Gravel races are massive – not just in distance or the scale of the challenge, but in the sheer number of other riders.
Unless you’re strong enough to be right at the front of a gravel race, visibility of the trail ahead of you is non-existent. When the dust kicks up, rocks start flying and the elbows come out, it’s no longer a case of choosing your line – you take what you’re given.
Not having the talent, ability or nous to get to the front of these bunches, I’m usually clinging on to the coat tails, desperately trying to stay in the draft for as long as possible, at the mercy of whatever the trail presents. Basically, I can’t usually see where I’m going until the race breaks up.
I’m a big believer that ‘the fastest tyre is the one with the air in it’ when it comes to choosing gravel tyres for off-road racing – prioritising puncture protection and durability over ultra-low rolling resistance.
A fatter tyre puts more air between you and the ground, and gives you a much better chance of absorbing the impact of a rogue rock, root or rut that would be able to pinch a narrower tyre.
Yes, there are other benefits (and drawbacks) to a wider tyre, but if it can help you avoid a race-ending pinch puncture amid a chaotic gravel race, that’s a sacrifice I’d make every time.
Before I saw the light…
At the UCI Turnhout gravel race in March, I was one of 120 elites lining up in the front pen, followed by thousands of hungry age-groupers starting only a minute or two behind.
Although the course felt very smooth in the recon ride I did the day before, I hadn’t taken into account that this was largely because I could choose my line and avoid obvious obstacles. In my naivety, I’d opted for a faster-feeling 40mm-wide tyre.
In the chaos of the race, I instantly regretted this, slamming over rocks, ruts and roots from the gun, unable to see a thing with all the riders surrounding me and dust flying up.
When the course narrowed to singletrack after a few kilometres, it was too late and I never saw the front again (not to mention the fact that I totally blew and limped home a solid 25 minutes behind the eventual winner, ex WorldTour talent Mads Würtz Schmidt).
Fresh rubber
Lesson learned – I squeezed the biggest tyres I could into my gravel bike, a 50mm pair of Specialized Tracers, for the races to follow.
Fast forward to the Dirty Reiver, and the carnage of the start rolled off me like water off a duck’s back… or big rocks off a fat tyre. With the bigger rubber, I could plough ahead in the bunch without having to worry as much about what was coming up.
The start is a rolling climb on maintained forestry trails that were littered with holes, stray branches and big rocks – as well as a very defined doubletrack with a ridge between the two obvious lines.
Seeing riders squirm and shimmy their way around obstacles while I could truck along without a concern was enormously satisfying, and enabled me to relax more, exponentially improving my riding.
I was less tense and rigid, meaning I could move more fluidly and probably do a better job of preserving my tyres in the first place than if I were stiff, tense and skittish.
Admittedly, this is a fairly niche advantage – I’m a committed racer, but that doesn’t necessarily reflect most people’s priorities, especially when it comes to the broad spectrum of gravel.
But this, paired with the other advantages of running mountain bike tyres on gravel bikes, is another tick in the ‘go as big as you can’ camp, and I’m unlikely to turn my back on them any time soon.
My frame can only officially fit 50mm for now, but I’d love to go even wider.
