Big n Fat

I was daydreaming the other day. I decided I wanted something Big n Fat. Not a kebab as it happens but some new rubber for my gravel bike. I’ve been thinking about trying 50mm tyres on and off for a while but I quite often blow hot and cold when contemplating new stuff. Buying 650b wheels just seemed over the top to achieve a super-wide tyre so new tyres on my existing wheels seemed the sensible (and cheapest) option. I see fatter tyres on gravel bikes a lot but it was Geoff @ Downhill Smooth Tarmac that got me over the line. Watching him riding 2.3 inch tyres on his Genesis Vagabond made me press the button the other day when I was bored.

I didn’t want to spend too much money so I was prepared to compromise on Tubeless and even folders if they were too expensive but a quick Google landed me a pair of Schwalbe G-One’s, TLE (Tubeless Ready) @ 50% off from Merlin Cycles. The only compromise were the sidewalls, which are a ‘statement’ colour lets say. I paired them with a couple of Conti MTB 29 tubes + a couple spare.

They came today so I fitted them as I had to clean the bike anyway. My 35mm G-One’s looked like road tyres in comparison. Fitting was easy enough. They rolled on with my fingers and I pumped them up hard to seat them which made me realise I need a new, higher volume track pump now too. They looked so big out the box, I initially thought they might be too big but they fitted snugly. Not much room left at the back but plenty of frame clearance left at the front.

I took the bike out for a quick spin. I could definitely feel the weight of them when I picked the bike up so I expected them to roll like tractor tyres but I was pleasantly surpised as they roll rather nicely. Can’t wait to drop a bit of air now and try them offroad.

The final decision is do I go tubeless? I think if I like them and keep them then yes I probably will being a higher volume tyre. I’ll benefit from that setup because lumping a couple of chunky Conti MTB 29 tubes around is going to be a pain.

I’ll report back once I’ve given them a good offroad test.

Adios