Gravel Vs Road Tyres | How Much Slower Are Gravel Tyres? 

The problem with the smooth roller isn't necessarily its smoothness, but rather the fact that it touches the wheel over a smaller area. This deforms the wheel much more than it would over tarmac, which probably shifts the results in favor of narrower and harder tires.

I don't know about y'all but I was rooting for the gravel tires.

This test would be useful comparing different gravel tire patterns for those that want the best hybrid tyre for road and gravel use. Your proposed sequel would be quite obvious - the road tires would never ride a gravel course to even begin competing with the gravel tires, but probably more comparable on the reverse on tarmac.

I appreciate this test because I take my gravel bike (with gravel tires) out with my roadie friends and now I can explain why I just can keep up with them instead dropping them.

you guys finally have found the steepest hill in England, i see

I'm not usually much of a RU-vid commenter, but I have to tell you both how much I appreciate your videos. I'm a nerd by nature and maybe a *budding* cyclist, who's probably way too deep into the weeds of the physics of making my bike faster without nearly the same work ethic on making myself stronger. This is exactly the kind of data I was looking for in setting up my commuter. Thank you guys so much.

Rollers apply friction much differently than a smooth road. Yes, please do efforts on smooth road and gravel and compare power, would love to see that!!

The second test should have been climbing up a muddy hill. I'd like to see a road tire do that ;)

That’s some very smooth gravel! It would be interesting to try this test on a surface with a bit more grit.

Nice comparison! It would have even been better if you included a fat 40mm slick tyre :-)

I absolutely love the things you guys/gals do on this channel and I have learnt so much and I’m just a hobby cyclist 😃but I’m totally hooked on all of you , keep up the awesome work cheers from Australia ❤️👍

Nice job, guys! Despite the comments, reasonably well done. I use my cross/gravel bike (Giant TCX w 40mm tires) as a training bike on local bike trails & intervals, & ...gravel. Makes riding my road bikes (w 25 or 28mm tires) easier.

Would have been nice to see a comparison of different pressures for the same width gravel tire ... or compare a 38mm to 47mm gravel tire at same or different pressures. These would be useful!

Can these two just make ALL the videos together?! Wonderful job guys.

I was looking for exactly this video, because I wanted to know whether I need a road tire or not. Many thanks for this timely upload.

... sustained 45kph: Chris Opie is my hero. Great subject - I'm sure it's pretty much top of mind for most of us

I'd be intrigued to see where the "crossover" point might be in conditions is where the various gravel tyres (and there's a lot of variety) take over from road tyres in performance. My commuter/gravel bike has a pair of "light gravel" tyres on there, and the roads are so bad around me that I'm fairly certain they're just as quick as my road tyres most days.

That was a fascinating test. I didn't actually realise there would be that much of a performance loss in switching to gravel tires. This makes me question my plan of switching from road tires to gravel tires. Thanks for providing this super useful information.

The Gopro mount is a great addition. The perspective is really cool. Got myself one a few weeks ago. Couldnt try it yet since my collarbone is still broken, but its really cool to see you use it👍

Continental 4 season 32mm tyres, avg 30,5 km whenever i ride it, and also good for gravel/tarmac/and Belgium roads here!😉👍

This is good information for bicycle touring, where people have to keep the tire choice they made for their trip. I would like to see a test of touring tires carrying heavier loads.

Cool video. What I would’ve like to see is a test similar to the ones you did on the rollers, but outside. Just find a flat smooth section of road, ride at the same power, but use different tires and pressures to see how long it takes to go a set distance. This would also account for aerodynamics of the tire. The only variable might be the wind, but you could repeat the efforts enough times to mostly eliminate that.

Wow chaps, you deserve a thumbs up just for the amount of times you swapped out the tyres!! May I suggest that next time you procure a couple of cheap wheelsets (assuming the budget can't stretch Zipps). Using cheaper wheels will have a minimal effect on results. Then again, on the flip side, changing so many tyres may have strengthened your "thumbs up" 😁😁😂👍👍👍👍

great test! and I liked the scientific approach even if its limited :). I would definitely enjoy another gravel vs road video. maybe another idea: how much rolling resistance do you loose than switching to tubeless?

So, you're telling me that I should train with gravel, race with road tires?

On the 'road' side of things, it would be neat to have a comparison of the 19mm Continental Competition tubular vs. a 23mm (same tire).

Great comparison! I liked your Gravel vs. Road bike video as well. Last comparison you need to help people understand these bikes is Gravel Bike with road tires vs. Road Bike with road tires. I run road tires on my gravel bike for training, then swap wheels for Gravel events, trails etc...I would love to know how much my $1,600 gravel bike stacks up against a road bike apples to apples.

