Rene Herse Antelope Hill Endurance Tyre

The René Herse Antelope Hill TC is a 55mm (2.2in) 700C monster slick. It rolls fast and quiet, sticking to gravel tracks and tarmac in an almost unnaturally tenacious manner. With near-bulletproof sidewalls, this is an epic tyre for epic rides – with an epic price tag to boot.

For more options, check out our guide to the best gravel tyres.

A few years back I tested the René Herse Fleecer Ridge tyres with an Endurance casing, a 4.5-star review only held back by its [checks financial section of the Dictionary of Cliches] eye-watering price. Now here's its slick sibling, the Antelope Hill.

> Buy the René Herse Antelope Ridge from Sven Cycles now

As with all René Herse tyres, you get a choice of four casings – Standard, Extralight, Endurance and Endurance Plus. As with the Fleecer Ridge, I'm testing the Antelope Hill with Endurance casing.

One common misconception is that RH tyres are just rebadged Panaracers, but that's not the case. They used to be made by Panaracer, but are now made by whichever manufacturer can meet RH's standards for quality, to RH's own recipe. Incidentally, the model names are chosen from off-road trails around the Seattle area, where René Herse (RH hereon) is based.

Compared with the Fleecer Ridge, the Antelope Hill is roughly 100g lighter thanks to its lack of knobs, but thanks to [waves arms] EVERYTHING, they are now even pricier at £97. Plus postage. Yes, this is a £97 bicycle slick in a market where you can get a 3in-wide extreme enduro tyre for considerably less. In fact, you can get many car tyres for less. It's not even that light at 576g. But all this price and weight comparison is missing the point.

It's just possible that's a controversial statement, but let me explain.

Setting these up tubeless on some Hunt 35 Carbon Gravel X-Wide wheels was simplicity itself. A dry run without sealant first saw them pop on and held air first go, only needing fingers to be convinced over the rim wall. The 23mm internal rim width saw the Antelope Hills blow up a smidge over spec at 56mm – or 2.2in in old/mountain bike money.

The first rule of tubeless compatibility is that there are no rules, so your mileage may vary regarding rim fit and faff, but they worked first time for me. After adding in some Orange Seal, there wasn't a single spec of seepage through the sidewalls.

This is the Endurance part of the spec, where the casing uses the same fine threads as the lighter models but in a denser weave, with an additional protective belt to ward off sidewall cuts.

The Endurance Plus casing, in case you were wondering, keeps ups the thread game as well with 'ultra-strong threads' and a commensurately less-supple, heavier spec.

They grow so fast

Five years ago I wrote about the RH Barlow Pass TC. I loved it. That was back in an era when even 38mm was pushing what most road or 'gravel' frames could accommodate. Now we're much more grown up about the benefits of wider, softer tyres for everyone – even pro riders. Pros are running the numbers and finding tyres up to 32mm are the sweet spot for world-class heroics on a mixture of road and cobbles.

Meanwhile, in the real world where we seek comfort, speed, grip, puncture-proofing and safety, going as wide as possible is the mantra. Options abound for wider tyres, and René Herse is to be applauded for largely leading this charge. A tiny brand compared to the other manufacturers, its tyres are wildly over-represented in long-distance off-road race results.

On the 2022 Tour Divide – a 2,666-mile off-road epic from Canada to Mexico – 20 per cent of starters used RH rubber, and even more amazingly 40 per cent of the top 10 finishers. The winner, Sofiane Sehili, reported that he had no punctures and didn't need to add any air during the two-week race. Sehili was on the same Endurance casing as the Antelope Hill. I can vouch for the fact that once these tyres are inflated you don't need to do any checking – let alone top-ups – for weeks at a time.

A wee downhill

All this brings me back (hello!) to my experience blatting about the Highlands of Perthshire for the last six months. Firstly, no flats. Not one. My one-time downhill racer ego is still writing cheques my 50-year-old musculoskeletal and nervous systems are increasingly reluctant to cash, meaning the faffed-line and optimistic-cornering hits on rocks, waterbars, roots and kerbs come thick and fast.

I don't know what it would take to kill an Antelope Hill tyre, but it likely involves a change of undies, a trip to A&E and/or a new wheelset.

