Supple 650b tires between 55 and 60 mm. Any suggestions?

Yeah, a heavy wheel (actually a flywheel) can be good in a time trial - it keeps you from slowing down which is where you will really lose time.  I saw a guy win a time trial riding fixed gear.  no slowing down allowed!  

We can talk theory all we want.  Not sure I care about micro accelerations.   Unless I'm doing an hour record at the velodrome, I'm always doing macro accelerations to maintain speed.

In the real world -
Testing gravel bikes i found about a 30% difference in hard acceleration.  (15lb Specialized crux vs 25lb Sierra).  More going on there than just weight though.  Huge difference in the wheels and tires on those specific bikes.

As for gravel tires - I don't know about you, but there is a significant difference between the an average 2.5lb pair of gravel tires and a pair that is closer to 1.5lbs.  That hits me as much on my endurance as anything.  

What do you mean by a 30 percent difference?  I would be curious how you tested? 

As for heavier tires vs. lighter, I compared gravel tires (G-One Allround, WTB Resolute and Byway) vs. road tire (GP4000s2) vs. my Conti Race King on a loop course I do on the road and I could not tease out any differences.  It is a flat course with multiple turns and sections of rough pavement.  
When I took it to my climbing course (five minutes of riding on a 10 percent grade at a set wattage), the GP4000 finally separated itself by 1-2 seconds.  Given the choice of riding a 2.0 tire at 25 psi and a 25mm tire at 80 psi, I am going to take the big tire every time if I am not losing more than a couple of seconds when I am on the road and it floats over rough pavement.

owly wrote: 

https://r2-bike.com/MAXXIS-Tire-MaxxLite-275-x-20-One70-Silkworm

Stupid light. I run one on the rear at the moment with a liteskin Thunder Burt front. 

More supple than the 48mm Compass extralight. Obviously limited uses as it has less grip than a TB.

'More supple than Compass extralight' isn't something I've read before, ever, so Im thinking of giving these a try. I've ridden 700 x 35 Bon Jon Pass, 70044 Extralight Snoqualmie, and 700 x 38 Compass extralight steliacoom. I have a set of wheels with 27.5 x 2.1 ThunderBurt front and rear,  but I tend to ride the other wheels more, as I dont need 2.1's for what I'm riding. I'm thinking of switching to a lighter and narrower Compass 650x48 Juniper Ridge, or the 1.95" Maxxlite, to make more use of the 27.5 wheelset.

285g seems crazy for a 48mm tyre. They must be super thin tread. How many KM are you getting from the Maxxlite One70's?
 
I'm riding to and from gravel tracks on tarmac. I imagine the sidewalls must be as thin as the Compass and thus they roll well on tarmac. How do the Maxxlite roll on tarmac compared to the TB and to the 48mm Switchbaclk Hills?

widerisfaster wrote:
'More supple than Compass extralight' isn't something I've read before, ever, so Im thinking of giving these a try. I've ridden 700 x 35 Bon Jon Pass, 70044 Extralight Snoqualmie, and 700 x 38 Compass extralight steliacoom. I have a set of wheels with 27.5 x 2.1 ThunderBurt front and rear,  but I tend to ride the other wheels more, as I dont need 2.1's for what I'm riding. I'm thinking of switching to a lighter and narrower Compass 650x48 Juniper Ridge, or the 1.95" Maxxlite, to make more use of the 27.5 wheelset.

285g seems crazy for a 48mm tyre. They must be super thin tread. How many KM are you getting from the Maxxlite One70's?
 
I'm riding to and from gravel tracks on tarmac. I imagine the sidewalls must be as thin as the Compass and thus they roll well on tarmac. How do the Maxxlite roll on tarmac compared to the TB and to the 48mm Switchbaclk Hills?

 

The 2.0" weighs about 330gm (as per r2 pic), which is about 80gsm down from the Compass 48mm extralight. 

I swap out wheelsets a bit so can't say as per k's, but its been on the rear for a few months now. 

For a rear tyre it rolls a little faster on tarmac than the old liteskin TB 2.1" at 410gm.  

The extralight SBH being a filetread is of course faster again. 

It really is a stupid light tyre. Not suitable for steep riding uphill in the rear across loose over hard due to minimal knobs. I'd say ideal for flatter/rolling packed surfaces where you aren't going to be flying around sharp corners at speed. 

I'll stick to running this only in the rear as it was a very loose fit on a 22mmInner rim. Surprisingly it setup tubeless pretty much straight away with Orange Seal Endurance, vs the extralight black SBH which i had to leave/flip for a day or two.

Your username reminds me you recently asked about my 2x chainring setup on Insta.

Interesting.  I've been looking for something like a "furious fred" (FF) in a 27.5 size.  This might work.  I refer to my FF as a cheater tire.  700x50 and 350g - it weighs the same as my gravel tires, my CX tires, my street slicks - yet I can ride it with XC mountain bikes at PSI in the upper 20's.    Looks like the Maxxis are similar - but they are not tubeless, are they?  

owly wrote: 

The 2.0" weighs about 330gm (as per r2 pic), which is about 80gsm down from the Compass 48mm extralight. 

I swap out wheelsets a bit so can't say as per k's, but its been on the rear for a few months now. 

For a rear tyre it rolls a little faster on tarmac than the old liteskin TB 2.1" at 410gm.  

The extralight SBH being a filetread is of course faster again. 

It really is a stupid light tyre. Not suitable for steep riding uphill in the rear across loose over hard due to minimal knobs. I'd say ideal for flatter/rolling packed surfaces where you aren't going to be flying around sharp corners at speed. 

I'll stick to running this only in the rear as it was a very loose fit on a 22mmInner rim. Surprisingly it setup tubeless pretty much straight away with Orange Seal Endurance, vs the extralight black SBH which i had to leave/flip for a day or two.

Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like they will work for rough gravel tracks in dry conditions. I think i'll give the 1.95 Maxxlite a go, just to get some more steering agility, and a smaller diameter than the TB 2.1 or the Compass 700 x 38 slicks, and cheaper than the SBH.

I also flip the Compass extralights for a couple of days to get the sidewalls to seal with Orange Seal.

Your username reminds me you recently asked about my 2x chainring setup on Insta.

Ha, that's you on the 40/24, small world!