Schwalbe G-One Bite MicroSkin TL-Easy tyre

Schwalbe's new G-One Bite Microskin TL-Easy tyre is an addition to its do-a-bit-of everything all-rounder range, with bigger knobbles and a more pronounced shoulder making them more suited to gravel and hardpacked trails. They are pricey, though, and I'm not massively convinced about their longterm durability on the gravel tracks.

• Pros: Fast on multiple terrain, great grip on gravel and dry trails
• Cons: Expensive, puncture-prone off-road

When Dave tested the standard G-Ones back in 2016 he was very impressed, four-and-a-half stars impressed, and called them, 'Fantastically capable all-rounder tyres for roads, ruts and rocks.' With the G-One Bite, the ruts and rocks can be bigger but without really sacrificing too much on the road. It's a very clever balance.

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On the tarmac they roll smoothly. You certainly don't feel like you are riding a treaded tyre and there isn't any extra road noise so riding to your off-road adventure is never a chore.

Cornering grip isn't as good as a slick road tyre, but I never felt out of my comfort zone leaning them over for a bend or circumnavigating a roundabout. I'd scrub off a little more speed than normal, but nothing like I would for a cyclo-cross tyre, for instance.

Gravel & mud

When you get to the gravel or hardpacked trails, though, the fun really begins. Living near Salisbury Plain, the network of gravel tracks I have on my doorstep includes hardpacked perimeter paths used for manoeuvring military tanks and lorries, and the loose aggregate routes that criss-cross between them.

There are 40mph descents and tough climbs and the G-One Bites never put a foot wrong, no matter what type or size of gravel I'm riding over. Grip feels really good and even if things start to move around beneath you, it's always a controlled slide before the pronounced shoulder knobbly bits dig into something to steady the mayhem.

Their 40mm width means they don't sink into the small pea-sized stones that can almost stall a thinner tyre, either.

Now things have started to dry out and the local forest trails have started to harden, the Bites have shown their worth here too. As long as the going is pretty firm, they grip well as you carve a line between the trees and roots, and on short, sharp climbs the tread digs in to stop wheel spin way better than I was expecting.

If things are wetter, the mud quickly builds up and they become slick, so for every metre the wheel travels you've probably done four. It's not really what they are designed for, so it's no biggy, I just happened to ride along a boggy bridleway for about two miles and I thought I'd share the misery.

What's in a name?

Apart from G-One Bite, you'll see there's a little more to the tyre's title. So what's going on?

There's Microskin, for one. This is a fabric layer that's added to the carcass to help it hold air without a tube, especially at high pressures. It certainly seemed to work as they required no more topping up of air than any bike running an inner tube setup.

The whole tyre has a very supple feel about it, especially the way it absorbs bumps – even when I had it pumped up to 70psi if it was going to be a long tarmac section to the start of the gravel shenanigans. So reducing the porousness of the sidewall hasn't had any repercussions.

TL-Easy replaces what Schwalbe used to call TL-R or tubeless ready. TL-R tyres weren't actually tubeless, but they could be made to be with a bit of faffing around.

TL-Easy tyres use a monofilament texture on the sidewalls, which ensures an extremely light tubeless conversion, according to Schwalbe. Plus, even though the use of sealing liquid is still necessary, fitting is as easy as with genuine tubeless tyres. In fact Schwalbe has replaced all of its tubeless tyres with the T-LE versions.

Fitment was certainly quick and simple just using a standard track pump, with the bead popping into place with little issue. One of them I had to fettle a little bit to get it to sit right, but no more than I've had to with some tubed tyres.

> How to fit a tubeless tyre

The Kona Rove DL test bike I was riding (review to come) was crying out for some lighter tyres, so I fitted the Bites (with tubes as the wheels weren't set up for tubeless) and again installation was simple. In fact the ride wasn't even that much different.

My only issue with the G-One Bites is that I picked up quite a few punctures over the test period, in both tubed and tubeless guise. The tread just seems a little bit fragile compared to the cheap, basic Schwalbe CX tyres I've been hammering around on the same gravel for the best part of a year plus the 2017 edition of Dirty Reiver, without a single flat.

The Bites are covered in quite a few tiny little cuts between the knobbles after just 200 miles of off-road riding, and considering the £58 price tag could become expensive over the course of a year.

Slipping seamlessly into value, let's take a look at the competition...

Value

Panaracer's GravelKing SK tyre is a good place to start, especially as David Arthur gave them four and a half stars, and he knows a thing or two about off-road tyres. They are bit wider than these Bites at 43mm and they are priced at just £39.99.

The Kenda Cholla Pro also scored well thanks to its off-road ability, and can be had for £37.99.

It's not all one-way, though, as the high-scoring Clement X'Plor MSO tyres are 60 quid.

So, where does this leave us? I reckon if you want an excellent performing tyre on gravel and firm trails without sacrificing quality on the road, the Schwalbes are definitely worth the investment. They are brilliant tyres that just work, but you have to accept that they aren't going to be the most durable option.

Verdict

Grippy performance on tarmac and gravel at the cost of durability