Written by:
We’ve done our fair share of tyre reviews here at ADVNTR over the years, but this season has seen us test out more winter gravel bike tyres than ever before. But what are the best winter gravel bike tyres that you should consider spending your hard earned cash on? We’ve put together some of our favourites here.
What should you look for in winter gravel bike tyres?
Depending on where and what you ride, you’ll need to consider a few different things when you’re searching for the best winter tyre for your gravel bike.
Bike constraints
First, consider the constraints of your bike. You can dream of plush 47 mm wide tyres all you like, but if you’ve only got tyre clearance for 40 mm, then you’d better narrow your search. Are you running 700c or 650b wheels? Are you going to set up tubeless or (dare I say it) tubed? Do your wheels have a suitable internal rim width for your chosen tyre width?
Road/off-road ratio
The ratio of road and off-road riding that you do on your gravel bike will have an influence on what gravel tyre is best for you. If you ride a lot of roads, with just a few sections of off-road trails, then you’re more likely to appreciate a gravel tyre that’s designed to minimise rolling resistance for a fast feeling on the paved sections, whereas if your ration tilts heavily in favour of off-road, then grip is likely to be more of a priority.
Trail conditions
When you do venture off-road, what’s it like? Do you have well maintained gravel roads, or are you likely to find a lot of deep mud? Are you lucky to have a lot of dry trails, even in winter? These will likely influence what kind of tread will suit your riding best.
These are just a few points to think about, not even touching on volume, puncture protection or budget… So you probably get the idea that the ‘best’ winter gravel bike tyre is dependent on what and where you ride. Having said that, here are a few that we’ve been testing and rating lately.
ADVNTR’s winter gravel bike tyre picks
Panaracer GravelKing EXT Plus
Tested by James Malone in 700c x 38, they also come in narrower ‘cross-bike-friendly 33 and 35 mm widths. ‘A fast rolling, good looking tyre that gets its teeth into the trails exactly when you need them to, especially in the wet’.
Rated 8/10 by James, these are an ‘undeniably great all rounder’ and suit routes that mix road and trail at about 50/50.
There was little to complain about, but we’d love to see these in some wider sizes and 650b in the future.
RRP £50, €57, $68
The Panaracer GravelKing EXT Plus impressed in James Malone’s test
Maxxis Ravager SS
The more aggressive cousin of the popular Maxxis Rambler, the Ravager SS tyres certainly lived up to their name, according to tester Michael Drummond.
Grip was obviously high on the design priority list here, and according to Michael the Maxxis Ravager gravel tyres ‘grip like a coffee lover holds onto the morning’s first brew’. Excellent.
All this grip comes at a cost; rolling resistance. So if your rides are more off-road than off, these could be for you. Take a step back to the GravelKing EXTs if you’re more road-orientated.
RRP £49.99 €54 $60
According to Michael Drummond,
Halo GXC
The new kid (tyres) on the block, the GXC is the most aggro of Halo Wheels’ new gravel tyre drop, which is made up of three tread patterns.
Touted as an ‘all-rounder’ and ‘aggressive’ tyre, tester Will Jones found the diamond patterned tread lived up to this in most conditions, with the dreaded clay being the one exception. They also run pretty fast on the road too.
RRP £49.99 $69.99
The market newcomer GXC tyre from Halo Wheels
Teravail Rutland
Reviewed and absolutely raved about by ADVNTR’s former editor, James, last year, the Rutland tyres from Teravail certainly deserve a spot here. They come in a huge range of sizes, in both 650b (47 mm and 2.1″ widths) and 700c (38,42,47 mm, and 2.2″).
After trying these for herself on the Stayer Groadinger UG bike review, Katherine can see why they were such a hit! Heaps of grip even through proper winter slop, but magically fast-rolling on the roads too for longer mixed terrain rides. Bingo!
RRP £50 €50 $60
The Teravail Rutland tyres (650b x 47 mm) have really impressed moving into slop season
WTB Nano
A year-round favourite with Editor Katherine, it’s hard to go wrong with a set of Nanos. Available in a mid-range 40 mm width for 700c or a mega 2.1″ 29er tyre, the humble Nano has been around on the ‘gravel’ market for a long while.
Great grip in a wide range of conditions without sacrificing (too much) rolling speed is key to the Nano’s success, and of course they’re also available in tan sidewall if that’s your thing.
RRP £44.99 $59.95 €50.75
The WTB Nano is a firm favourite for many, and not just for winter riding
WTB Sendero
Essentially a mountain bike tyre in miniature, the pronounced knobs of the 650b only WTB Sendero (47 mm wide) indicates that this one means business.