I like "everyday-science". These tests where fun to watch and had some good insights. I am riding 2 tire options: 1. GP4000 28mm 2. GP 4Season 32mm (in "winter-times"). I find myself being about 3 km/h slower with the winter version (average somewhere 30km/h). To be honest I had to get used to that reduction of "road-fun" :-( BUT the grip on wet and cold roads in autumn/winter was MUCH better with the 4Season. MUCH better! Next autumn I will get back to the 4Season. You always have that painful equation of comfort-safety-speed-durability-xyz. EVERY tire is a compromise. I found 2 good ones for my usage.

Damn I had no idea it made this much of a diff. I knew it made a diff, but this is insane. Great video as always chaps.

I would prefer to see tests comparing these two types of tires on a road and with a speed that average cyclist ride, like 30 km/h. Test like that might be extremely useful for someone considering buying a bike with drop handlebars

Thanks guys lots of effort went into this!

You guys are the Mythbusters of Cycling 😄💪🏼

Great test! I would really like to have seen something like 32mm gravel vs 32mm slicks though. How much would I save on my 40 min commute by swapping out my gravel tyres with road tyres ?

Thanks for doing this comparison, guys!

Wow, I am commuting all year around, using GP 5000s (late spring, summer and fall), Schwalbe winter marathons (winter) and G-Ones (early spring). I would never have guessed the differences to be this huge! I have just bought myself a power meter, so I will probably do some own testing. Very interesting subject, thanks for interesting video!

I'm typically about 2 MPH slower on my cross bike with Surly Knards than I am on the road bike with GP4000s. The only thing surprising about this to me was just how many more watts it took to maintain the same speed with the gravel tires at 40 psi vs the road tires at 90 psi. I'm feeling a lot better about my speed differential now.

rolling resistance is, well, rolling resistance. Gravel/larger tread tires provide more grip and control on loose surfaces. I think that's the science of how they are designed.

Good video guys. Keep it up I love this channel.

I found this presentation really useful particularly in the scenario where a long tour/expedition ride that may include both off-road/gravel and on-road conditions. I would be tempted to fit robust gravel tyres but tests like this give me some indication of the price I would pay (in increased energy consumption) when going onto the tarmac road.

Try testing a given power output on a surface type, including corners? Roll down tests are interesting, but don't tell us much about day to day riding.

Great video, always improved by seeing Oli run.

I just went on a ride using gravel tires (Vittoria Terreno Dry 40mm) with my dad for fathers day that went on a bunch of roads I had recently done with road tires (Continental Gatorskin 32mm) and this sounds about right, although I think my Terreno Dry tires are a bit faster than those continentals cause they have a file tread.

Love these videos!!

i ride specialized pathfinder pro's on my gravel bike, they have a raised slick center and on tarmac that's pretty much the only thing in contact as a result even though they are 40mm wide and run them at lowish pressures they feel and go like road tyres

Compare max cornering speed on loose gravel between those 2..... Amazing differences aswell im sure..

I would love to see an analysis of whether the difference in power requirement is impacted by the speed. I.e. is the ratio consistent of us performance more similar at less top end speeds

I love this Orbea Terra. Saw it in John's Bikes a year ago and wanted to steal it so bad

Another video please! Can you do the same tests using a same tire but mounted tubeless -vs- tubed? (and try at various pressures of say 12psi, 20psi, 40psi and 70psi)

When we ride bikes, our power output needs to be transferred to the surface to create forward movement. Gravel tires have tread to enable this transfer on the rougher/loose surface, in conditions where a smooth tire would slip. It's like running on a track with trainers vs spikes. If you're just casually running (like coasting downhill) trainers would be somewhat equal to spikes, but as you start putting power down (like pedaling) spikes gain advantage as they're able to "grip" the surface.

Come back and have a go down Poldice Valley Chris, great place to test those Road Tyres 😎👊🏻👍🏻

Every video with Oli running is a great video 😂😂😂

Excellent! Thanks guys!

Would have loved Chris to be performing sprints uphill with both tires and different surfaces. It's always uphill and front wind for all of us. Actually both tests should've been on level ground or nearly similar leveled ground and compared on power used through distance at or time. nevertheless it wouldn't be scientific anyway.

you need to test in a situation that traction is required, make it uphill in gravel!

Great test! Great use of science! Thanks!

when I see the difference in power in this video and compare it to my own experience: conti raceking race sport 2.2" mtb tyres v.s. conti p5000 25mm road ending up with only +- 2km/h speed difference around 30km/h on same intensity. My guess is that roller with offroad tires is just a very bad combination (they tend to flex around it as if it's a bump in the road).

