Welcome to Gravel&Dirt

Gravel&Dirt is a group of riders who can't resist a narrow ribbon of gravel or dirt (or even asphalt) stretching into the hills. We've been looking for reliable information about equipment, especially reviews of tires for our rides. We're just seeing paid advertisements or reviews that don't provide enough context to make good decisions and now we've decided to fix that and post our own tire reviews. We'll only test tires that we buy with our own money and ride on our own bikes.

We'll start off with two reviews that we've had in the works. More to come soon! Leave a comment if you have something to add. Thanks.

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Review: Ultradynamico 650B x 47.99 Rose and Cava Race Tires

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After running middle of the road tires like the WTB Byways and Panaracer Gravelking SK I finally decided to splurge on some top end rubber. Especially the Gravelkings are fine tires, but they've got a puncture-resistant belt and so I wondered what it would be like to ride on tires without any protection. I don't get lots of flats so why not? Along came Ultradynamico creating a lot of buzz with their new tire offerings. Their tires are made by Panaracers, and they say their tires don't have any sidewall protection and that you need to be certified to ride them. It's probably a joke but a tire like the Gravelking but with a more supple casing and no protection layer seemed like something I wanted to try. Ultradynamico recommend the Mullet Protocol with their slick Cava on the rear and the semi-knobby Rose on the front. I opted for the Race casing. If I'm going to splurge why not go all the way? And the price is the same for their Race and Brevet models. In fact, the o...
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Review: WTB Byway 650B x 47c Tires

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WTB started pushing the Road Plus thing with their Horizon. That was one of the first 650B tires to hit the mainstream. The idea is that a 650B x 47c tire has the same rolling diameter as a 700C x 30 tire, so it'll fit on the same bike. If you have clearance between the chainstays, that is. WTB has a web site that shows which bikes will fit Road Plus tires. The first Road Plus tire, the WTB Horizon, was basically a slick tire. The company followed up with the Byway with a combination of all the treads you'd want on your tire. The center is a slick for fast rolling. Then comes says ena cross-hatched pattern that WTB claims enhances cornering grip on pavement. Then come some diamond-shaped file pattern. And then there are some side knobs for grip when leaning deep into a corner. One of our bikes was bought used with the Byways. The previous owner had installed the tires just before the sale, so they are the aftermarket model and not the OEM. It seems that with some tire makers,...
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Musical Specs

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When we compare products we expect companies to provide us with accurate specs. It's not like we can go to a bike shop and weigh a ton of parts to double check the claimed weights. In my experience companies usually are honest. By and large the specs are accurate. So I was a bit surprised when the Ultradynamico Cava tire we tested came in 30 grams heavier than the spec weight. Now 30 grams isn't a huge variation, but the 450 g weight listed on the Ultradynamico site (above) seemed very light for such a knobbly tire. Most other 650B x 47 tires are listed in the 500s. Only the Rene Herse tires push the performance envelope with weights in the lower 400s. It's one thing to have some variability in the weight due to manufacturing tolerances, but it's something else to claim a close to record weight that turns out to be inaccurate. Recently the weight on the Ultradynamico web site was changed. It's now listed at 490 g (below). So my sample actually seems to be one of the...
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