As well as impressing the original review rider a few years back, they’re the winter gravel tyre choice for ADVNTR contributors Tangwyn Andrews and James Stockhausen.
Our only gripe is that we’d like them in 700c too please WTB!
RRP £44.99 $59.95 €50.75
The chunky Sendero is essentially a MTB tyre in miniature
Ritchey Megabite WCS
Just a little wider than UCI legal cyclo-cross tyres at 700c x 38 mm, the Megabites from Ritchey should interest anyone that has to deal with a hefty helping of mud on their winter gravel rides.
Although technically designed for cyclo-cross, there’s no reason why you can’t enjoy this robust rubber on mixed surfaces too.
€54.95 (approx £49) $49.95
A grippy mud tyre designed for cyclo-cross racing that also comes in pretty handy for foul trail conditions
Ultradynamico Rosé Robusto
Choose from three different treads (Rosé, Cava and Mars) and three different tyre compounds (Race, Just For Fun, Robusto) with the Ultradynamico tyre range from US trend epicentre Ron and Pat.
Dan Monaghan tested out the most reinforced model of the Rosé tread, a series of central chevrons, shoulder triangle knobs and file tread through the British winter months.
After getting them seated, these really impressed on mixed terrain riding, although with the cost of import to Europe they’re certainly not a budget choice for most.
$75, £75 (approx €62)
The Ultradynamico Rosé Robusto proved to be a great choice for British conditions
Pending…
We’ve a few more winter gravel tyre reviews in the works, so look out for James Malone’s review of the Vittoria Terreno Wet with Air-Liner tyre inserts coming soon.
What’s your go-to winter gravel bike tyre choice? Let us know in the comments! Check out the rest of our gravel tyre reviews here.
Last modified: 21st January 2021
Schwalbe Marathon Mondial 26 x 2.0 – mainly because there isn’t much choice for the humble 26″ wheel at the moment (unless you go bigger). It’s a pretty bullet proof tyre that copes with most things thrown at it…though I do notice and appreciate the difference when summer returns and I get to pop on something lighter!
The WTB Nano does quite well in light snow as well. Not so good on ice, but that’s when the Schwalbe Marathon Winters come out.
Have the Rutlands and so far have been excellent although not had the chance to give them a long ride as yet.
Oh and they are supporting a Stayer too
Hi guys,
You haven’t said much about puncture resistance. That is a pity because I guess we all chose by: grip off road, speed on road, durability/puncture resistance.
😉
Heya Paolo, good point there. This is just a summary, for the full details on each tyre review click through. If you’re looking for ultimate puncture protection, the recently released WTB SG2 range might be up your street! Cheers
Rutlands are ok for easy riding but prefer Schwalbe G-one Ultrabite on proper trails
Hey Katherine!! Thanks for this article. I’ve been looking for new tires for this winter and there are that many in the market that makes it very hard to decide. I recently did a 200km race with 90% mud (deeeeep mud) and I was lucky enough to mount the Vittoria Barzo (29×2.1) on my monster bike. I was planning to ride with my usual WTB Riddle 700×45, but oh! Am I happy I went with the Vittoria ones! Despite not being the fastest ones on the 10% tarmac left of the race, I did appreciate this larger 2.1. (oh, and zero punctures! which I really appreciated after 17h of racing). I’ve fallen that much in love with the Vittoria tires since then that I think I’m gonna get a pair of Vittoria Terreno Wet to see if I can get some speed for the next muddy events. Can’t wait to read your thoughts about them!! 🙂
Cool! James Malone is testing the Terreno Wets at the moment, but I also ran them myself a couple winters ago and can vouch for them! They were brilliantly grippy in the filth – as after all they were designed as a cyclo-cross tyre – but the one negative I did find was that they didn’t last very long before the sidewalls started seeping sealant, maybe 5 or 6 months. But yeah, for muddy conditions, hard to fault them.
I dont rate Gravelkings at all, in 1st week of using a pair I got 3 punctures. Friends have suffered similarly but continue to use them because they are so highly rated by cycling mags. I dont get it, Id rather be riding than inflating. The best tyres I’ve used so far are Michelin Power Gravels, with G-one Allroad next but they wear out quickly. Anything except slicks can get through any mud, it’s just down to gearing and tyre pressure.
Well as with any tyre brand/model, there’s typically multiple options on offer. Cheaper and lighter options tend to have less puncture protection, so make sure you look out for that next time you’re in the market for some tyres!
All variants of gravelkings claim to have puncture protection. The ones I had were SK. All variants of Gravelkings are more expensive than Michelins, and my experience is they have proven to be far better value.