What a gravel tyre has to do around here
Gravel riding on this peninsula is rarely pure gravel. A typical ride is tar out of Hout Bay, a long stretch of hardpack and loose stone, and tar home again. The tyre has to be quick on the first and last part without being frightening in the middle.
That is why the sizes we carry cluster around 45mm and 50mm. Below about 40mm you give up too much comfort and grip on the loose stuff; much above 50mm and you are riding a slow mountain bike on the road sections.
The two ends of the range
Schwalbe's G-One R Pro and G-One RS Pro are the fast end — a tight centre tread that hums along on tar, with enough shoulder to hold a line on loose gravel. The Maxxis Rambler and Reaver run a more open pattern, which is what you want when the surface gets genuinely loose or wet.
Volume, pressure, and why tubeless matters more here
The whole point of a wide tyre is the low pressure it lets you run, and low pressure with an inner tube in it is how you get pinch flats. That is why nearly every gravel tyre sold is tubeless-ready, marked TLR on the sidewall.
Set up tubeless, the sealant handles thorn punctures without you noticing — which on Cape farm tracks is not a small thing. You will want a decent pump or CO2 to seat the bead; the pumps and inflation range covers both.
Common questions
Will these fit my bike?
Most modern gravel frames clear 45mm comfortably and many take 50mm. Some clear much less. Bring the bike past Hout Bay Cycle Co and we will check the clearance at the chainstay and the fork crown rather than guess from a spec sheet.
Can I use them on a mountain bike?
Only if it takes 700c wheels. A 29in mountain bike rim is the same diameter, so in some cases yes — but the frame clearance and the intended use are usually wrong. The mountain bike tyres are the better answer, and narrower road rubber sits at the other end.
Riding a Terra? The Orbea gravel bikes we sell are built around exactly this tyre width.