I have been in need of a good winter bike for a while now. I bought a gravel bike because the country roads around where I live might as well be gravel on account of the detritus left by tractors and lorries. I have never felt safer and enjoyed not having to worry so much about the state of the roads. It has encouraged me out to ride on days I might have considered otherwise. Much more fun. The fact that road tyres go quicker is really not the point, entertaining though this video was. I might point out that I am a rider in my 60's. I do however look forward to getting my titanium road bike ot in the better weather.

Hope you put this test through an ethics committee Oli.

I like the re-aperance of the cheap bike in the background of the roller

Thank you, it was interesting. I use 30mm clinchers with inner tubes on 17mm rim. I like 30mm cyclocross tires best. Even though the minimum inflation is marked 4bar I usually use less.. about 3 bar at front and 4 at rear. I suspect all this 40mm wide tires talk is just marketing trick, to make people to convert to tubeless system. I have tried 35 and 42mm wide tires too. with inner tunes. I felt it would become un safe if I let tire pressure to my liking. I only use 40 mm tires at winter to ride in snow and ice.. those are studded tires.. And they are made with dight fiting beads. So they stay on even with pressure less than 2bars. Also on winter, on ice I would ride more slower and carefully anyways. My opinion is that 30mm wide tires really are better and more fun to ride.. The gravel specific tires? what on earth are those? Is it like you take a support car with you and then they hand you another pair of tires or whole bike when you reach to a sandy or really muddy spot? That gravel you rode there. That's not real gravel. Or it is gravel, but not a real life situation. There's so many different type of gravel that you may meet on same ride. You may plan your route ahead, but when you get to there, the road you selected is freshly graded.. muddy soft surface.. Or some loggers, or random tractors have ruined it. sand. mud. then the road is actually closed and have to take a detour on asphalt.. These so called gravel tires, will they actually work on such road? How many kilometers on asphalt before the tread is all gone? I understand gravel bike, but gravel tires? All I ask is 30mm cyclocross tire that withstand also asphalt.. I mean an allarounder. I love Schwalbe cx pro tires, but the rear tire wears on smooth asphalt extremely fast.. and seems the carcass threads are start to showing fast too.. Even though the tire tread isn't too worn yet. Which I don't really understand. How does that happens so fast. Is it that tiny rocks and sand on gravel, reach to between knobs of tread and wear it..Or lately I started to think, that maybe it happens when I brake very hard on asphalt.. maybe it digs somehow treads through to surface? Because the tire isn't really meant to ride on asphalt.. it has too deep and soft tread. Here's also a video, showing the kind of gravel I meet on my rides time to time: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-TiVo2U3auzg.html I think that if I had 42mm tires there. I would not have been able to ride there as long as I could with 30mm cx tires. with narrow tire I rode as fast as I could. Then it was easier than riding slow. I rest when got too exhaust and again as fast as could. It's easier to push narrower tire through of mud and cain speed. Also surprisingly on bumpy road I never have had a pinch flat.. I'm using schwalbe sv17 inner tubes. They are for commuters, but really durable and I can use them for my 30mm cx tires and on winter with 40mm suomi tires as well.

Hello from a manual wheelchair user. Could you please do one of your videos like this one for wheelchair users and builders to be able to make more informed choices about tyres. Nice video. Thank you.

I know you said there is a time and a place for each. I’d be really interested to know how much slower the different tyres would be for the same width to make the comparison a little closer.

my cross bike got clearance for 48-50mm tyres. now running 700x33 will be swapping for 650x48 commuter tyres. it's gonna be a comfort ride

You can tell it is a science experiment at 5:50 when 45.8 is rounded to 46. Still, if Emma was doing the experiment, she would round it to 2 being an engineer

Dunno why I have been watching this channel so much lately since I havent owned anything but MTBs

I replaced the knobby 32 mm tires in my B-Twin Triban 100 with Vittoria Zaffiros, 25 mm. front and 28 mm. rear. It really pays off during longer rides.

I really liked the test on rollers :-) . I don't have a power meter, so thank you for the power stats on rollers ;-) , maybe a chance for a video? How much power you need to ride on rollers to a certain speed with different tyre pressure? :-)

What surprised me was the NOISE of the gravel tires on the rollers. I ride trikes on paved or hard packed trails and I was wondering if I should get a more all terrain tire. These guys helped me alot. My answer is....nope. Gonna go hi pressure road tire

I saw a test the other day where they found the wider tyre actually had less rolling resistance on a flat surface (Road) as opposed to a skinny one with higher pressure. It was because the narrow spread length wise as opposed to width

Nice review and conclusions are well what we expected. But what about tires when there is a mix of tarmac and unevenness roads. Would you use gravel (like Schwalbe marathon+) or you remain in slick with the risk of a puncture ?

excellent video guys!

Nicely done comparisons. The energy output differences were a bit shocking, but consistent with “seat of the pants” subjective impressions.

