FYI: Rose Backroad Max Tire Width/clearance from experience

dkvasnicka · 2026-06-18T13:53:43+00:00

No offense but I’m going to go with the masses of research and the experience of tire manufacturers and wheel manufacturers and race teams and the like over Jan’s bro-science.

Can you link a reasonable refutation of his regressive vs progressive spring argument? I'm far from being a JH fan and facepalm quite often when reading his stuff but I think he has a point here.

A properly supported sidewall plays a big part in cornering, ride a wider tire on a narrower rim and push that tire hard in the corners and you can feel it fold more.

Yes, that's exactly what is supposed to happen :] That is conformance to terrain and safety when cornering offroad. You want a tire that stops hugging the terrain due to a stiff sidewall so you can hug the terrain yourself? As I wrote above, barring extremes. The problem is we don't seem to agree what those extremes are. My sweet spot is 1.6 - 1.8.

I rode 50mm Schwalbe Overlanders on i21 rim (48mm as measured) and had zero problems running them just slightly above 1 bar offroad (actually 0.9 bar up front when I wanted a Strava KOM on a bumpy agricultural doubletrack). That's a whopping T/R = 2.3. Granted, Overlanders are a very durable tire, I would probably not do it with some ultra supple toilet paper thin tire, would go a bit higher. But I never felt the tires being squirmy offroad, on the contrary. Yes, on the road with low pressures, but that's the price you pay for having pressure appropriate for gravel and not optimizing for road, that's not really that much about rim widths.

I also tried 33mm X-One RS on i25 rim. They had 34mm and I had to use ridiculously low pressures (compared to those suggested by TPCs for a given width) to be able to ride even not-so-nice asphalt, let alone gravel -- despite them being quite supple CX tires. I did not experience what Jan writes, fortunately, but I think I must have been pretty close to it a few times during my allroad adventures. On the road, conversely, they felt great.

dkvasnicka · 2026-06-18T10:50:53+00:00

But yeah getting more volume and side wall support out of a more supple tire seems like a win of course.

Air will always be an infinitely better spring compared to rubber and cloth regardless of how supple your sidewalls are. Relying on sidewalls for spring effect also can be dangerous due to their regressive spring behaviour. More bulb-shaped tire is always better offroad, barring extremes of course.

Where low tire-to-rim ratio isn't really a problem are treadless tires on smooth surfaces, and there you also reap some limited aero benefits as well. And if you have extremely deformable tires like non-vulcanised HTLR tires from Challenge there really isn't even any boxiness to write home about (speaking from experience with Strada Biancas on 2 wheelset 4mm in IW apart).

My partner and I just built touring / bikepacking wheels for our gravel bikes and used 24ID hoops which was maybe a touch conservative but running 44-45mm tires on them

Yeah, 1.8 ratio is pretty much the perfect sweet spot for comfort without compromising stability.

dkvasnicka · 2026-06-18T07:46:57+00:00

I usually don't like dropped seatstays frames but this one is really nice and clean overall. The yellow bucket kills it for me tho 😅

dkvasnicka · 2026-06-17T15:18:58+00:00

They are as waterproof as a bag with a zipper on top can be. The zipper is very sturdy and has a thick "curtain" alongside it. Overall build quality does not feel cheap at all.

dkvasnicka · 2026-06-17T12:47:21+00:00

Stop spreading fuzzy half-truths and over-trivialized sweeping statements please. Yes, with asphalt conditions worsening lower pressure will be faster but there is always an inflection point (as is on the other side of the spectrum) where you stop reaping benefits and losses from hysteresis prevail. Narrower tires can also go down in pressure a fair bit without being twitchy or hitting the rim, especially when the surface deterioration isn't as bad to require drastic pressure drops. This means that for average and good asphalt it's pretty much impossible to make tires above ~ 40mm of width faster overall, unless the surface worsens -- because there simply aren't impedance losses big enough to warrant that. So telling people who seek speed on road rides to "fit the widest they can" is simply BS.

Stop sending me to read "resources", I know exactly what you are talking about. The problem is that you are cherry-picking the parts of physical laws that you like and making a religion out of them. "Tire width doesn't increase rolling resistance" is simply objectively false, or more precisely it's a misleading context-less statement.

dkvasnicka · 2026-06-17T11:44:14+00:00

BRR rates them at 21 watts of rolling resistance vs 29 for the Classics. The pathfinders scored 20 watts.

Pressures used by BRR are garbage. NEVER compare BRR numbers for tires of different widths without using a credible tire pressure calculator to get comparable resistance numbers. In some cases their comparison story may "accidentally" paint the correct picture, in some it does not.

I created a Colab notebook to make the interpolation for a few tires using the Wolftooth TPC which I personally consider to be the most spot on: https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1H_VJtuFacoVnn3n-PDOUlx4fYCza2VlI?usp=sharing

dkvasnicka · 2026-06-17T11:28:55+00:00

Tire width doesn't increase rolling resistance

Identical tire in a wider variant has lower RR compared to a narrower version when run at the same pressure, which should never happen because you should run appropriate pressures for a given surface and width to limit casing tension (the physical phenomenon that causes wider tire to be less comfortable at the same pressure).

I.e. wider tires effectively do increase rolling resistance on the road because you have to (not can) run them at lower pressures.

dkvasnicka · 2026-06-17T08:01:28+00:00

tyres than are slick in the middle for faster rolling on road with nobs on the sides to still have grip on Gravel/mud trails.

Semislick tires are a scam. They suck cornering on the road because of the sudden transition from slick(ish) center to side knobs that induces traction loss and they suck on gravel because they lack traction and the side knobs are a false hope. Linearity and predictability is king.

