The best gravel tyres, our pick of the best tyres for your gravel bike

I’d go so far as to say upgrading your gravel tyres is about the most transformative upgrade you can make to either a road bike or a gravel bike. Swapping to a set of the best road bike tyres can make you a bit faster, more confident in the corners, or avoid a puncture or two, but making the correct tyre selection for gravel can be the difference between riding and walking in some cases.

I’ve been testing gravel tyres for years. They were the first thing I ever reviewed, and coming from a background in cyclocross where tyre setups are obsessed over I’ve developed a real nose for picking the right tread for the right conditions. If you’re a ‘cross racer then feel free to head to my guide to cyclocross tyres, where I’ve covered everything for the very specific demands of an hour’s smash in a muddy field.

Gravel tyres more than any other component are seasonal though. In the summer you want something fast, but there’s every chance that as the year progresses and your local trails change from dusty to muddy you’ll need to swap to something with a bit more bite. with this in mind, I’ve split this guide into four distinct sections: Dry tyres for summertime speed, mixed condition tyres that can handle a bit of mud but won’t slow you down much at all on hardpack, wet tyres for predominantly muddy conditions, and all-road tyres for broken backroads. While you can still find non-tubeless tyres, every option in this guide is tubeless-ready. You can still use tubes if you want, but I’d recommend switching to tubeless if you haven’t already. The jury is out still on the road, but on gravel it makes a huge difference and works a lot better due to the lower pressures.

Given that not only the tyre tread but the casing itself, and the width have giant impacts on the ride characteristics I’ve broken these down in more detail in the ‘how to choose’ section at the bottom of the page. While I’ve broken things down by tread and condition there is a degree of crossover. A wider intermediate tyre may be more grippy than a narrow mud tyre, and a narrow mud tyre with a supple casing may be faster than a stiff intermediate option, so careful consideration based on the actual riding you are doing, and that you’re aiming to do, is key here.

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The best gravel tyres, our pick of the best tyres for your gravel bike

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