how long do gravel tires last?

waxthis wrote:

Depends how how much "pavement" you have to ride before you hit the Gravel. Riddler 37mm lasted 400Mi, Rambler 40mm 800Mi, Donnelly MSO 40mm 1200 mi "All rear tire wear". Currently running Donnelly Strada USH 40mm, by the looks of it they should make 2k..40/60gravel.  Front tires on all have many more miles left..Just my two cents worth..Happy Hunting..Oh, and cheapest I've found for tires... https://www.biketiresdirect.com/

 

waxthis wrote:Pavement does eat up the tire more because of the knobs etc....  Now where I live most of our roads are used by oil tankers so we have ruts, and small rocks so tires tend to wear faster "rear tire", for me anyhow.  Now go south/west of here were the roads are smooth dirt, I'm sure I could double the life of them.  It's really based on your riding area and habits.  I have a buddy with those tervail cannonballs and he has close to 2500 on them, and he rides the same area's as me.  So again, results will vary...Again, all the wear is on the rear, my front tires could double that milage.   I also swap my tires out with about 15-20 percent tread left, I could probably ride a few hundred miles further, but I don't want to risk a flat 60 miles from home.  Just my preference.

Rear 1200 Miles..Donnelly MSO 40mm Tubeless.  

Front 1200 miles...

I do find that knobbies wear pretty fast on the road.  I’ve gotten some MTB tires to wear out after a couple hundred miles of hard use.

Its hard to say how much time I spend on treaded gravel tires vs slicks, but the knobs do get kinda smooth.   Maybe they wear 3-4 times faster than an endurance “race” tire?

I tell myself that a worn center has less rolling resistance, and thus is a good thing.  I’m not sure the size of your knob is directly related to puncture resistance, but to some degree the inherent distortion in a knob is inefficient.  If I can hear the rumble of the tire on pavement, I figure that sound is representative of a loss of energy. 

As far as traction, I’m mostly concerned about cornering and breakaway characteristics, and the smooth center tread doesn’t impact that much.  Does hurt in my ability to climb a steep muddy hill though I guess.

Anecdotal report:  the average gravel tire doesn't even last half the km's that a good touring tire will.  I ride about 12-13k km/year, most of that is my commute which is 85% tarmac.  I've given up on gravel tires, they simply don't last and/or have very poor puncture resistance.

 

After some disappointment a year ago I mounted Conti Contact plus tires in 700-42.  With tubes.  I sighed while I put them on because for sure, they felt heavy and wooden.  Not going to lie:  they're certainly not as nice feeling as tubeless gravel tires.

 

But:

 

About 5000  km on them (swapped them out for some studded tires due to snow/ice last month) and not a single puncture.  Adding pressure once every 14 days, not twice every week.  No faff with sealant.  Rear tire is starting to show some wear, I swapped it with the front.  Fast rolling, only not nice feeling.  Cost:  about half of what decent tubeless tires would cost. 

 

With the typical tubeless setup I'd have used one pair of tubeless tires for sure and be halfway through the second one.

 

A marriage of reason it may be but for me these are objectively the best solution.

If you're willing to put up with a 34 or 35 mm slick then there are plenty of road tires which offer good tread life, puncture resistance, grip, and rolling resistance on pavement.  I like the Vittoria N.EXT but the Continental GP Urban and GP5000 A/S might be even better.  Also the Pirelli P Zero Race will someday be available in 40 mm.

 

The 40 mm Schwalbe Marathon Almotion has more volume and better puncture resistance than the above road tires plus a little tread.  Weight and rolling resistance are OK but they don't feel as supple as lighter road and gravel tires.  Grip is fine on pavement and hard dirt.  In about 500 miles I've seen almost no wear.

 

Another option is the Michelin Power Adventure, a cross between gravel touring tires.  I purchased and mounted a pair in 42 mm but I'm recovering from knee surgery and won't be able to ride until maybe April.

The Vittoria N.ext look interesting… how durable are they?  I’ve been running GP5000 S / TR’s on my road bike and they’re remarkably durable for a lightweight road tyre.  Deciding whether my next road training tyres should be the new Conti A/S TR’s or Vittoria N.ext.

I've put about 1000 miles on my N.EXT, mostly on pavement.  They show very little wear and I've had only one flat.  I expect they'll be good for many more thousands of miles.

 

I haven't used the Conti A/S but according to BRR the 34 mm N.EXT and 35 mm A/S are almost the same in width, tread thickness, and puncture protection  The A/S is slightly faster, the A/S has significantly better wet grip, and the N.EXT is significantly lighter.  They don't usually test wear.

Thanks, they sound like good tyres.

…I’ve also been road training on my gravel bike, on 700c 40mm Maxxis Velocita EXO/TPR 120tpi gravel slicks. They are awesome. 5mm wider than 35’s, still fast, more comfortable and very durable. ...Road training is so much more interesting when you can stray onto any road / gravel surface you like at any time!  And a slightly heavier, slower tyre is better for training in many ways too. Cheers