Gravel by it’s nature is a category defying type of riding and riders play freestyle with the kit they choose. Vittoria are suggesting that the Terreno Dry is the dry condition tyre in their developing range of gravel/off road tyres. That ‘Dry’ moniker is a bit of a misnomer. We’d encourage you to ignore it rather than miss out on something special.

The Vittoria Terreno Dry is very similar in design to the trusted WTB Byway. It mixes a relatively smooth centre tread with more aggressive outside edge knobs. This type of tread profile works well and makes a lot of sense for the majority of gravel riding. Tested here is the 650b variant in the now ubiquitous width of 47c. For big wheel fans, the Vittoria Terreno Dry is also available in many 700c widths.

Ramp it up

The tread itself is actually quite interesting and worth looking at in detail. Each knob is slightly ramped with a fast rolling edge, offering little resistance to the surface presented to it. This means they roll really well and give a good feeling of grip. Even more so when you pull the brakes on. The tyre has a really smooth, controlled persona when you need it. Like when a driver pulls out on you without looking as you ride along to collect the kids from school – it’s not all gravel glamour all the time.

Vittoria Terreno Dry works well on this stuff. Even when wet.

In addition, these ramped knobs give a very confidence inspiring feeling when you engage a fast turn on wet, unsurfaced roads.You can really feel the grip available. The side knobs, which are more pronounced but not aggressive, give soft ground bite allowing you to keep the momentum up when the road changes to dirt. They don’t slow you down when you change surface either but tend to let you hold your speed really well. In terms of weight, they come in at 550g which is respectable – we wouldn’t say they are light or heavy they are what they are.

Casts a gnarly shadow too…

Fit and Forget?

One feature of the construction we liked was the mechanical support the tyre has when you run it a little lower than you should. Ours were set up tubeless and we started at 30psi. They didn’t seem to leak so we let some air out to see what happened if they were run even softer. The general robustness of the sidewalls meant the tyre still felt assured as low as 18psi. The Vittoria Terreno Dry would be great for those who like to adjust regularly for varying conditions – again, making this tyre more adaptable than you may think.

That tread pattern performs better than you’d give it credit for.

There are so many options now in gravel/all-road tyres and we think the Vittoria Terreno Dry is a perfect choice if you have a 50/50 mix of terrain in your riding. They perform well on tarmac, broken roads, gravel and paths you might not think they would work on at all. If you are the sort of rider (like me) who doesn’t like changing tyres often and just likes to ‘fit and forget’ then these come recommended. They do so much so well we can’t see a reason why you wouldn’t enjoy them. The Vittoria Terreno Dry is priced at £46.99 for the TNT (tubeless) version we rode, which makes them a premium option but one that is justified.

Didn’t slip on the leaves. Honest!

Conclusion

Ignore the Dry name. These work in pretty much any conditions you’ll encounter barring slick mud. But then, what tyre would with this profile? Superb construction, air retention and grip. The overall package of 3 compounds, fast rolling leading edge treads and confident braking performance gave us comfortable, predictable and smooth handling on anything we rode.