We strongly believe that the best bike is the one you already have but….what about tyres?

Are you the kind of rider that has one set of tyres and uses them all year round until they are completely worn out, or do you have multiple tyres and replace them depending on the ride and weather?

Either way, keep reading especially if you are relatively new to bikepacking or have never ridden in the Peak District.

Choosing tyres for bikepacking.

Think of bike tyres as your bike’s shoes. They come in all sort of sizes, tread patterns, side wall thicknesses, with tubes or tubeless and last but not least: side-walls colours! Also, one can mix up front/rear tyre to come up with even more combinations and play with different levels of pressure.

This is to say that obviously personal taste and riding style is a big factor when choosing your preferred tyre set-up for a bikepacking event however, there are a number of factors that are important to consider especially in comparison to a typical ride:

Bike weight: you are likely to have bags with you with some sleeping system, food, clothes, and probably more water than usual. This will make your bike heavier which will affect how the bike rides especially off-road and downhill.

Ride length & terrain: the Tor Divide (150-250km) covers different surfaces such as gravel (the entire spectrum), tarmac, cycle lanes, and rocky singletrack. Some sections (especially on the 150km route) are flat and ideal for a fast rolling tyre whatever the weather. On some potentially muddy sections and on some steep sections, a grippy tyre is helpful to remain in control of the bike even at high speed.

Tyre pressure: traction and comfort are affected by the tyre construction as well as tyre pressure (and ability to run as tubeless). Running tyres at low pressure increases comfort which is crucial on a long ride, and it helps with traction. On an event like the Tor Divide one might be tempted to run very low pressures however, be careful and try to do a pre-event ride with a loaded bike to see how that affect the way the tyres roll and deform. We strongly advise on using tubeless tyres, and avoiding running tubes with low pressure to avoid “snake bites” (i.e. pinch flats that occur when the inner tube is squeezed against the wheel. This will look like two tiny holes adjacent to one another: a ‘snake bite’ pattern in the inner tube).

We believe the best tyre for the Tor Divide is one that allows to run low pressures (i.e. tubeless) for comfort and traction, is fast rolling so to not be excessively draggy on the smooth sections, and is robust enough to avoid punctures.

What are the best tyres for the Tor Divide?

We have been using Schwalbe tyres for years for anything from commuting to ultra-racing, and they have been flawless including on all the recce rides to test the event route(s).

Not only Schwalbe offers a wide range of tyres but also manufactures most of their tyres in different casings (e.g. SuperGround, SuperRace, etc) allowing users to select the version most appropriate for their type of riding.

G-One Overland

The Overlands are part of the well established Schwalbe G-One family which includes superfast tyres like the G-one Speed to the grippy G-One Ultrabites. The Overland is the gravel tire for commuters, adventurers and e-bikers made using the Addix Speedgrip compound.

Recommended use: 50% road, 50% off-road
High durability and good cornering grip due to large and stable blocks
Especially suitable for e-bikes
Very smooth on asphalt

We got the 700c 50mm version of the Overlands (40 & 45mm are also available) in autumn 2023 and have been running them on the majority of our rides.

The Overlands have a tightly spaced central tread with higher and more widely spaced knobs on the sides that offer grip when cornering. They feel sturdy but went on the rims easily during installation, although with some help from an air chamber (do yourself a favour and get one if you install your own tubeless tyres!). The Overlands are robust tyres, we still can’t see any significant wear on ours and haven’t had any punctures.

All our rides start with tarmac to get out of the city so a tyre that is fast rolling is always appreciated. Being based in the North of England we don’t shy away from mud and large puddles in autumn and winter - or shall we say, there’s no escaping them when riding off-road - and in our experience the Overlands have only been defeated by ice and thick bogs. Considering that the tyres are designed with reliability and versatility in mind, we have been impressed by how they perform. As they handled the wet season well, we can only assume they will perform even better on drier trails and we cannot think of a better tyre to use on a long bikepacking or touring trip with a loaded bike and over different surfaces including tarmac and smooth compacted gravel.

We have been very impressed by the versatility and robustness of these tyres. We tend to run them with relatively high pressures (25-30psi, 50mm width, 90+kg rider) but should probably get into the habit of dropping/increasing pressure during rides depending on the surface.

Another great option from the G-One family is the G-One Bite which adds more grip off-road compared to the Overland, and also comes in a 650b size which is particularly helpful on gravel bikes with limited clearance on 700c wheels. If you’d rather prioritise speed over traction, you might want to consider the G-One R.

Regardless of the tyre tread, for the Tor Divide we recommend using a gravel tyre with a minimum width of 40mm.

Racing Ray & Racing Ralph

As we ride a gravel bike with plenty of tyre clearance, we also use Schwalbe MTB tyres and have put well over 2000km on a set composed of a Racing Ray (Super Race compound 29x2.25”) at the front and a Racing Ralph (SuperRace compound 29x2.25”) at the rear.

Mixing tyres at the front and rear helps fine-tuning the way the bike rides and tyres wear out. Typically a rear tyre carries more weight and will therefore have more traction. A slip on the rear tyre can still be “saved”, while losing the front tyre on a descent might be catastrophic hence a more aggressive tyre at the front can be beneficial, especially on muddy and wet ground. At the same time, having a grippy tyre at the back could slow you down on fast rolling terrain.

Riding the Racing Ray at the front allows us to be always in control - other than for our lack of skills - and the Racing Ralph at the back is a fast tyre that rolls quickly without lacking grip whatever the terrain. As usual, we like to test our gear in conditions it is not made for, and these Schwalbe tyres have coped well with snow which is not exactly their natural habitat!