Wider is faster

Paradigms shift. For decades, road cyclists would inflate their skinny tyres with as much pressure as their track pumps could handle thinking this was the best way to go in pursuit of pure speed.

But here’s the catch: that rock-solid feeling of skittering across the ground, bouncing around, having your eyes vibrated out their sockets – sorry, but that’s not speed, that’s inefficiency. And it’s not just on the road where attitudes have changed, in gravel racing too, tyre width and tyre clearance is the hottest topic around.

You might feel on the edge running a narrower, harder setup, but in reality, you’re just leaving performance on the table. Every single bump in the road is only slowing you down.

Contrast that with a wider tyre setup where more volume allows you to drop pressures enabling the rubber to deform and counteract uneven surfaces – resulting in a smoother ride as well as better traction – this is where the speed is at.

While you may feel faster on skinnier tyres, the truth is you’re not. This is one time in life where it’s safe not to trust your feelings.

There’s a reason why the fastest vehicles out there (think Formula One car fast) all have suspension. Even fans of the OG horse and cart have been pimping their rides by adding springs to their setups since the early 1700s.

But you don’t necessarily need the complexity or added weight of mechanical damped suspension. Even on an F1 car, the tyre is doing the lion’s share of the work. A wheel that can absorb obstacles, either through tyre volume or suspension, can better maintain forward momentum as opposed to having that energy wasted when your bike bucks you as you smash into that rock on the trail or hole in the road.

When gravel bikes first rocked up on the scene in the mid-2010s, 40 mm tyres were seen as radical and revolutionary. Over the past couple of seasons, the tyre width topic has become the primary focus of gravel riders – whether you’re a racer seeking speed or an adventurer looking to get further off-grid. From 40, to 45, to 50 mm, then crossing the imperial threshold with 2.1- and 2.25-inch mountain bike tyres – for many, more space for more rubber simply equals more good.

Bike design too has evolved to keep up. The current Grizl clears 54 mm (2.1”) while the new Grail goes a step further with space for 57 mm (2.25”), figures that would have been considered inconceivable just ten years ago.

Does wider always mean faster? Well, yes and no. At the end of the day tyre width is simply one component among a host of factors to weigh up: terrain being ridden, casing thickness, tread profile, the rim width they’re mounted on. If you’re going seriously fast, then aero is a consideration. But most critical of all is tyre pressure, for which entire algorithms have been written to help us calculate. You can have the very best of all the above, but if you’ve not got your pressures dialled in, it can all be for nothing.

If you enjoy diving down rabbit holes, then pursuing the absolute optimal tyre setup for the objective you’re aiming for is guaranteed to keep you occupied for some time.

Tyres are arguably the most cost-effective component when it comes to transforming your bike’s performance. Today, there are more options out there than ever, with plenty more coming in the pipeline from major manufacturers to meet the demand for 50 mm+ rubber.

Where does a gravel tyre end and a mountain bike tyre begin? Does it even matter? What’s key is flexibility and having a platform that gives you the freedom to choose. Our Grail and Grizl models all ship with fast and capable 45 mm as standard, but this is just a baseline.

There’s never been a better time to start exploring what’s out there, it might change your whole approach to all-terrain riding. Go wider. Go faster.