Get some reliable rubber for riding on mixed terrain with our pick of the best gravel bike tyres

The performance-orientated Bontrager GR2 Team Issue TLR gravel tyre has you covered pretty much whatever the condition or terrain, hence we’ve selected it in our top position for the best gravel tyres of this year. 

Impressively, with this gravel tyre you can pretty much venture wherever you fancy without having to worry about grip or traction. Suited to any situation, whether that be riding along hardpack gravel, through technical wooded singletrack, over rocky terrain and even over mud. These tyres have your back and offer a very impressive level of versatility and all at a very reasonable price. 

Overall, this is a fantastic tyre. It handles well both on road as well as off and it has impressive sidewall protection to prevent punctures from occurring. However, the only set back regarding these tyres is that they only come in one size option of 700c x 40mm. 

Yes they’re pricey, but the Challenge Gravine gravel tyres will last you a lot of miles, and are also great tyres for using on various different types of terrain as they’re pretty fast on the road too. 

Our reviewer said the tyres offered great grip, and did their primary job of shedding mud on tough terrain very well. The Gravine is more than that though, as it apppears to be a genuine all-rounder that excells on dusty, dry surfaces too, and even Tarmac. 

The only issue is that they’re quite tricky to fit, and are expensive… but if you invest the cash and the time to stick ’em on your rims, you won’t be disappointed. 

The Goodyear Connector Ultimate gravel tyre offers brilliant all round grip regardless of the terrain you’re adventuring across, making it a great option for those who enjoy riding in varied weather as well as on varied terrain.

Interestingly, although this tyre offers fantastic all round grip, it also performs surprisingly well with regards to road speed. The brilliant grip offered by the Connector Ultimate is due to the tread which consists of a virtually continuous central band of tightly-packed shallow blocks, which vary in widths. Moreover, the shoulder of the tread has larger, more widely spaced and high tread blocks with the largest Y-shaped blocks providing added grip.

Overall, these tyres can feel a little on the stiff side when run at higher pressures and they are also slightly narrower than claimed. But, they are great value and very robust. They also come in sizes: 650b x 50mm, 700c x 35mm, 700c x 40mm and 700c x 50mm, therefore there’s a decent range in size options to suit your demands.

IRC’s Boken Plus is a semi-slick multi-surface tyre which is a lot more versatile than you might expect at first glance. It looks like it’d roll well on tarmac, and it does, however, it’s also surprisingly capable on much rougher terrain too. 

With regards to the tyre itself, this semi-slick option has a solid central tread pattern which gradually becomes more open the further from the centre line. This design feature is to allow for reduced resistance while riding along smooth surfaces and the more open treat is great for cornering.  They offer great all round performance on varied terrain as well as impressive grip in wetter conditions. 

Although these tyres deliver great versatility as well as puncture protection, the Broken Plus are slightly on the heavier side for tyres.

Essentially a 700c mountain bike tyre according to our reviewer, this tyre is the one if you really want to tackle tough terrain on your gravel bike. It looks very much like a scaled-down version of the Maxxis Minion SS MTB tyre and you can treat it very much as such, allowing you to take your gravel bike to places other slender treaded bikes might shy away from.

For venturing beyond gravel and onto pretty much everything and anything else, the Ravager is a really capable and, more importantly, fun tyre, if you can live with the slightly sluggish performance on Tarmac and slim profile.

This quality gravel tyre from Michelin has a lot going for it, with great durability, grip and puncture protection all at a reasonable price point. 

It’s a small-knobbled tyre for grip and loose surfaces without sacrificing much speed, a tried and test formula that works a treat, although you’ll need something more heavy duty for really wet mud.

Our reviewer found the tread just deep enough to grab hold of stones so you don’t slip around, and they don’t break traction easily if you need to get out of the saddle. The compound stood up to lots of rough and ready rides, so you can expect these tyres to be long-lasting. 

All in all, the Michelin Power Gravel offers similar levels of performance and durability to some of the best tyres out there, at a very competitive price.

