I have no recommendation to make, but I do have an observation that might at least indirectly help the general public discriminate among 700C X 50 slick and small-knob tires; basically “all rounder” tires that are fun to ride on pavement as well as in dirt.
On my 2016 Matthews dirt road road bike (or “road bike for dirt,” tho’ someone complained about that monicker; but it’s the description I gave to Chauncey) I’ve used: 50 mm Furious Freds (true 50 mm on 27 mm IW rims, a digital 360 grams); 60 MM Big Ones (the ultralight version — 450 digital grams); Rene Herse 48 cm Oracle Ridges (~48-49mm, 540 grams); Soma Supple Vitesse SLs (true 50 mm at 360 digital grams); Thunderburts at ~54 mm and 540 grams (forget; about the same as the Oracles). Since the Matthews was designed and built for riding our very sandy-soil ditchbank roads, I generally keep the Thunderburt wheelset on the bike, but today I rode the SSV SL wheelset. Again, 50 mm, very supple, 360 grams, and a nicely rounded profile that, unlike the more square profile of the F Freds or the Thunderburts, allows the bike to handle at least distantly like my 1999 Joe Riv Road Custom that I gave (literally; he took it home to analyze it) to Chauncey as the handling model. But!!! There is a very noticeable “seat of pants” difference in the *perceived* pedaling effort between these tires. To put it another way, I *routinely* find myself choosing gears 1 tooth higher or lower depending on the tire installed. The Big One was the Ultima Thule of tire rolling wonderfulness; the only other tire that “felt” — but over miles and miles — as fast is the unutterably awesome 175 gram 559X28 mm RH Elk Pass. Yes, the 450 gram 61 mm actual Big One *felt* as fast — judging by ease of turning over a given gear in given conditions — as the Elk Pass. But the Big One committed the mortal sin of wallowing in turns; this is a common perception; and one of the whole points of this bike was that it handle as much like my custom Riv Roads as possible. So I switched to the Somas; hallelujah! they made the bike handle much like my Riv Roads. The SSVSLs brought the bike back to the “like my Riv Road” handling I wanted. BUT! I’ve been noticing this very recently: even at 90 grams lighter and 11 mm narrower than the Big Ones, the Somas just don’t roll as nicely; and these and the “Super Lights” — “SLs.” I tend to ride 1 tooth *bigger* in back, and in fact, they “feel” as if they roll like the ~49 mm actual (27 mm IW rims) Oracle Ridges, which were indeed a Goldllocks tire for pavement cornering and sandy float — only setting them up tubeless was a major pain in the ass. Also, the Somas with their very rounded as opposed to flatter and squarer profile, just don’t float and track in sand as well as the fat, if round, Big Ones, and the squarer F Freds and Thunderburts — the very rounded profile sinks into sand and the bike “plows”, making directional control very iffy by comparison. The 49 mm-actual Oracle Ridge was indeed a Goldilocks tire for ease of pedaling, pavement cornering, and sand float and directional control, but man! Were they ever hard to set up tubeless! What a very bloody pain indeed, requiring literally a pint of OS in each tire to seal the beads and, even then, much more liable to deflation by goatheads. Contrast with the Thunderburts, described below. The Thunderburts OTOH set up tubeless with miraculous ease (beads pop into place with regular floor pump, hold air even before putting in sealant), and they seem to roll as well a the Soma SVSLs; at least, I seem to choose the same cogs for given conditions. But alas, not Goldilocks as the Oracles, because while they float over sand very well, their square profile does not do as well in pavement cornering. So, I switch back and forth between the Thunderburts for most — combined sandy ditchbank and pavement — riding, and the SSVSLs for principally pavement riding. I mean to experiment with TPU tubes and OS regular formula, and perhaps the ultimate Goldilocks solution for this bike will be Oracle Ridge extralights with TPU tubes and OS regular sealant; will see and in the event will report. With that excessively long windup, I’ll be interested in others’ thoughts about true 700C X 50 mm “Goldilocks” tires that handle well in pavement corners yet give sufficient “float” in sandy soil. On Sun, Aug 3, 2025 at 1:10 PM Stephen Merelman <[email protected]> wrote: > I've been riding 700x50 Gravelkings tubeless on my Atlantis. Velocity > Cliffhanger rims. > > I've been riding mainly long distances on pavement and the center ridges > are getting fairly worn and I'm beginning to deal with pinhole leaks. > > Perhaps it's time to go to something svelter, tubeless or not. Schwalbe > Marathon 45? > > Everyone has an opinion on this sort of thing. Let 'em rip! > > smm > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/f71f07e0-2b73-40fb-a9cb-602be8e9e888n%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/f71f07e0-2b73-40fb-a9cb-602be8e9e888n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- Patrick Moore Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Executive resumes, LinkedIn profiles, bios, letters, and other writing services ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *When thou didst not, savage, k**now thine own meaning,* *But wouldst gabble like a** thing most brutish,* *I endowed thy purposes w**ith words that made them known.* -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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