Best gravel bike tyres 2024 — some reliable rubber for your off-road riding

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 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.

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.

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". 

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. 

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 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". 

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.