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Clement Xplor MSO – Donnelly (which sells internationally under the Clement brand) has continued making great products under its new name. The X’PLOR MSO is perfectly suited to mountain gravel roads, with its name coming from the airport code for Missoula, Montana. The closely-packed central tread rolls well on hardpack and tarmac, and the bigger knobs on the sides of the tyre hook up well on sand, mud, and grass. The 40mm volume provides plenty of cushioning across rocks, washboard and roots, but slimmer models are available for those whose frame lacks the clearance for such huge volumes.
Kenda’s Flintridge – Coming in both 35c and 40c, we prefer the larger Flintridge, which fits fine on the more capacious gravel frames we have been riding recently. The stiff sidewalls set up easily on our test bike and the central tread pattern, which looks like striped lines on a road, and rolls almost silently on the tarmac. These are a little less supple than some of the other tyres we tested, so they weren’t quite as comfortable on really bumpy trails, but they felt fast on the roads, and gripped well on smoother singletrack.
Maxxis Rambler/ Re-Fuse Combo – Gravel legend Rebecca Rush likes to run a custom combination of front and rear tyres to maximise efficiency and speed in the kind of long gravel races at which she excels. Rusch prefers a slick rear tyre like Maxxis Re-Fuse on the back and a more grippy Rambler on the front for traction. This works well in gravel races where low rolling resistance is a priority and rear traction isn’t as important. For those of us looking to hit the trails, a pair of 700×38 or 700×40 Ramblers provide great traction, even if they cost a little speed on the smoother surfaces.
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