So I just installed 35 GravelKing Slicks on my ultimate with plans of road riding (which I’ve done all season) but also rails to trails sections with hard packed gravel. I’m coming from the GP5000 28s.
I’ve seen a lot of chatter about this but never definitive answers. To me if I’m not riding in the mud this should give ample clearance but maybe I’m missing something? Thoughts from this group on how clearance looks?
Also – are 35s a waste? 28s rolled nice and I liked them but have read that going to 35 slicks I won’t lose a ton of speed but add a lot of comfort to both the road and hard packed gravel.
Lastly, I’m not up-to-date on any tech stuff really, are 35s on the stock rims a problem?
Let me know what you all think!
by Ad-Nauseam91
8 Comments
Too close for comfort to take off road other than hard-pack gravel, IMO. I’m all for sending an Ultimate in a gravel event, and have a few teammates who have completed rugged gravel races on that frame, but they ran 32mm tires.
Keep in mind that the tire will expand wider when you are on the bike riding it. This would be a nightmare to ride with any mud, and if you were to pick up a rock or nail in your tread, you’d be damaging your frame/fork pretty quickly.
I can’t speak on the wheel compatibility, I’m not sure.
35s shouldn’t be a problem at all, as long as you have a few mm between the wheel and frame. Most often people talk about the clearance to the chainstay, but it’s actually tighter tolerances to the frame than the chainstay. There are 2 places to check, the seat tube (fender lug) and the upper cross bar (v-brake lug).
I ran Schwalbe marathons in 35s (37×622) on a Bianchi with only 5mm clearance to the frame. Took that thing on the Gap and C&O, in the rain, with no issues.
You won’t be getting a fender in there with those 35s, I suspect.
I went with 32mm pirelli cinturato on my ultimate, I like a little more tooth in my tire for gravel, I’ve had no issues, tubeless at 50psi has been just fine on Colorado gravel…
that’s a bit too close for me. Did you try in corners?
they’ll flex a little bit.
32mm is the sweet spot imo
I had 35mm GKSS on my road bike for a spell. Tight but fine for the type of hard pack hiking trail I wanted it for. It was super fun for a while but I got bored with it and went back to 30mm Corsa Pros and tarmac-only.
32mm seems to be the safe maximum on the ultimate. I have this same bike
Looks good as long as you are doing hard packed dirt or tarmac
if it were me I’d just pull the wheels and install some 3M clear tape along the inside of the fork and by the chain stays to prevent any rub