We’re increasingly seeing new gravel bikes push tyre clearance further than ever. Take one look at the gravel-racing scene, and 2.2in – or 55.88mm – mountain bike tyres are becoming more and more popular.
More adventure-focused gravel riders have been attuned to this trend for a while, often favouring mountain bike tyres to enable their rigs to push further into the outback and explore more rugged terrain.
While a lot of gravel bikes can squeeze in a mountain bike tyre, bikes that officially accept a 2.2in or wider tyre are still relatively few and far between.
For example, the latest Cannondale SuperX that was released in February only accepts a 51mm tyre in the front and a 48mm in the back.
Likewise, the Santa Cruz Stigmata – the weapon of choice for three-time Life Time Grand Prix overall winner, Keegan Swenson – only officially accepts a 50mm tyre with a 1x drivetrain, or a 45mm tyre with a 2x setup. These official guidelines were ignored by Swenson, who squeezed in 2.25in Maxxis Aspen ST tyres at the 2024 SBTGRVL race.
However, the writing could be on the wall, with more and more brands steering their gravel frames in the direction of super-wide rubber.
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Top 4 gravel bikes with 2.2in tyre clearance
Lauf Seigla
The Lauf Seigla comes with a hefty 57mm of tyre clearance. Lauf says it has been able to achieve this without resorting to an elevated or dropped chainstay, and while maintaining a nimble 425mm back end that keeps the bike feeling racy and fast.
Built with a vision for tackling brutal gravel races such as The Rift in Iceland – a 200km epic that sees riders racing through volcanic boulder fields – big tyre clearance is a must, and with 2.25 inches available, you can fit pretty much whatever MTB tyre you want.
The Icelandic brand was one of the early adopters of MTB tyres on gravel bikes. Way back in 2017, the predecessor to the Seigla, the True Grit, was launched boasting 45mm of tyre clearance.
That’s mid-pack by modern standards, but back in 2017 it was huge. Compare that to the 2017 Specialized Diverge, which was specced with 28mm tyres and a maximum clearance of 35mm and you can see just how far ahead of the curve Lauf was.
Allied ABLE
US Brand Allied has recently updated its stalwart ABLE gravel race bike, and from the ground up it has been designed around fitting a 57mm tyre.
The previous iteration of the ABLE had a divisive-looking raised driveside chainstay to enable the frame to fit 42mm rubber – which was wide for its time.
This new ABLE has got rid of that in favour of sleek lines, integrated hoses, fat rubber and a really racy look that the likes of American gravel stars Payson McElveen and Anna Yamauchi have been tearing about on at some of the biggest gravel races in the world.
Argon 18 Dark Matter
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Argon 18’s 2025 Dark Matter is a bang-up-to-date gravel bike. It’s got UDH (Universal Derailleur Hanger) compatibility for the latest SRAM drivetrains, integrated frame storage and plenty of bosses for additional cargo carrying.
Quoted as fitting up to a 57mm tyre, the Dark Matter is ready for anything, including epic gravel races such as the Traka in Girona or Unbound in the US. It can also be loaded with bags and ridden off into the wilderness for weeks at a time.
While the trend towards wider tyres has been popularised in the last year or so by gravel racers, let’s not forget that gravel riding in its purest form is all about exploration; getting off the tarmac, getting lost and exploring wherever you like.
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Salsa Cutthroat
It could be argued that American brand Salsa created the genre of gravel-specific bikes with the first Warbird, released in 2013. While the Warbird still sits in its range as a slightly sportier model, the Cutthroat is all about exploration.
Inspired by races such as The Tour Divide, the Cutthroat is Salsa’s ultra-endurance, mixed-surface bike; designed to go quite literally anywhere. With a quoted maximum clearance of 2.4in, the Cutthroat can fit a full-on MTB tyre thanks to the use of MTB Boost spacing.
This bike has enough mounting points to carry the kitchen sink and the rest of the kitchen.
Drop-bar mountain bikes
What is a gravel bike if not a drop-bar mountain bike?
Although no brand explicitly offers this as a stock build – yet – we’ve seen plenty of conversions, especially in the lead-up to the 100-mile MTB race that makes up part of the Life Time Grand Prix, the Leadville 100.
Last year, that race was won by gravel star Swenson with a Santa Cruz Highball hardtail MTB fitted with drop bars, making use of SRAM’s AXS family of components for shifting.
This frame has 2.4in of clearance (of course it does, it’s a mountain bike). But with gravel bike tyre clearance getting wider and wider, isn’t this where we’re heading anyway?
Is this just a phase in the gravel bike journey, or are mountain bike tyres on gravel bikes here to stay?
