick take:

The Kenda Alluvium Pro tires are low maintenance and a great choice for folks who don’t want to second-guess their tires. Get the tan sidewall version as that’s the faster option.

Panracer Gravelking X1

The Panaracer Gravelking X1 tire is part of a completely revised gravel lineup from the Japanese tire manufacturer. All new Gravelking tires feature the same TuffTex casing, with a BeadLock bead that is squared off and firmly up to date. The Gravelking X1 is also available in three casing options to optimize While the Gravelking lineup is already quite broad, the X1 is the most exciting tire here. It features a fast-rolling, dense center tread filled with square shapes. Panaracer says this is its fastest gravel tire yet, and surprisingly, I have to agree.

These tires are great, but the biggest improvement from previous generations seems to be its user-friendliness. Both tires set up quite easily using a tire lever and just a floor pump. Better still, they held air without sealant quite easily and didn’t need any additional sealant after the initial 3 oz. If you ever struggled to set up the old Gravelking tires, you’ll find no such struggle here.

The Gravelking X1 rolls far faster than you’d think considering its comparatively meaty tread pattern. It feels faster than the Bontrager and Kenda tires on pavement, and quieter to boot. They also felt nearly as quick as the Schwalbe, Challenge, and Vittoria tires on dirt in a straight line.

The Panaracer Gravelking X1 tire is also quite grippy, at least on loose surfaces. These are as grippy as any tire in loose corners, though they seemed to find their limits of adhesion more quickly than the other tires as well on loose over hardpack. The downside to these bigger, tighter knobs is that they tend to fall apart when the going gets muddy, as the tread doesn’t seem to clear mud all that quickly.

Quick take:

Panaracer’s new Gravelking X1 gravel tire is perhaps the best all-rounder among this roundup, though for out-and-out speed my instincts still have me reaching for faster options.

Schwalbe G-One RS

The Schwalbe G-One RS gravel tire has been a favorite fast gravel tire for many years, thanks in large part to its particularly lightweight Super Race casing, first developed for its Pro One road tire. That’s paired with a light checkerboard tread pattern down the middle that almost looks like a slick tire. The outer knobs are directional–a rarity amongst gravel tires–and are designed to be mounted one direction for the front and another for the rear.

Setup was easy, mounting with a single tire lever and with a floor pump. While the casing was amongst the thinnest here (with only the Challenge tire matching it), it held air without sealant. Another 3 oz of sealant per tire ensured they kept on rolling, though I did find I needed to top off the sealant of both tires more often than most.

Where the G-One RS tire shines is in its performance. It’s an impressively quiet tire on pavement, feeling as fast as a slick 40 mm tire. That speed translated on the dirt, where these felt more eager to get to speed than any tire here besides the Challenge Getaways. The downside to all of that speed is that they require just a bit more effort to get through a corner at speed, as they seemed to wash out and understeer more than you’d like.

What’s surprising is how well these tires seem to do in wet and muddy conditions. So long as the mud wasn’t thick, the G-One RS clears mud easily and grips better on climbs than you’d think for such a slick-looking tire. This isn’t a mud or wet weather tire, but it’ll do well if your sunny ride becomes a wet one.

Quick take: The Schwable G-One RS is the fastest-feeling gravel tire here, but they require precision to maintain that speed through the corners. This is the tire I tend to recommend the most for folks looking to take on SBT GRVL with its dry, loose, and smooth conditions.

Vittoria Terreno Dry

The Vittoria Terreno Dry features what looks like a smooth, hexagonal pattern down the middle of the tread. Knobs are more pronounced as you reach the corners. Underneath that is Vittoria’s Endurance nylon casing with additional layers of puncture protection. The Terreno Dry platform has been around for quite some time, so if you’re looking for a fast gravel tire in a bike shop, you’re likely to be pointed in this direction.

The Vittoria Terreno Dry took a bit of patience to set up, largely due to how tight they were against the rim. A pair of tire levers was absolutely necessary to get them set up. They mounted fine with a floor pump, however, and held air even without the initial 3 oz of sealant.

