Fawkes-cycles.co.uk Review

[Alix Stocking]

TheChallenge Criterium RS TLR is a super-supple tubeless-ready tyre that offers plenty of grip, confidence and speed. These handmade open tubulars may cost a lot but they also put in an excellent performance. Oh, and just look at those white walls!

Specialized has introduced a new, lightweight cross-woven polyamide sidewall reinforcement, which it calls Grid Race, designed to improve tear and puncture resistance while maintaining the good elasticity required for a supple ride. In use, these tyres certainly do feel impressively supple.

The tyres use a 3x127 TPI carcass, matched with a new Hutchinson Endurance Bi-Compound, with softer shoulders and a harder central tread. This means each tyre is harder in the middle and softer on the edges, a combination designed to reduce rolling resistance while retaining cornering grip. That grip is impressive, these tyres proving their worth on off-camber corners and providing you with loads of confidence.

The compound has a tacky feel to it, providing a confidence-inspiring grip even in wet and cold conditions, and reviewer Stu Kerton reported a supple quality. He even reckoned you could race on them if required.

Vittoria has taken its popular Mezcal cross-country mountain bike tyre and turned it into the fast, grippy and puncture-resistant Mezcal Gravel Endurance. Available in both 700x35mm and 700x44mm sizes, this tubeless-ready option offers an outstanding performance.

Meet the Ren Herse Antelope Hill TC, a monster 55mm (2.2in) 700C slick tyre that glides quickly and quietly over gravel tracks and tarmac. It grips tight and the sidewalls are practically indestructible, although the price tag is hefty too.

The Cadex Aero Tubeless tyre offers excellent grip and low rolling resistance. It comes with a 170 TPI casing, a 'Race Shield' puncture protection layer, and a Cadex RR-A compound. According to Cadex, the taller sidewall creates a more oval shape which results in a seamless profile when you pair it with Cadex 65 wheels, although you can easily use them with other options too.

We found fitting Cadex Aero Tubeless tyres to a couple of different wheelsets easy enough, and once in place, they performed impressively, delivering a smooth ride with decent comfort. You get good grip both in dry and wet conditions, even on green back lanes that are usually slippy.

The Cinturato Gravel RCs are designed to be used as race tyres across a variety of surfaces, with the tread inspired by Pirelli's Scorpion XC RC pattern, which has been popular on its mountain bike tyres.

Pirelli has taken the SmartGRIP compound from its mountain bike range and altered it for gravel riding, reducing the rolling resistance. It has also slightly reduced the grip but improved the all-round performance.

The R3 Hard-Case Lite TLR really shines on rides over less-than-perfect tarmac and across longer distances. Although not as fast as some, the volume and amount of squish on offer make it comfortably swift, effortlessly eating up the miles without battering you in the process.

The R3 tyres also remained notably free of any of the nicks and cuts that would usually pepper a tyre that's seen high mileage. It's a durable rubber, and that longevity doesn't come at the expense of grip. The tyres happily dealt with various tarmac conditions and hard cornering without any heart-in-mouth moments.

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

So what can we do to get cheaper tires, and get good ones? Wait till they go on a closeout sale. I got 2 pairs of tires that were supposed to cost $90 each for just $20 each on closeout. Close-out means they changing models, but they're still great tires.

Out of a recommends article I want the article to stick it's neck out and actually tell me which of those I should pick. Adding some clinchers to the mix would help. There isn't even a tyre awarded the budget award.

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