Pirelli’s Cinturato Gravel H tyres are targeted at going fast on hardpack terrain.
Launched in 2019, Pirelli has now refreshed the Cinturato Gravel H range with larger sizes and the option for brown, as well as black, sidewalls.
The updated tyre is priced at £64.99 / $88.90 / €72.90 / AU$99.
In testing, they’ve proven masterful in dry, dusty conditions across a wide range of surfaces, but if you live somewhere where there’s a risk of mud, I’d recommend opting for the Cinturato Gravel M.
Pirelli Cinturato Gravel H tyre details and specifications
The Cinturato Gravel H sits alongside the mixed terrain all-rounder Cinturato Gravel M and the mud-oriented Cinturato Gravel S.
Also in the range are the Pirelli Cinturato Gravel RC, aimed specifically at gravel racing, with the Cinturato Gravel RC-X its souped-up sibling for gnarlier terrain.
While the Cinturato Gravel S, RC and RC-X all use a 60 TPI (Threads per inch) casing, the Cinturato Gravel H and M both use a 120 TPI casing, designed to make them lighter, suppler and faster-rolling.
In keeping with the rest of the Cinturato range, the Gravel H tread uses Pirelli’s proprietary SpeedGRIP compound, which is claimed to offer a balance of speed and grip, both on and off-road. It’s also said to have comparable durability to the SmartGRIP compound Pirelli uses on its mountain bike tyres.
At first glance, the Gravel H’s tread pattern seems almost as if it has a smooth centre, but look closer and you’ll see an arrow-shaped hexagon with two parallelogram treads either side of it. Every second row of tread is then offset to one side slightly.
Taller shoulder knobs on the tyre’s edge should help the Cinturato Gravel H bite into off-road corners, and like the centre tread, these are also arranged in an alternating pattern.
Like Pirelli’s other gravel tyres, the Cinturato Gravel H features its TechWALL casing and bead-to-bead protective belt, to protect the tyre against cuts without adding excessive rolling resistance.
The Cinturato Gravel H is available in six sizes – 35, 40, 45 and 50mm for 700c wheels, and 45 and 50mm for 650b wheels.
It’s a shame there isn’t a super-wide option, such as a 29x2.2in (57mm), which is fast becoming a new trend.
The tyres are available with ‘Black’ or ‘Classic’ (brown) sidewalls, with the 700c x 50mm width only available in ‘Classic’.
The 50mm tyre on test is claimed to weigh 670g, but weighed 652g on my digital scales.
That’s heavier than both the Schwalbe G-One RS Pro (581g) and Panaracer GravelKing X1 TLR, which come in at 581g and 646g respectively (actual weight) in equivalent 50mm-widths – both tyres are also hardpack-specific.
It’s significantly lighter than a 50mm Pirelli Cinturato Gravel M though, which I weighed in at 706g.
Pirelli Cinturato Gravel H tyre installation
I set the tyres up tubeless on a set of Fulcrum Rapid Red 500 wheels on my Niner RLT 9 RDO gravel bike with Muc-Off sealant.
The tyres were quite difficult to install – I had to really concentrate to slip the first bead over and resorted to using a tyre lever. I thought both tyres had seated at just over 20psi using a track pump, but I noticed the front then lost all of its pressure a couple of hours later.
I removed the tyre and set it up from scratch again, this time with no problems with it not sealing or having to wrestle the first bead onto the rim.
I’m going to chalk this down as a one-off because I’ve not experienced this issue with any other Pirelli tyre.
The Fulcrum rims have a 23mm internal width and the tyre measured 51.46mm at 25psi.
After the bulk of my testing, I moved the tyres onto a 3T Extrema Italia with DT Swiss GRC 1400 Dicut wheels.
This experience proved much easier – the tyre wasn’t nearly as tight to fit onto the rim and the tyres seated on the first attempt with a track pump.
The tyres measured 51.61mm on the DT Swiss rims with a 24mm internal width.
How I tested wide gravel tyres
For this loosely titled ‘wide gravel tyres’ test, I pitted four 50mm tyres against each other.
This included two mixed-terrain options (Vittoria Terreno T50 and Schwalbe G-One RX Pro), hardpack rubber (Pirelli Cinturato Gravel H) and a tyre that straddles the line between gravel riding and cross-country mountain biking (Continental Terra Adventure).
Having conducted many tyre reviews for BikeRadar, I’ve developed a methodology for my testing over the years.
After being weighed, each tyre was set up tubeless and tested on the same Fulcrum Rapid Red 500 wheels on a Niner RLT 9 RDO gravel bike, as well as at least one other wheelset on a different bike to reach a definitive judgement on how easy or difficult they are to install, and how wide they inflate.
Each tyre was subjected to a mixture of short and long rides across a range of surfaces, in both wet and dry conditions. All of the tyres were tested on a 70km control loop in the flint-infested Chilterns, before being tested in at least two other environments to get an idea of what conditions the tyre excels in – because the perfect gravel bike tyre for every terrain type doesn’t exist.
The tyres were assessed for rolling resistance, grip, puncture protection and value for money across both wet and dry surfaces on varied terrain. I’ve ridden each tyre for at least 500km, and while that’s not enough to definitively comment on durability, it’s given me a flavour of what you can expect.