There’s a bit more tread here than you’d think for a fast gravel tire, and you’d be right. They feel quite fast on loose over hardpack, with great braking performance and overall grip in the corners. Where they seem to take a step back over the likes of the Schwalbe G-One RS is in straight-line speed. There, they seem to bounce around a little bit like the Kenda Alluvium Pro at a similar tire pressure.

What’s interesting about this tire is that despite its billing as a tire for dry conditions, it seems more like an all-rounder that’s good at everything, with a slight emphasis on speed. The ‘Dry’ component seems to be in how well it performs under braking, providing loads of grip over loose surfaces

Quick take:

The Vittoria Terreno Dry is not my first choice when looking for the fastest gravel tire, but are a great choice in more technical, dry riding.

WTB Vulpine

The WTB Vulpine gravel tire is the most race-focused tire in the WTB lineup, and you can tell by how tight that center tread is. Fast center tread paired with small but consistent outer knobs feels like a hard push for speed, even amongst this fast gravel tire comparison. The SG2 casing features a bead-to-bead nylon liner, with a second nylon strip just below the center tread.

Setting up the Vulpine tire was among the easiest on test. Both mounted with a single tire lever and popped into place with a floor pump. While they lost air relatively quickly without sealant, they held air without issue once the 3 oz of sealant was added. WTB generally has a good reputation for making tires that are easy to set up, and these are no exception.

What’s surprising about the Vulpine tires is how fast they felt. I didn’t expect the pace that these had, rolling up to speed quickly and quietly on tarmac, and cornering smoothly to boot. They were also reliably quick on dry, loose dirt and gravel roads, too. While they feel comfortable on the smooth, fast dirt you’d find at SBT GRVL, the tire’s low weight really stands out when climbing.

Quick take:

The WTB Vulpine tires are the most surprising tire of the entire roundup. These are an easy recommendation if you’re looking for a fast gravel tire that is often on sale.

How do you choose the right fast gravel tire?

There are three basic things you need to consider when choosing what should be the best gravel tires for your terrain: Riding terrain, tire width, and weather. This tire roundup with based around the idea of finding the fastest gravel tire for a fast gravel event like SBT GRVL, but there are considerations to be made there, too.

Choosing tread pattern based on riding terrain

Riding terrain is fairly straightforward. Most gravel bike rides in the American West tend to be on loose over hardpack terrain, where there’s dirt on top of a denser, hard-packed surface. If you’re a confident rider, you can ride something that looks like a slick (like the Schwalbe G-One RS) without issue. Most of us, however, aren’t swapping out our tires regularly: we’re riding one tire for most situations.

In this case, my recommendation is to optimize for the terrain you find yourself riding enjoying most. Find yourself on straight, fast dirt farm roads or fire roads? Grab something with a minimal tread pattern and enjoy the extra speed. But if you find yourself riding a whole lot of singletrack, a few extra knobs will help a whole lot when digging into looser surfaces.

What is the best tire width for going fast on gravel?

Tire width is also an important question. Gravel tires over the last few years have trended wider, to the point where a 40 to 42 mm tire tends to be what’s spec’d on most fast gravel bikes. This is the most popular choice, and one that just about every gravel bike will accept. Go wider if you’re riding extended periods of loose gravel or sandy bits, or go narrower if you’re riding smooth dirt roads.

My recommendation is that you will rarely feel you’re on too wide of a tire, but there will be times when you wish you had just a bit more width for the sake of comfort and grip. At events like Unbound or SBT GRVL anything in that 40 to 42 mm tire width range should be more than enough. Go wider if you want the extra grip or vibration damping.

There are some exceptions to this. Some of the fastest tires for gravel bikes are similarly fast in a wide with as they are in something narrower. The Schwalbe G-One RS is a good example, as my experience shows there isn’t a noticeable difference in speed when choosing the 45 mm tire over the 40 mm tire, but marked additional grip.