While this isn’t technically a gravel tyre, we had to mention it because it simply excels in any kind of on-road/bad road scenario. It’s also very light and has a seriously low rolling resistance, which makes it a very fast tyre no matter the terrain. Puncture protection is also pretty solid, despite lacking the ProTite protection of the slightly more expensive ‘Plus’ version.

If you’re after a racing gravel tyre or something more robust than a road tyre for the commute on rubbish roads, this is a great option at a reasonable price. 

The Pirelli Cinturato Gravel S tyre offers decent tread depth to cope with soft conditions and a compound that feels grippy on all kinds of terrain. In the UK our gravel routes tend to be rather muddy, especially in the winter, and that’s something this tyre is designed to address.

All of Pirelli’s gravel tyres share the same compound and construction, with the only differences being the tread pattern. The S has the deepest tread, with directional blocks of rubber covering the mid-section, with even chunkier blocks on the shoulders for increased cornering grip. Pirelli only offers the Gravel S in 700C and widths of 40mm, 45mm and 50mm. 

Tester Stu said, “The Gravel S is a very capable choice. It’s weightier than the lightly treaded tyres that take up a lot of the marketplace, but it’s very good at what it does, and I’d say well worth buying if you want year-round grip”. 

The 700c Rene Herse Fleecer Ridge tyre with an endurance casing “redefines how to go fast and far off-road without compromising grip or feel” according to our reviewer.

Comparable to riding a slick on tarmac, the knob design works extremely well and offers a shoulderless cornering feel. For serious off-road adventures on your gravel bikes such as bikepacking, it’s a reliable and hard-wearing premium option. 

We say premium… at £97 a tyre at RPP a pair will cost you double that of competitors with similar features; but if you’re into far and fast bikepacking and are happy to splash out for the very best, the René Herse Fleecer Ridge Endurance offers speed, grip, comfort and quietness in abundance. 

The Rene Herse Umtanum Ridge 650b tyres are a fast yet grippy upgrade to any bike that can fit them in. If you’re after a wide tyre for the worst gravel conditions imaginable, one that still rolls stupidly fast and quiet on hard surfaces, the Umtanum Ridge should be high on your list.

Rene Herse advertise the Umtanum Ridges as measuring 57mm on a 23mm rim but we found that they came up small, measuring 53mm on a wide 25mm rim. Jane Heine, founder of Rene Herse Tyres says that due to the nature of hand-made tyres using natural rubber, the size can vary batch to batch. 

Overall, tester Matt says, “they’re quiet, supple and very confidence inspiring”, and despite the smaller than advertised width and high price, “the performance is outstanding and goes a long way to offset that”. 

As the name suggests, the Schwalbe G-One Allround Evolution tyre is a brilliant all-round summer tubeless tyre. It rolls extremely well on the tarmac, is very reliable as well as predictable on gravel, and it performs well on the trails too. 

The low rolling resistance of the G-Ones is impressive: they’re right up there with the very fastest gravel tyres on the market. The round profile combined with the consistent tread pattern that wraps around the shoulder allows for predictable cornering and grip. Also, grip on dry rocks, stone or gravel tracks is nothing short of outstanding.

These tyres come in a range of sizes to fit 27.5”, 29” and 700c wheels and widths: 35mm, 40mm and 45mm. Overall the performance of these tyres is impressive, making them a great choice for all dry riding on a range of surfaces. 

The Schwalbe G-One RS tyres focus on gravel racing where maximum performance and speed are a priority. For the price, you would rightly expect impressive performance and that is exactly what you get: a supple tyre that feels fast and can cope with a range of surfaces and conditions. 

The G-One RS represents an evolution of the G-One R and it borrows the same shoulder tread design and combines it with the low-profile X-One Speed centre section. 

The tyre is available in three widths: 35, 45 and 50mm, and all for 700c diameter. The 45mm version was tested, with our pair weighing in at 525g. Claimed weight for the 40mm version is 445g, which would make it among the lightest gravel tyres available for the size. 

Tester Matthew writes: “It might not last as long as other tyres, and I would be hesitant to use it in areas around sharp rocks where punctures are very likely, but it’s a race option and quite simply the best gravel tyre I have ever used.”

