Zipp Tangente Course G40 tyre

Zipp's first gravel tyre, the Tangente Course G40, is a welcome addition to the marketplace. The tread design works well on the majority of surfaces and they are durable enough to take on the rough stuff. They aren't cheap though.

Some gravel tyres focus more on durability/puncture protection while others concentrate mostly on grip, but there are a few tyres out there that focus on performance gravel riding, and the G40 is definitely one of those.

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Gravel events are growing in the UK, and while few of them are races that doesn't stop people wanting to ride them fast. For that you want a relatively light tyre that still manages to be robust, and you also need a tread pattern that works on all kind of surfaces – and that is what the Zipp delivers.

The tread is quite minimal on the central section of the G40, which is suited to dry and dusty conditions like you tend to get in the USA where gravel riding is big. With the sun coming out here in the south-west and minimal rain, the trails and gravel tracks have lost their stickiness and are now running fast. The G40s have been absolutely great in these conditions.

The knobbly bits have enough bite to grip on the dry mud and dust found in the woods and also on the small gravel of the local tracks when you are riding and changing direction at speed. The additional deeper shoulder tread increases grip in the bends and brings a bit of extra confidence too.

It all copes well on grass too, and even when the mud is reasonably soft on all but the steepest of hills.

Riding on the road between gravel sections doesn't find the G40s to be sluggish – they roll pretty well and grip isn't too bad either.

At the beginning of the test period it was a very different story, after months of heavy rain. The G40s still worked fine on firm gravel byways and tracks, but on those that are a mixture of gravel and mud things became quite slippery quickly because of the small tread getting full of wet mud.

If you'll be riding on hard-packed surfaces, you'll be able to use these year-round, but if you really like to mix up your surfaces and conditions, you'll need something chunkier for the wetter months.

For what they are designed to cope with, though, they do a very good job.

With a 127TPI (threads per inch) build, the G40 feels supple enough that you can feel what is going on underneath the tyre at all times, which is important on a loose surface.

Puncture protection seems to be pretty good as well. The G40s are tubeless so it's not easy to notice punctures when out on the trail, but after taking them off the wheels at the end of testing to inspect them, there are no holes or cuts in the tread anywhere and they've seen a lot of miles on some rough surfaces.

Zipp has achieved this by fitting a puncture protection strip that runs from bead to bead rather than just under the tread.

> How to avoid punctures

As you can probably guess from the name, the Zipps are 40mm wide which is a size that I find fine for the majority of trails I ride, but many riders prefer something wider. This is the only gravel tyre in the line-up at the moment, but it'll be interesting to see if Zipp releases more size options.

Fitting the G40s was no issue whatsoever, especially to wider rimmed gravel wheels. I used them for the majority of the time on a set of Sector wheels and the initial tubeless set-up went easily with no problems at all.

It took a bit of inflation up to the highest recommended pressure of 65psi to get the bead to fully pop onto the rim, but once in position it remained in place even when the tyres were flat.

Value-wise, they have a retail price of £64.99 which puts them at around the same mark as the Goodyear County Ultimate Tubeless Gravel tyre (£60), the Schwalbe G-One Bite MicroSkin TL-Easy (£58.99) and the Continental Terra Speed at £59.95. All are very good tyres that focus on speed more than out and out grip.

Other similar tyres do it for less, though, like the Specialized Pathfinder Pro 2Bliss Ready (£42) or the Panaracer GravelKing SK at £39.99.

I've also tested the excellent new Michelin Power Gravel tyre, which is £44.99.

> Buyer’s Guide: 25 of the best gravel and adventure tyres

Overall, the Zipp G40 is one of the best performance gravel tyres out there, especially when the conditions are dry and dusty. They back this up with good durability, too, so it just comes down to whether you want to pay for it.

Verdict

Excellent speed and performance on the trails and tracks, especially in dry conditions