Choosing a tire based on weather

Unfortunately, finding the right gravel tire–or the best bike tire in general–is a question of balancing weaknesses and strengths. A gravel bike tire with great puncture resistance will almost always feel slow and unwieldy, but will add some confidence when the rocks are sharp and pointy. Further, a tire that’s fast and light might feel good on smooth surfaces but you’ll wince every time you. And you prioritize grip in the wet, that tire’s most likely going to feel especially draggy when it’s not wet.

A wide, slick tire will almost always be the right answer if you find yourself riding your gravel bike predominantly as a poor-weather road bike. Companies like 45NRTH have studded gravel tires for riding in icy and winter conditions too.

But if you’re riding somewhere like SBT GRVL or Unbound, where the gravel and dirt are often fast and smooth? Go for speed and worry less about cornering ability. These rides often feature lots of straight lines and minimal technical cornering, meaning you can slow down just a bit more for that corner without much worry of losing time.

Finding the best gravel tires for muddy rides can be tough, however. I find myself more comfortable on a slick tire, as those shed mud quickly. Others want some sort of knobbiness to offer something to dig into the mud. While I lean toward a slick tire for muddier rides, my overall recommendation is to seek the advice of your local bike shop for insight specific to the conditions around you.

How do I know when I need to replace my tire?

A worn-out gravel tire is more likely to puncture, more likely to lose traction at inopportune moments, and more likely to fail you in general. While knowing when to replace a road bike tire is often as easy as paying attention to a wear indicator, it is much tougher on gravel.

An easy way to see if a tire needs to be replaced is by looking at the tread! Center tread will almost always wear out before the side knobs will. A worn-out center tread means the tires will not only have less grip but will also likely be more vulnerable to punctures.

Pay attention to the number of cuts and gashes in your tire. If you start to find debris embedded in the tire’s rubber frequently, that’s sometimes a sign that the rubber could be worn out. These cuts aren’t always bad. But they create vulnerable spots for opportunistic rocks to come in and create a gash in your tire. Some cuts are fine as long as they don’t continue to grow in size, but if the cut grows or you can see through to the casing, you’ll likely need to replace your tire.

Like any other tire, your rear tire is likely to wear out before your front. Avoid rotating these tires front to back. Aa puncture in your rear tire is safer than a puncture up front, and it’s always more controllable to have your rear tire wash out rather than your front tire.

If you want, as a rear tire wears out you can rotate the front tire to the back and move that front tire to the back.

How much do you need to spend for good gravel bike tires, and everything else I learned

How much do you need to spend to find one of the best gravel tires for your riding? Unfortunately, a good gravel tire often costs more than you’d think.

The tires in this roundup ranged from $65 to $88. If you want the absolute best performance tire, you’re likely going to need to spend more. But for most situations, spending $50 to $75 on tires will get you an excellent tubeless-ready tire.

My favorite fast gravel tire of the bunch is the Schwalbe G-One RS, which costs roughly $88. Considering that the only time I’m switching tires is for roundups like this, I’m likely to spend a lot of money on a set of tires that will make my bike feel more lively and fun to ride. For me, that’s worth the price difference for a tire that feels fast on dirt.

Do I need tire inserts for my gravel bike tires?

Nobody wants to stop mid-ride to fix a puncture. Some of those punctures could be as easy a fix as sticking in a tire plug or even letting sealant pool up, but sometimes the punctures could be worse. If you’re looking to avoid punctures while running your gravel tires at low pressures, having a tubeless tire insert could be a good idea.

So, when should you consider tire inserts? Consider tire inserts if you regularly find yourself riding on rough terrain, find yourself going too fast to avoid sharp rocks or big compressions, or if you regularly find yourself preferring to ride lower tire pressures than recommended. There are rides where you’ll find that your favorite rides on a gravel bike reveal that you need a bit more tire; a tire insert could make a whole lot of sense.

Do you do lots of hard cornering on your gravel bike? You might want a tire insert to provide some extra support to the sidewalls.

To be clear, you don’t need tubeless tire inserts on your gravel bike. Many people aren’t riding fast enough, and they usually have the wherewithal to avoid rocks or dips that might create a puncture. A hearty tire and fresh top off of sealant is usually enough for people, myself included.

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