The Specialized S-Works Pathfinder 2Bliss Ready tyres are one of the lightest gravel tyres on the market and is a great gravel tyre if performance is important to you. The S-Works Pathfinders feature a very similar tread pattern to the cheaper Pathfinder Pro tyres that have been out for a few years and Specialized says the main benefit over the Pro is that this S-Works version is much lighter – and it is, with the S-Works tyres just 456g. 

Tester Jamie said, “I’ve been using the tyres for about two months now on mixed terrain and in variable conditions, and my overriding feeling is that it’s one hell of a quick tyre. As mentioned earlier, the tread pattern remains unchanged from the Pro version, and features a smooth centre section surrounded by tightly packed diamond-shaped blocks that get more aggressive towards the shoulders of the tyre.”

Overall, the S-Works Pathfinders are surprisingly good value, roll extremely well on dry surfaces and are very light. However, if durability is a priority, the Pro version is probably the better buy, with the S-Works tyres best saved for dry off-road riding.

Vittoria has taken the popular Mezcal cross-country mountain bike tyre, reduced its width and labelled it a gravel tyre. By lowering the size and creating this gravel version, nothing has been taken away from Mezcal’s performance and all-around ability. The Mezcal Gravel Endurance tyre fits somewhere in the middle of Vittoria’s gravel tyre lineup, with a deep tread and open sections. According to Vittoria, the tread pattern is intended to provide grip and speed on hard surfaces for drop-bar bikes.

In terms of the range provided, the Gravel Endurance keeps things simple. There are two sizes available, 700x35mm and 700x44mm, with the same tubeless-ready, anthracite sidewall. The 44mm size, which we tested, will undoubtedly be the more popular option for gravel riding. The tyre has the same reinforced sidewall as the mountain bike XC-Trail tyres and features a 120 TPI casing.

Tester Matthew said, “Although the Mezcal Gravel is not intended for looser, muddier tracks, when testing in Wales during the early winter those are difficult to avoid. Given the tread shape, the feeling of speed was perhaps expected, but the way they gripped through turns was superb”. 

If your needs in a tyre include a mix of both tarmac and off road riding, then the Vittoria Terreno Dry is a great option to consider. It excels in the dry, hence the name, but is also adequate in more year round conditions too. 

Where the Vittoria Terreno Zero, has an almost slick centre section, the Dry uses a ‘fishscale’ tread. Those closely-packed hexagonal scales sit at varying heights, which gives the tyre a little bite as well as grip. The tread might not be deep, but the traction this offers is very impressive. Additionally, the tyre deals with firm and loose surfaces well, and can handle wetter conditions without too much trouble.

Overall, the smooth and grippy Terreno Dry offers a great level of traction while riding on off-road terrain in spite of its almost slick centre. Moreover, it’s also good for puncture protection. It also now comes in a range of widths for the 700c tyre, so there’s a tyre width to suit every rider’s preference. 

The Aventura gravel tyre from Vredestein is a great lightweight tyre that offers impressive grip and allround performance. It’s also easy to fit which is a great aspect of this tyre. 

Offering excellent traction both uphill as well as downhill, the Aventura is a versatile pick. The tread pattern features a semi-slick centre line and thicker and deeper tread towards the outer for added grip, but this is still a low profile tyre. 

The Aventura tyre is available in three sizes: two 700x widths, 38mm and 44mm, and a 50mm 650B. Overall, it’s a great tyre and without a doubt, one to consider. 

The WTB Resolute is one of the more open-treaded gravel tyres available on the market and within our best gravel tyres list, making it ideal for British weather conditions. With the SG2 useful puncture-resistant layer, it’s one of the best all-weather, all-conditions tyres money can buy.

This robust tyre from WTB really comes into its own on slippery tracks in wetter conditions and while riding through mud. Therefore it’s a really great option if you aren’t adverse to riding in bad weather or fancy some gnarly gravel riding thanks to its deeper than average tread.

Although these tyres deliver great grip in bad conditions, as well as good puncture protection, the Resolute is slightly slower rolling on the road and unfortunately only available in just the one size. Which is 42mm width for both 700c and 650b wheel size options. Therefore the lack of widths is a little limiting, but other than that, it’s a great option for wet weather.