Vee Rubber Rail Tyre

Vee Rubber's Rail tyre is designed as a fast gravel/CX choice for smoother or drier conditions, and it excels at that. It's not bad on the road either, with the closely spaced tread keeping it from feeling too draggy. The shoulder tread is aggressive enough to give you a bit of confidence on the loose stuff and they're big enough to take some fairly big hits.

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Vee Rubber makes a big range of tyres for every sort of riding, and this one sits in the gravel/cyclo-cross range of three tyres. It's definitely at the gravel end: a 40mm carcass is designed to give you some cushioning and the tread is designed for fast rolling on hardpack rather than grabbing in the mud.

It's a dual-compound tread: the large file-tread centre section is harder, and the larger shoulder knobs softer. That means you get fast rolling and a bit of bite in the corners. It's not the most aggressive of tyres but when you start to lean the bike over on looser surfaces you can certainly feel the shoulder tread start to bite, when more rounded gravel tyres such as Schwalbe's G-One are more inclined to drift.

Fitting the Rails was easy enough, with both tyres up and sealed within about 20 minutes. They weren't an especially tight fit on my WTB rims so they required one more wrap of rim tape, but that's not uncommon. I ran them at around 40psi and that seemed to be about optimum for comfort and keeping the bigger hits from dinging the rims. I didn't have any issues with them losing air either through the carcass or burping out of the bead/rim interface. I used Orange Seal Endurance sealant, which is pretty good at gumming things up.

Overall I've put about 400km into this set of tyres, half of that at the Dirty Reiver, and they're excellent on mixed hardpack surfaces, especially in the dry. They roll well and they're not so heavy or soft in the tread as to feel stodgy or draggy.

Vee Rubber uses its Synthesis woven casing for these tyres, which is lighter and more puncture-resistant than its standard casing, and it gives the tyres a pretty supple feel. They're not super-light at just under 500g, but for the size they're certainly not bad.

There are no obvious holes that sealant has fixed after the Reiver, but what is plain to see is the wear on the tread: the centre file tread has worn significantly, especially on the rear tyre. There's plenty left but the compound is relatively soft, so you'll get through them. That's a trade-off for the amount of grip you get, and I reckon the balance is about right here.

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On the road the Rails are decent enough; they're certainly not as quick as Schwalbe's G-One, which remains my favourite all-use tyre, and the raised shoulder makes them scrabble a bit when you lean them over. It depends what your priorities are: if it's mostly road riding with the odd drove road or towpath thrown in, you'll probably be better off with a rounder, slicker big-chamber tyre. But if you want something predominantly for riding off the tarmac, these should be on your list. They'd make a good summer 'cross tyre too. They're pretty good value as well.

Verdict

Great gravel tyres that roll quickly and bite in the corners