Pirelli Cinturato Gravel M Classic tyre

Pirelli's Cinturato Gravel M Classic tyre is tough, almost immune to cuts, and deals well with nearly all conditions. But its robust construction costs it outright speed and feel.

Italian tyre giant Pirelli has expanded its bicycle tyre range to include gravel. The company has kept it simple with the Gravel H for hard conditions, and Gravel M for mixed conditions, available in 700x35, 40 and 45mm, or 650Bx45 or 50mm sizes. A choice of black or classic tan sidewall completes the options.

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I've been testing the Cinturato Gravel M Classic, which I like the look of – the vast majority of gravel tyres I've ridden have been all black. My test pair weighed in at 491g and 515g, for a combined total of 1,006g. Although 24g difference between tyres seems excessive, and is more than I'm used to measuring, it's less than 5% and the average does correlate with Pirelli's claimed 700x40 tyre weight of 500g. For reference, Continental's Terra Trail 700x40mm tyre weighs 478g, with much lower profile tread.

The 127tpi carcass boasts a belt and braces approach to durability and reliability, with the carcass material looping around each aramid bead, and overlapping to the opposite edge of the tread area. The result is two-layer sidewalls with three beneath the tread, and a further nylon puncture-resistant layer covers this from bead to bead. Finally, an additional reinforcing strip extends from each bead to just above rim height, then the rubber is added.

The folding bead feels quite flexible but needed some firm thumb action to coax onto the rim. I fitted the Pirellis to some Spank Industries Flare Vibrocore wheels, with 24mm internal width, and once sitting snugly on the rim, they inflated first time with a standard track pump, and were seated before I'd reached 50psi. There were initially small air leaks, but the tyres remained seated when deflated to add sealant, and sealed fully after a little handheld spinning.

Inflated to 35psi to begin with, and measuring 42mm wide on my wheelset, the Cinturato Gravel tyres rolled well on the road, thanks to their fairly continuous central tread, and weren't much noisier than a road tyre. However, after repeated accelerations from slow speed, and a few hills, I realised that the effort required to crank the Pirellis up to cruising speed was noticeably greater than I've experienced on other gravel tyres, even wider ones. Sustaining momentum on drags was equally taxing, and there was a definite reluctance to respond with any more than a lazy acknowledgment of my commands.

On hardpacked dry dirt and gravel, the Pirellis feel more efficient, allowing confident line control, and dispatching surface changes with ease. When things get wet, the tractor tread pattern of large, average height tread blocks willingly finds grip, even in fairly gloopy mud. When I started racing mountain bikes and cyclo-cross in the late 80s and through the 90s, tractor tread tyres were common. They work for tractors, of course, but tractor tyres operate in the vertical plane, whereas bikes need to lean into corners, and traverse off-cambers on two wheels, demanding a little more of their tyres.

In certain situations, I felt that the Pirelli's almost continuous central tread band wasn't gripping very much, and the adjacent, more widely spaced tread blocks weren't offering much more security, thus limiting control when changing line on slippery terrain. I also had occasional understeer, and wheelspin when I wasn't expecting it, and attributed both to the lack of bite in the tyre's central section on very slimy ground.

On or off road, the Pirelli's tough carcass undoubtedly makes for a firm-feeling tyre, without the suppleness of Continental's Terra, for example. Even at pressures around 20psi, it took time to adapt to the particular feel of the Cinturato Gravels, and feel confident in their grip. That said, on a loose, rutted, muddy descent, they handled every sketchy section with ease, and the SpeedGrip rubber compound, evolved from the company's mountain bike tyres, clung on to wet tree roots, with very few slips.

The open tread pattern clears mud extremely well, and with an inflated profile that is on the flat side of round on this wheelset, a short trip across wet grass soon scrubbed all of the mud from the tread. Overall, their wet conditions performance was better than average, and predictable enough that I wouldn't have any concerns about taking them almost anywhere. In the dry, they handle everything capably, but never with any real spark.

> Buyer’s Guide: 25 of the best gravel bike tyres

At £54.99 each, the Pirellis are a hefty investment, but they're cheaper than the more lightly treaded Continental Terra Trail, equivalent in price to the narrower WTB Riddler 700 TCS SG2 and the excellent Maxxis Rambler, tested here in its most voluminous 50mm width. Significantly cheaper, and with similar all-conditions capability, Specialized's 42mm Rhombus Pro 2Bliss Ready tyres have a lot to offer, but also weigh more than the Pirellis.

Pirelli's Cinturato Gravel M is built as tough as they come, and no matter what abuse my test period subjected the tyres to, they emerged totally unscathed, with no cuts or abrasions, and little sign of wear at all. If you live in an area with particularly rough or abrasive surfaces, or want a bikepacking tyre that's almost guaranteed to see you through, give the Pirelllis a try – just don't expect to win any sprints.

Verdict

Bombproof all-conditions gravel tyres – reliable, predictable and pretty grippy, but not fast