Giant Gavia Course 1 tubeless tyre

Giant's Gavia Course 1 is a good choice of tubeless tyre for all-season riding. It's pretty hardy and provides excellent grip in dry and wet conditions. It's not especially light or supple, and it's not really the 'Premium Road Race tyre' Giant says it is, but the ride feel and rolling resistance are good for an all-rounder.

The Gavia Course 1 is built around a 60 threads per inch (tpi) casing, and sandwiched between it and the RR-S outer compound is an R-Shield puncture strip. Our 28mm test rubber weighs in at 412g, a bit over Giant's 395g claimed weight.

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Add in 40ml of sealant to bung up the thorn holes and you're looking at 450g a wheel for these tyres, which is okay for a 28mm all-season tyre, but not especially light. There's a 25mm version available too.

Fitting the Gavia Course 1 tyres isn't especially difficult. Ours sealed first time on a set of Hunt Superdura and later a pair of Mavic Aksium Elite wheels, and I didn't even have to break out the Airshot – a track pump did the job just fine. It's a fairly tight fit on the rim, which helps, but not so tight it's an issue getting them in place.

The tread pattern on the Gavia Course 1 is fairly minimal, with a flat centre section and small ribs on the shoulders. I found the RR-S compound very good in terms of grip; running these 28mm tyres tubeless I was happy to drop as low as 55/60psi (front/rear), and found the ride feel sweet spot at around 65/70psi (I'm 92kg).

The 60tpi casing isn't especially supple – the pricier Gavia Course 0 gets a lighter 170tpi casing – but even so, they feel fairly quick on the road, and on loose or wet climbs the grab from the rear is above average. It's confident-feeling tyre.

Wear rate looks reasonably good: I've put about 1,000km into the review set and there's a difference between front and rear just beginning to appear, but there's plenty of life in them yet. I've had no punctures either; close inspection of the carcass reveals a few minor cuts, but I can't see anything that's obviously punctured and sealed.

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They need topping up from time to time, but that's par for the course with tubeless and they're no worse than other options in that regard.

Value

At £39.99 an end, the Gavia Course 1 is midrange in the overall scheme of things, but reasonably cheap for a tubeless road tyre. It's on a par with the 5p cheaper Hutchinson Fusion 5, which is considerably lighter and has a higher thread-count carcass.

That tyre probably edges it in terms of performance, but I'd expect this Gavia Course 1 to be a bit more hardy over winter thanks to its extra bulk. Overall, it's a good fit-and-forget choice for winter miles.

Verdict

Good fit-and-forget tubeless tyre for winter road miles