Pirelli Cinturato Gravel S

In the UK our gravel routes tend to be rather muddy, especially in the winter, and that's something this tyre is designed to address. The Pirelli Cinturato Gravel S tyre offers decent tread depth to cope with soft conditions and a compound that feels grippy on all kinds of terrain. Its overall weight means it can feel sluggish against similarly sized gravel tyres designed for fast, hardpacked surfaces – but on the whole that is a compromise worth coping with. It's also slightly pricier than some of the options in our best gravel tyres buyer’s guide – but a bargain compared with others.

The Gravel S sits alongside the Gravel RC, which is designed for gravel racing (and was tested recently by George), the Gravel M for mixed terrain, and the Gravel H with its minimal tread pattern designed for hard, compact surfaces. All of them share the same compound and construction, with the only differences being the tread pattern.

The S has the deepest tread, with directional blocks of rubber covering the mid-section, with even chunkier blocks on the shoulders for increased cornering grip.

It works well on wet and sloppy gravel tracks and byways, getting plenty of purchase in the soft surface, which gives you the confidence to carry more speed in those kind of conditions than the majority of gravel tyres currently available on the market.

Even when the ground is drying out and the mud becomes sticky the Gravel S still works. It bites into anything it can and it doesn't clog either, so you don't have to worry about ending up with 'mud-slick'.

When riding pure muddy trails, like singletrack through the woods or whatever, the tread can get a little overwhelmed, but we are talking more mountain bike tyre conditions at that point.

As George said in his review of the Cinturato Gravel RC, the SpeedGRIP compound is a gravel-specific design which uses the polymer matrix of Pirelli's mountain bike-specific SmartGRIP compound, but has been tweaked to lower its rolling resistance.

Pirelli has tried to focus on creating a tyre that works on the gravel, but as the majority of us need to ride road sections in between, this makes sense. Considering the tread they roll pretty well on the road, though cornering ability is limited because of the shoulder knobbles.

Out on the trails the grip levels are good, and the tyres feel reasonably supple considering the 60tpi (threads per inch) construction and TreadWALL tech. This adds protection to the whole tyre, from sidewall to sidewall, and it seems to work – I never had an issue with punctures during a good few months out on the gravel trails.

At over 550g the Gravel S isn't ever going to feel like a quick tyre, but they didn't feel overly sluggish either. In fact, as long as they are rolling they accelerate easily and having the grip that they do they let you travel faster in poor conditions than a less treaded tyre would. And I wouldn't necessarily be using these in the dry, summer conditions where weight and speed is probably more important.

Tubeless setup

They were very easy to set up tubeless. The Pirellis are compatible with both hooked and hookless rims, and it was easy to pop them onto the wheels with just thumb pressure, following which they inflated straight away, popping into place with just a standard track pump, which is always a bonus.

The sidewalls aren't porous either. Even on the initial application, no sealant leached out, and the tyres were just a few psi down when I checked them the morning after.

Sizing

Pirelli only offers the Gravel S in 700C and widths of 40mm (as tested), 45mm and 50mm. With the knobbly tread, though, they do look wider and beefier than they are.

Value

At £57.99, they're similar in price to other tyres like this, just a few quid more than some we've tested.

The deepest tread option available in Panaracer's line-up, the GravelKing EXT+ TLC, only goes up to a 38mm size, but on the whole I was impressed when I tested them. Though the tread isn't as deep as the Pirellis, they are quite a bit lighter, and slightly cheaper at £54.99.

Vecchiojo reviewed the Maxxis Ravager in 2021, which he described as a 'sturdy, rufty tufty, proper off-road gravel tyre'. It's of a similar weight as the Pirelli, but a bit cheaper again at £49.99.

Another slightly cheaper option is the excellent WTB Resolute TCS Light SG2, which off.road.cc reviewed in 2021. It's a similar weight, does an excellent job, and costs £54.99.

Conclusion

It's great to see brands bring out tyres that are more suitable to the UK's winter conditions, and the Gravel S is a very capable choice. It's weightier than the lightly treaded tyres that take up a lot of the marketplace, but it's very good at what it does, and I'd say well worth buying if you want year-round grip.

Verdict

Very good tyres with grippy tread for proper UK conditions, and reliable and durable too