Re: [BOB] Looking for wide, supple, tubeless 20" road tires. Any recommends?

[Josh Brown]

Rick,

Bike Friday Tokyo's Instagram remind me that these tires exist. I'm not familiar and they seem sold out at most sources but maybe someone else has some experience with them? 

Josh

On Wed, Apr 15, 2026, 8:39 PM Rick Thompson, Fairfield CA <rgth...@gmail.com> wrote:

BMX sew ups. Thanks Rob, but that will be my last resort....

On Wednesday, April 15, 2026 at 1:30:12 PM UTC-7 ro3ert...@gmail.com wrote:

80's there was BMX Racing (like in Olympics)  for that there was a 20" tubular rim and sew up tires like a Cyclocross race tire   so 34mm wide..   Campagnolo made BMX parts in Colors...

On Wednesday, April 15, 2026 at 9:13:46 AM UTC-7 Josh Brown wrote:

Rick, have you checked out the G-One Speed 406-40? The tread is more in line with the Allarounds and I had them on my NWT set up tubeless, I found them to be the most supple option of all that I could find at the time. 

I just completed a 1200k in Taiwan in on my 451 wheeled road bike using IRC Siren Comp, I would not call them supple, but they were much better feeling than the G-Ones. I used Tubalito TPU tubes, 65psi. 

I consider John Thurston to be the resident expert at 406 tires, maybe he'll chime in. 

Josh in NYC 

On Wed, Apr 15, 2026, 11:33 AM Rick Thompson, Fairfield CA <rgth...@gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks everyone. All these BMX tires are out there, but most seem less than supple and few are rated tubeless. The Tiogas and Odyssey Aitken are not showing tubeless rated. If I could go to a BMX shop and check out samples that would be nice, but few bike shops stock any around here. They tell me to buy online when I call, seems hard to stay in business that way. I did see the Panaracers at Soma, and significantly cheaper at Blue Lug, will likely give them a try.  BTW I made a product suggestion at RH, Jan was saying they would make tires at any size so we will see...

On Wednesday, April 15, 2026 at 7:17:59 AM UTC-7 William Lindsay wrote:

In a slightly more sincere attempt to be helpful :), I keep checking Crust Bikes to see if the Stupid Tourist goes on sale.  This time I checked and they have a complete on offer and the tire they chose to use is the 20x2.45" Odyssey Aitken.  It seems like a BMX street tire, but at least it's folding.  It looks like there's a 2.25" and a 2.45" both with "smoothish" block tread.  

Bill Lindsay

El Cerrito, CA

On Tuesday, April 14, 2026 at 1:58:57 PM UTC-7 Rick Thompson, Fairfield CA wrote:

Ha, what a monster. Only 1200 g...

On Tuesday, April 14, 2026 at 1:30:46 PM UTC-7 William Lindsay wrote:

You probably can't run them on your Brompton, but in my opinion the best name of any tire, for any vehicle, in the history of pneumatics is a wide supple 20" tire, the Specialized "Carless Whisper"

I'll see myself out

BL in EC

On Tuesday, April 14, 2026 at 1:25:59 PM UTC-7 Rick Thompson, Fairfield CA wrote:

Thank you Bud. The Gravel Kings look like a better tread for road than the G-Ones. Might be my best choice. The Grifters do not say tubeless, wonder how much it matters at the smaller wheel size. I will check out the threads.

On Tuesday, April 14, 2026 at 1:05:09 PM UTC-7 Bud Suttree wrote:

Panaracer very recently released their Gravel Kings in 20x2.1 (406) that are have received good reviews so far - no personal experience here yet, hopefully soon though on an upcoming Bike Friday project. I have Maxxis Grifters on my Neutrino and I am satisfied with the “fastness” of the tires but they need to be higher pressure to perform well IMO. No idea about tubeless on those. 

There’s some good information on the minivelo subreddit about this topic - at least one thread about the new gravel kings. Probably more of an all-rounder tire than what you’re looking for but the word “supple” has been thrown around. 

Also check out the “Built by Blue Lug” section of their website to see what they’re using on their builds - they’re the 20” experts over there. 

Caleb in Nashville 

On Tue, Apr 14, 2026 at 1:10 PM Rick Thompson, Fairfield CA <rgth...@gmail.com> wrote:

I have a Brompton G-Line which came with Schwalbe G-One Allround 54-406 tires. They are nice tires and ride well tubeless at 20 psi, but have a knobby pattern that makes some noise and might be lossy on the pavement I typically ride. Does anyone know of a similar tire with road tread? The best I have come up with is the Michelin Pilot SX Slick, now with a 47-406 supposed to be available. There are none in stock near me, and I can't tell if they have a supple sidewall. 

Maybe I could ask JP Weigle to grind the knobs off the G-Ones (just kidding).

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Josh

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[robert clark]

nope,  I run tubes in mine..   just Schwalbe Marathon Green-guard tires...  here.... 

[robert clark]

its transportation..