I've taken these tyres over terrain that most gravellers will only experience in their worst nightmares, but around here is the daily grind. Highland estates usually operate their own small quarries, mining the rock then crushing it themselves (by hand, probably) to cheaply effect repair on the shooting tracks up in the hills.

Rock hard rocks

This isn't your soft southern namby-pamby curated and shaped council pea gravel or South Downs chalky clay, oh no Jock. I'm talking fist-size, razor-sharp, white-T-shirted bastardry that – like a night gone wrong in Glasgow – will stab your tyre as soon as look at it.

With a tyre this large and tough, weight is an inevitable consideration. At well over half a kilo per end, these are not the lightweight climbers you're looking for. In fact, ours showed up 41g heavier than the 535g RH claims.

But tough doesn't need to equal slow. Our village castle (honestly, it's like Skyfall round here) has a 1km-long, pan-flat stretch from its gate, and it's the go-to Local Hero All-Out Sprint KOM – one I set myself (oh you're too kind) five years and 13kg of middle-age spread ago on a carbon bike. One with 30mm Extralight René Herse tyres.

Hold on, I'm KOMing

A few weeks back I got within 10 percent of the target time on a heavier gravel bike with a mega-wide non-aero bar, mudguards and the Antelope Hills, managing to hold about 40kph on my own after a pretty hilly ride. No really, put that rosette down, you're too kind.

Now everyone knows Strava KOMs are utter nonsense, there being so many variables on every ride that an apple-with-apples comparison is impossible, but that doesn't stop me mentioning them. Nevertheless, I use it here to highlight that while the Antelope Hill will never be as fast as a lighter, more supple tyre, it can hold its head high.

Being around 105kg including bike, I usually run about 25psi in these 55mm tyres. Handling-wise, all that soft rubber means oodles of grip and cushioning on tarmac and gravel alike. It gives grip for cornering and braking, plus compliance for comfort and less fatigue – it's the recipe for enjoyable, long days out on rough surfaces, sealed or natural.

The wider-tyre evolution, coupled with the slow decline of Britain's roads means I can never see myself going back to a narrower, harder tyre for any reason – going fast and having fun included.

Ponder yonder Sonder

Being able to throw my gravel bike (a Sonder Camino) into twisty tarmac descents with not a care in the world for the upcoming potholes makes for a highly enjoyable time descending the many glens hereabouts.

I've managed about 1,000 miles on the Antelope Hills and they still look new. And remember, this is on mostly rough tracks. Internet reports exist of cyclists getting 5,000 miles plus out of a pair of René Herse slicks. Make of that what you will, but there are the Tour Divide performances to consider too.

Value

Mileage naturally brings us to value. Yes, much cheaper tyres exist, and they may well last 5,000 miles too. At the far end of that spectrum a Schwalbe Marathon Plus could last twice that long – and it will certainly feel twice as long, as those are close to 1kg per tyre stiff as a board.

Comparators for this 700C slick are few and far between. The Schwalbe G-One Allround Evolution in its 700C x 2.25in guise weighs a whopping 685g – 109g (or an iPhone SE) more per tyre. As it lacks large knobs it's fair to call it a slick for off-road purposes, and at £60 in 2021, Jamie rated the 45mm version highly. In 2023 it's more at £66.99, because of course it is.

Probably the closest match is the Schwalbe G-One Speed Evolution at 560g – but Schwalbe's own grip ratings suggest it's much more at home on tarmac than gravel, while not all versions are rated the maximum for durability either.

Vittoria's Terreno comes in a 700C x 2.25in (57mm) version that's 650g. At £54.99 it's getting close to half the price of the Antelope Hill, though it's 75g heavier per tyre too. While it doesn't have any special carcass in this form, it's already a mountain bike tyre and built for rough offroad use to start with.

I've not managed to find a 55mm (or 2.2in) slick 700C tyre with specifically toughened sidewalls for off-road use. Knobbly options abound – it seems there's still a perception that if you're going that wide and off-road you want knobs, but then that means extra noise, weight and drag.

Overall

So these are quite obviously not cheap. Yet everything points to an impressive service life and very impressive performance throughout it. Everyone weighs their own value judgement of price, weight, durability, and ride characteristics, but in my opinion, if you want a big slick that's tough, grippy, fast, quiet and not excessively heavy, the RH Antelope Hills are well worth the investment.

Verdict

Mega wide and mega-tough slick with a supple ride – but a mega price tag to boot