Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

Hi All - Happy New Year 2023!
I need some advice from your experiences to start off this year!
I have a road bike (Bianchi Sprint: https://99spokes.com/bikes/bianchi/2020/sprint-105) and I need tyres that are grippier. I live in the Blue Mountains area near Sydney and the roads tend to get a bit gravelly around here. Had a few near-misses on micro-gravel recently and I'm now wondering if there's a way to change the tyres on my existing wheels [Rims: Shimano WH-RS100 | Tires: Vittoria Zaffiro Pro V 700x25].
Can't afford to buy a gravel bike just yet so I'm reaching to the community here for any suggestions.
Please let me know if anyone has tried or knows how to do this. Or maybe there are some road tyres that are a bit more gravel-like...? I really need to able to go off-road every now and then (there are many connecting-type tracks here between tarred roads that could use some wider/grippier tyres) and not skid on the micro-gravel that we find here at bends etc.
Thanks a lot in advance!

Vittoria Zaffiro Graphene come in a 32c width (internet tells me your Bianchi Sprint takes up to 32mm wide tyres)

I've got a pair of these in NZ for rail trails on a modified commuter bike I have there. I can ride comfortably on them with heavy butyl tubes at low 50's psi front high 50 psi rear over sticks, ruts, drop offs etc on crappy rural back roads and miles of gravel rail trail with no issues. They are Ok on the bitumen too but don't expect them to zip along like a slick at those pressures.

They are cheap, Google says Bike Bug has them for sale for even less than I paid for mine a year ago. I'd go with these again if I had to replace them, esp at $35 / tyre

It's down to tyre clearance - I looked into this a while back for my spare road bike, but was stymied by the fact that I couldn't really go much wider than 25mm anyway.

Allegedly your Bianchi may handle up to 32mm, but that'll depend on the tyre.

That gives you a few options in the 28-30mm range, but a lot of them aren't true gravel tyres, it's hard to have knobbly bits in those sizes.

The best options I came up with were Panaracer Gravel Kings - they come in a 26mm and 32mm. Though the 32mm may well be pushing it on your frame. These are weirdly different tyres - the SK is the 32mm and has knobbly bits, the narrower ones don't.

https://www.probikekit.com.au/bicycle-t ... lsrc=aw.ds

https://www.this link is broken.au/panaracer-gra ... -road-tyre

Having said all that, I decided not to spend $180 odd on tyres that may not fit and just save for a gravel bike instead, it just seemed safer (plus I get a new bike).

There are road tyres that are more suitable for gravel - anything marketed as 'endurance' will often do better. Just look for something with actual tread. Though to be honest the Zaffiro Pro you already have are probably comparable with any of them.

open roader wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 04, 2023 3:07 pm

Vittoria Zaffiro Graphene come in a 32c width (internet tells me your Bianchi Sprint takes up to 32mm wide tyres)

Thanks heaps - this is what I was looking for. Will keep you posted.

Mr Purple wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 04, 2023 3:10 pm

That gives you a few options in the 28-30mm range, but a lot of them aren't true gravel tyres, it's hard to have knobbly bits in those sizes.

Exactly the problem as I see it - they are more 'wider' road tyres really. I'll keep you posted on how I go - thanks a lot!

Mr Purple wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 04, 2023 3:10 pm

There are road tyres that are more suitable for gravel - anything marketed as 'endurance' will often do better. Just look for something with actual tread.

Panaracer Pasela is my standard tyre but may not have much more tread than your Zafs.

Schwalbe Marathon comes in a wide variety of flavours and degrees of knobbliness. And degrees of (un)suppleness: their serious tyres are built like the proverbial. I’m not an expert so I’ll let someone else pipe in here & recommend ones to try

IRC Marbella comes in a 28mm and 25mm.
Each size apparently mounts up a mm or so narrower.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions/advice - it is great to have access to people like you to get so much information from! Really appreciate it!
I ended up going with these: PANARACER GRAVEL KING SK CLINCHER TYRE (700c x 35mm)
They are the closest thing to 'gravel' that I could've gone for and happy to report they fit (barely)!
Took the bike out for a ride, the grip is awesome! I was able to go on light gravel without any problems and also through some dirt roads etc. You feel the loss of speed instantly though, which is as expected. I think I've got my road bike to a pretty sweet spot for now, maybe if I can afford to get a new proper gravel bike in the future, I'll switch back to 25s but for now I'm having fun and will keep it this way.
Thanks again - couldn't have done without your knowledge sharing!

In case anyone's interested, I did a little post with this and got some pics so you can see the end-results.
https://medium.com/@veloposts/road-to-g ... 46adf29bec

rickrubin wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 18, 2023 2:35 pm

In case anyone's interested,

Thanks - nice to see & read

By the way, just moving from 25mm to 32mm will likely feel slower (but won’t be).

OTOH, Knobbly bits definitely chew watts

https://silca.cc/en-au/blogs/silca/part ... rodynamics

Yes it will be slower on bitumen.
No significant rolling resistance improvement.

https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.co ... comparison

Should be more comfortable though and grip will be better on gravel and as a result probably speed too.

I have some 50mm deep rims that are 25mm int and 32mm ext width. So quite wide.
A 32mm tyre at 55psi measures 35mm wide.
A 28 is just under the ext width of the rim.
28s definitely are faster on those wheels on road.