Since the tyres occupy different genres, I’ve drawn comparisons between them where I can, but I’ve also drawn on my wider experience with other tyres outside this group test, making more pertinent comparisons where applicable.
Pirelli Cinturato Gravel H tyre performance
I tested the Pirelli Cinturato Gravel H through a mix of dry and wet conditions on my usual trails around Bristol and the Chilterns in the UK, as well as a day trip to the Salisbury Plain.
After some initial experimentation, I settled on running 25psi / 1.7 BAR both front and rear for my 74kg weight.
The Cinturato Gravel H tyres impressed straightaway with their blisteringly fast ride – the difference in speed over a Cinturato Gravel M was noticeable (which is a fast tyre in itself).
The tyres feel like they ride faster than a Vittoria Terreno Dry (now the Terreno T30) and I think they pip both the Panaracer GravelKing X1 and Continental Terra Speed, too. It’s a closer-run battle with the Schwalbe G-One RS Pro, though.
Independent lab testing from BicycleRollingResistance.com found a 50mm Pirelli Cinturato Gravel H generated 21W of rolling resistance at 28psi / 1.9 BAR, while the Schwalbe G-One RS Pro pipped it at 18.2W at the same pressure.
The website hasn’t tested any of the other aforementioned tyres in a 50mm size, but has tested 40mm variants.
Here, the Cinturato Gravel H generated 19.5W of rolling resistance at 36psi / 2.5 BAR, while the Panaracer GravelKing X1 was 22.1W at 33psi / 2.3 BAR, and the Continental Terra Speed 17.8W at 36psi / 2.5 BAR. These results include setting the tyres up tubeless with 30ml of sealant.
For further context, BicycleRollingResistance.com found a 40mm Cinturato Gravel M generated 22.7W of rolling resistance at 33psi / 2.3 BAR – that’s only a 0.6W difference between the two.
It’s important to note that these tests were carried out in a laboratory, on a steel drum, and not in the real world – which is why I may have thought the Cinturato Gravel H rode faster than Continental’s Terra Speed. I certainly didn’t notice the almost 3W difference between these and the G-One RS Pros, though.
The Cinturato Gravel Hs were particularly impressive on the extended open gravel roads of Salisbury Plain and on dry fireroad descents at high speed.
They felt very supple, with an abundance of grip, and rolled happily over roots and loose debris. You don’t notice the 652g weight at all and they ride like lighter tyres.
I was less impressed by them on the more varied trails around Bristol, where there’s an abundance of chunky rocks, but they still rolled well and will get you through these sections. Fine, open gravel roads are where they really shine, though.
The Cinturato Gravel H also impressed on the road, with no squirming.
On my first ride in the Chilterns, it had rained heavily for two days before, so the trails were reasonably dry but with sections that were pretty saturated.
While they made mincemeat of wet hardpack, grass and light singletrack sections, I discovered very quickly these are not tyres for mud.
While they’ll sail you through mud patches in a straight line, I found I couldn’t always rely on them as soon as I headed to turn a corner – this is something Schwalbe’s G-One RS Pro does better, even if it’s not perfect either.
They’re certainly better than some dry-conditions tyres in mud, such as the Vittoria Terreno Dry and Continental Terra Speed, both of which are laughable. But the Cinturato Gravel H tyres are definitely best suited to the terrain they’re designed for.
I haven’t experienced any punctures during the 500km test period, and I can’t detect any loss of tread height. When I swapped the tyres between wheels at the 333km mark, I noticed a thorn had pierced the front tyre, but I’ll put that down to bad luck. Both tyres were otherwise spotless.
Like Pirelli’s other Cinturato tyres, they might not be the lightest, but I’ll take that for the excellent durability and puncture protection.
In terms of price, they’re expensive but worth parting with your cash for.
At £64.99 / $88.90 / €72.90 / AU$99, they’re more expensive than a Vittoria Terreno Dry (€58.95) or a Continental Terra Speed (£59.95). They’re also pricier than Panaracer’s GravelKing X1 TLR at £54.99 / $64.99 / €59.99 / AU$110.
However, there’s a night-and-day difference in ride quality between the Cinturato Gravel H and the Vittoria Terreno Dry, and while I appreciate the Continental Terra Speed’s suppleness, it comes at the expense of durability.
On hardpack terrain, the Pirelli Cinturato Gravel H trumps the Panaracer GravelKing X1 TLR, too, although the Panaracer is a better all-rounder when the trail conditions worsen.
Pirelli Cinturato Gravel H tyre bottom line
Pirelli’s Cinturato Gravel H tyres impress on wet and dry hardpack with their need for speed.
Alongside the Schwalbe G-One RS Pro (albeit for different reasons), I can’t think of a better tyre for these conditions and if you live in an arid environment, free of mud, they should go straight to the top of your list.
The Cinturato Gravel M is a better all-rounder for typical, all-season UK conditions, but there’s no denying the riotous fun you can have on a Cinturato Gravel H in the heat of summer.
Product
| Brand | Pirelli |
| Price | A$99.00, €72.90, £64.99, $88.90 |
| Weight | 652g |
Features
| TPI | 120 |
| Bead | Bead-to-bead protective belt |
| Features | SpeedGRIP compound, TechWALL casing |
| Tyre sizes | 700c x 35, 40, 45 and 50mm or 650b x 45 and 50mm |
