![]() ![]() Given the narrower profile and lower weight, I was still left wondering which surface was best for this tire: road or gravel? Ultimately the product’s marketing line (“All day comfort and protection on dirt and gravel”) provided the last incentive that I needed to go ahead and buy the tires. The biggest bonus of this slimmer tire is the weight that comes in at only 260g per tire. ![]() Although the 700x26C is not tubeless compatible, it ranked very well with the other tires in the GravelKing product line-up. The tread pattern showed promise and although not as rough as the Schwalbe, it provided just enough grip to distinguish this tire from a slick road tire. ![]() The stated width for this tire hits the sweet spot between 25 and 28mm, exactly what I wanted. On paper, the Panaracer GravelKing 700x26C tire had everything that I wanted to complete my road-to-gravel-bike experiment. It turns out I was right and my patience in the search for a slightly wider paid off.enter the Panaracer GravelKing 700x26C tire! I kept telling myself that there had to be another option that provided a bit more width, even if it was 1mm, which could allow me to run the tires at slightly lower pressures. I could, however, not get myself to take the jump and buy this tire. The tread pattern on this tire also seemed to offer a bit more traction when compared to a slick tire. #Panaracer gravel king plusAfter numerous searches, I discovered the Schwalbe Marathon Plus 700x25C tire that claimed some very promising puncture protection. The field of tires suitable for gravel riding is greatly reduced once you opt to restrict selections to widths less than 28mm. Perhaps another brand that didn’t run as wide could be accommodated, but I decided to restrict my search from here on out to tires with stated width less than 28mm. The bottom line was that the GatorSkin 700x28C tires, once inflated, didn’t have enough room in my Trek’s frame. I’ll spare you the details, but be sure to follow this link if you’d like to nerd out on some tire terminology. In a search for better tire measurements, 3T developed two new definitions when it comes to tire sizing: WAM (width as measured) and RAM (radius as measured). This discrepancy in tire sizes is driven by the internal width of the rim, the tire pressure and also the manufacturer’s honesty. Tires have the tendency to balloon out and measure in wider than stated on the packaging. The challenge with finding the correct tire size is that the width as stated on the tire, and the actual size, once inflated fully, does not always match up. Clearly this tire choice wasn’t the best option and I had to find another solution. The first tire in the experiment (responsible for the frame rub) was the Continental GatorSkin 700x28C tire. I can make that statement from experience and the picture serves as proof. This can be a risky move, since the additional tire size can easily cause rubbing against the frame. The luxury of fitting such wide tires on a standard road bike is, however, not an option, and the widest that many riders will be able to squeeze into the frame is a 28mm tire. My discussion will be based on a traditional road bike (with rim-brakes) since most modern-day disc brake road bikes are easily able to accommodate tire sizes of up to 30mm. The first order of business was to look for the widest possible tire that I could run on my Trek Domane 4.0. In order for this set-up to work, the tire choice would be critical. Mild gravel, as stated in my opening-line, would be the only thing that my bike would be able to endure, especially with the rim-brakes fitted to the bike. I knew that my options for gravel riding with a standard road bike would be fairly limited, since the roads in my area already forced me to fit some wide 40mm tires to my gravel bike. Could I take a traditional road bike and turn it into something that was semi-usable for gravel riding? I was curious to see how much more versatility I could squeeze out of this bike. My trusty old road bike, the Trek Domane 4.0, has already been through a few experiments, and you might have seen my previous post about the (failed) project to convert this bike into a Triathlon/TT set-up. After seeing hardcore gravel riders crush races like the Belgian Waffle Ride (San Diego edition), while on board regular road bikes, it sparked my interest to also give it a go. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, through which we earn a commission.Ī few months ago I had the crazy idea that I wanted to use my standard road bike for a few mild gravel rides. ![]()
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