Good test ! I bought a gravel bike but I usually do road and sometimes gravel, and I have 2.10" gravel tire and i use to run 100km easy with those, I can't imagine with just road tire 😊😎

Found it interesting. I'd probably have a set of road tyres as well in that case for group rides if I only had a gravel bike

Interesting - bicycle quarterly did a similar test but with slick, very supple compass tyres on imperfect tarmac and they basically found that rolling resistance decreed as they tyres got bigger until they reached 28c at which point rolling resistance pretty much levelled out until they reached absurdly large volumes of over 50c - they also found that tyre pressure has little to no impact in rolling resistance, so long as the tyres are slick, supple and light-weight.

Great comparison! There are some gravel tires on the market that offer the best of both worlds. Problem is again APPLES to ORANGES... they suffer in other areas. My favorite tire to date is the Vittoria Torreno Dry G2.0. Fast rolling on most surfaces and the knobs on the outside help with tracking and cornering. Of course this is just my 2 cents or 2 p for you blokes on the other side of the pond. ;)

Great video… would the difference remain constant at more inclined climbs? Or would the difference be exponential?

1) you should find either a road that has equal section of smooth tarmac, rough tarmac and gravel, or do separate tests with reasonable power output(not to overwhelm road tire on gravel section) on those 3 types of surface 2)do speedrun on same conditions as 1) 3)take 3 or 4 types of tire - road(maybe add 2 types of road tire), smooth, fat gravel and this type of gravel. maybe drop in xc bike on smth like schwalbes 2.35 fat g-one

excellent tips now i know what tyre to choose

Heavy guy here. Will be looking at a gravel-like bike soon and IMHO 28mm is wide. I was used to having 23mm tires on my road bike.

This was a great comparison. How about the GP 5000 vs a Gatorskin. I only ask because I flat quit a bit even on Gatorskins. But I would really like to ride my GP 4000 if it was really worth it. Just asking.

great vid - should have done a wet grassy bank ascent too

Nice job, maybe do the same thing with wider slicks?

I ride wtb byway 47mm tubeless tire with 2.5 bar on the road with group race rides and most of my times I ride on my race with 28mm tire with 6,5bar conti 4000 with inner tube I also ride with power meter but the group rides with my gravel I get a normalized power of 250 and with race 220watt I did some solo tests on a 3km road same day same wind conditions and so with same power 250watt I had a avarage speed on my gravel of 31,1 and with my race of 33,2km/h I know the wtb byway is almost a road tire. but tells me a bit howmuch more effort I have to put in when riding my gravel bike on the road :) Also few weeks ago we had a climb with our group ride 6% avarage over 1km first part smooth asfalt last part koppelsstones. first part I had to hang on and almost got dropped, when we hid the koppels, I rode past every one with ease :)

I commute 20 miles one way to work on diverge a1. All pavement. I do rides on crushed limestone sometimes. What tire should I be using? Currently using Armadillos.

Cool test. Honestly, for most uses the road tire is better until the road gets technical or the surface has lots of sharp rocks that can puncture.

Thanks GCN! Now I know that a GP5000 rolls faster than a knobby gravel tire. Kidding. Love GCN.

Nice video, Where can I get one of those GCN rain suit. It would be nice to have in the Big Easy of New Orleans.....

I like the idea of using a power meter. Great job!

We need a video on how much slower a gravel bike with road tires is than a dedicated road tire! WE NEED IT.

It would be interesting to see a test with a wide smooth tire with supple sidewalls, see for example Rene Herse, nee Compass Cycles.

You 're really making me consider new tyres on my adventure bike...

These experiments are so much fun!

Do a 15km ride @ 250w on both and compare the times

I really enjoyed this video. 10/10

I can’t afford all that fancy equipment... but when I switched my gravel tires on my ebike to some smooth tires I noticed a huge difference...

I have two similar(ish) carbon road bikes - an S-Works Roubaix that runs 28mm Conti GP 4000s and a Merida Ride 7000 that runs 35mm Schwalbe G Ones. I honestly can't (unscientifically) tell the difference in speed on a tarmac road. The G Ones are ridiculously smoother on rough bitumen and stupidly better on gravel. For me, on all surfaces and multi surfaced rides (which is almost all of my rides), the 35mm G Ones win.

Excelente video!!!

Would be great to have two sets of tyres but unfortunately, I have to choose only one. Given the lack of faith I have towards road tyres on gravel, I will have to live with been a little slower or not been able to go as far. Thanks guys. Good test.

I own a Cannondale Topstone2 Gravelbike. After this test - I am thinking, instead of buying a additional road-bike it would make more sense to buy two extra rims with road-tires of faster road-trips. Is this correct or are there more benefits if I dont want to race?