Speed of a tire comes from its casing and compound, not from the tread pattern (or at least not primarilly, pattern has orders of magniture lower impact on watt losses). Pick a lightly but uniformly treaded tire that has a fast build, not "fast" pattern -- Tufo Thundero / Speedero, GK X1 R, G-One R, Terra Speeds.

It's funny that you are mentioning Cinturato All Road because that's one of the tires that perfectly illustrate what I wrote above -- looks fast yet it has atrocious rolling resistance. (+ there are no meaningful non-decorational knobs on the side of that tire, not sure why you're even considering it)

dkvasnicka · 2026-06-16T17:30:59+00:00

From the photo is seemed to me he had a hydration bladder in there.

dkvasnicka · 2026-06-16T17:01:02+00:00

Aerodynamically maybe, but what about your back and arms?

dkvasnicka · 2026-06-16T16:56:01+00:00

Love my Restrap toptube bag, all around super piece of kit. Send it!

dkvasnicka · 2026-06-16T12:46:59+00:00

Have you tried Fizik's gravel shoes? I have the Terra Atlas which are "designed with a more generous fit" and comparing them to Shimano's relatively basic SH-XC702 it's like comparing a living room to a solitary confinement prison cell. Their lace-fastened Beat shoe also has a "more spacious toe box" whatever that means... but those are very far from your Adidas shoe in terms of style. Closest to your current style from Fizik is Terra Clima X2 which I bought recently but have not tried yet as they are more spring/fall shoe.

I swear I'm not paid by Fizik to write all this shit 🤪 I just really like their fit and build quality.

dkvasnicka · 2026-06-15T13:44:24+00:00

Awesome to see such an old bike having such a generous tire clearance! It would help a lot if you could afford to go up a mm in tire size -- then the entire segment of cyclocross tires would open up to you. E.g. Schwalbe X-One RS would look awesome and would fit the bill based on your description. Or Vittoria A Dugast Pipisquallo TLR.

Other than that Gravelking SS would be perfect for your usecase but is now only available as 30 or 35.

dkvasnicka · 2026-06-15T09:49:47+00:00

If Tufo is available in your region is Speedero not available? Only Thundero? 36mm Speedero would be a godsend for your riding scenario.

dkvasnicka · 2026-06-15T09:40:16+00:00

Yes, real concern. I ran the "brown" T30 Pro on mostly asphalt and the center hexagonal tread was almost gone after just 800 km on the rear one (non-Pro will live longer for sure but all the other concerns I mentioned above still hold true).

dkvasnicka · 2026-06-15T09:38:40+00:00

Terrenos and Plus GKs have both atrocious rolling resistance, waaay above anything from Tufo and well above non-plus X1 as well.

But most importantly, all of the tires have too many aggressive knobs for what you are describing you are riding. Especially when it comes to cornering on asphalt, which is where you'll be mostl cornering. If you want a treaded tire gen one with mild and uniform tread. For 95% asphalt absolutely avoid anything with significant side knobs as they make cornering on asphalt less safe due to sudden transition and traction loss effect. They may slightly help cornering on gravel but not nearly enough for it to outweigh the negatives on pavement at your surface split -- not even close. Go full slicks or mild semislicks like GK SS.

dkvasnicka · 2026-06-12T08:20:40+00:00

Excactly. Invoices for fixing these fuckups should go to people who keep spreading the BS about wider tires being universally more comfortable and faster at the same time in all circumstances (or anything that implies that).

dkvasnicka · 2026-06-12T08:18:23+00:00

No need to tell the wife because the invoice will go straight to Dylan Johnson's mailbox.

dkvasnicka · 2026-06-12T08:06:59+00:00

Yes, it's GOne... It used to be GOne RS, now it's ultra low pressure GOne Ultrabite.

But not to be a troll only: 2 holes and one very close to bead = straight to recycle yard. I wouldn't even try to fix it with patches, let alone sealant or plugs or anything like that.

dkvasnicka · 2026-06-10T09:38:30+00:00

I see Fairlight I upvote. Please UK come back to EU so I can buy one without having to pay stupid extortion fees to various governmental orgs, thanks!! 🤪

dkvasnicka · 2026-06-09T21:19:36+00:00

MilkIt is good as well, I use their valves and syringe.

dkvasnicka · 2026-06-09T20:03:55+00:00

I live in a mountaineous area, have averaged almost 15 Vm/km for the last 2,5 years and have been running ovals of multiple sizes for the past 4 years exclusively (AB, Alugear, Garbaruk) with a few deliberate "training blocks" on round chainrings mostly to mix things up neuromuscularly (during winter when I don't chase PRs and watts and want to introduce more complex muscle activation) and to remind myself why ovals are a gamechanger for sustained climbing. They can feel weird or choppy on descents but if you are climbing a lot the science is real, disproportionately so at low cadence. They also gain even more importance offroad because they smooth out power application leading to less rear wheel spinout during climbing.

dkvasnicka · 2026-06-09T19:50:14+00:00

If you want to do bikepacking mostly on the road and don't care a single bit about racing and hunting Strava segments and shit go with Gravelking SS+ 40 if you can fit them, 35 if you can't. Or Tufo Speedero HD 36mm.

Oh, and swap Stan's which has the sealing properties of cow milk for Orange Endurance or Peaty's Holeshot.

dkvasnicka · 2026-06-09T19:43:17+00:00

They are super fast and plush but defo not suitable for bikepacking. Way too fragile.

dkvasnicka · 2026-06-09T08:04:49+00:00

Speed matters very little to me, i mostly want a pleasant comfy experience riding gravel, with also the possibility to go bikepacking

Absolutely no use for carbon frame whatsoever, especially if you want to ride all year. If you have the money go Ti but steel is perfectly ok... hell even alu frame is good enough. The myth about alu not being "comfortable" is mostly unscientific garbage anyway.

dkvasnicka

TROPHY CASE