Tires

There's probably no part of Unbound that inspires more questions than tires.  Mostly, which tires?  Below are my reviews of all the tires I've used and how good they might be for Unbound.  They've increased in width over the years.  I highly recommend running the widest tire that will safely fit, because the wider the tire, the more comfortable you'll be.  The more comfortable you are, the faster you'll ride.  And it won't make you slower.

There is no perfect tire. For every tire, there's at least one person who got a flat/tore a sidewall/had some other misfortune. Pick your tires and then don't worry about that choice.

Many bikes are able to take a wider tire in front than in the rear. Running two different size tires is a great idea to take advantage of that. 

Running two different tires works well too. Use one with a smoother tread in the rear and a more aggressive tread in the front.

Whatever tires you pick, buy two sets now. Supply chain problems are real and you don't want to be scrambling for tires in May 2022. Train on one set. Put the new set on two weeks before Unbound and get a few rides on them. Bring the old set along as spares.

Without further ado:

Continental Race King Protection: 27.5x2.2. My favorite tire to date. Rides very comfortably and fast, great grip when turning. Their gravel models (Terra Speed and Terra Trail) could be wider, but I’m sure they ride well too. Also, the sidewalls are slick instead of gummy; that may help prevent sidewall tears. Or maybe not! Anyway, I really like them and highly recommend them. I’ll be running them again at Unbound. 

Panaracer Gravel King SK, 650bx48: These are stiff at higher pressures, but when aired down they’re pretty comfortable (I was 175-ish pounds and ran them at 25-ish psi). It’s a very narrow range of comfortable pressures though: they get stiff if it’s high, and they understeer if it’s too low. At the right pressure, I felt very confident cornering on them. I haven’t tried the “+” version, but the normal ones worked great for me (but other people had sidewall tears). Felt a little slippy in squishy mud (but I guess that’s true for any tire that’s not mud specific)

Teravail Rutland Durable, 650bx48: Another good tire. Seemed to roll relatively fast, I didn’t find them quite as confident in corners as the Gravel King SKs. The 27.5x2.1, 700x47, & 29x2.2 versions are ludicrously heavy, so I’d probably choose a different tire for the rear with a better tough/width/weight tradeoff. 

Terrene Elwood Tough, 650bx47: I ran this on the front in 2017 and it did pretty well in the mud (not peanut butter, the sandy-silty-wash-right-off mud). These days I'd be more inclined to run it as a rear, since it's got a pretty tight, smooth tread.

Rene Herse Umtanum Ridge (endurance casing), 27.5x2.2: These are a hard one for me. I like how quiet they are on pavement. The tread is fine-I don’t think they corner as well as the Gravel King SKs or the Race Kings. I guess they’d hold up for gnarlier stuff, but I don’t want to try them on it. I also find the “best tires EVER” marketing really off-putting. Their speed claims, even if true, don’t add up to much: Rene Herse’s testing data shows that you’d only save about five minutes over the course of 200 miles as compared to a WTB Raddler (which isn’t a fair comparison, since the treads are very different and all the reviews have talked about how the Raddler is a gnarly tire; the Resolute would be a much better comparator…ANYWAY).

Bottom line, I like them for a mixture of pavement/smooth dirt/nonaggressive gravel, which is basically what I have where I live. I wouldn’t spend $96/tire on these (or other similar Rene Herse tires) for Unbound. 

Schwalbe G-One Allround, 650bx38 and 27.5x2.25: These tires are stiff and uncomfortable, no matter how low the tire pressure. It felt slow and I felt beat up, which is bananas with a tire this width at 18psi. I ran the 650bx38 version at DK 2017 and it was fine, but I also think that one was stiff. There are better options. 

Schwalbe Thunder Burt, 27.5x2.25: Another XC tire I like a lot. The 2.25 width has been discontinued, but I imagine the 2.1s are also great. Comfortable, decent grip, side knobs work well. Great for dirt roads; pretty good on pavement (you get some minor rumbling at slow speeds, but still pretty good overall). I don’t think they’re burly enough for Unbound, but still a good tire overall. 

Continental Speed King (race sport casing), 27.5x2.2: I beg of you, do not use this as an MTB tire, even though that’s how Conti sells it. You will be very sad. HOWEVER, it’s a brilliant almost-slick that is silent on the road and dirt. It also feels great to ride. Minimal side knobs, not sure how effective they are. If your bike fits them, and you want a fast tire for pavement and smooth dirt, get these. Don’t ride them at Unbound. They’d be super at SBT GRVL.