REVIEW: Pirelli Cinturato M Gravel Tires | Light Bikepacking Tubeless Tires
- Randy Reek, The Great Out There
- May 22
- 5 min read
After many miles of riding, I can 100% recommend the Pirelli Cinturato M tires for gravel bikes and #bikepacking!
Late last Fall, I began the build of my new bike for gravel riding and LITE bikepacking.
I have owned multiple bikes for varied bicycle touring, from traditional touring bikes to super-light gravel bikes, to “all-road” commuter bikes, to heavy-duty bikepacking rigs with belt drive geared transmissions.
Like many riders, the optimum number of bikes in your stable is always X + 1!!!
My preferred bike riding and touring boils down to TWO main styles:
Unloaded gravel rides, including training rides and the occasional “gravel grinder”. While my traditional touring bikes could handle tires up to 40mm for the occasional gravel road, I wanted more volume for demanding gravel events. At the same time, heavier bikepacking rigs and MTBs were too heavy and too slow.
Capacity for short tours on mixed roads with an ultralight load. I simply did not need the capacity of a rig designed for weeks on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. I have developed my style of ultralight touring for durations of a week, or less. I still wanted some front suspension, but didn’t require a full MTB suspension fork. I also prefer straight handlebars for efficient packing with a front harness.
I have purchased, rigged, and sold many, many bikes over the years as my riding style and requirements have “matured”.
With these goals in mind, I purchased the Motobecane “Elite Adventure PRO” from BikesDirect
This bike is a “hybrid” in that it is perfect for the casual rider and commuter. However, it has the following features which make it an ideal gravel/light bikepacking rig:
Lightweight aluminum frame
Hydraulic disk brakes
Rockshox Recon front fork, with lockout
Wide range, 1x12 SRAM Eagle drive train
29-inch (700c) wheels which are tubeless-ready
Straight handlebars
In this article, I will review the tires that I installed on my new all-purpose gravel and bikepacking rig: the Pirelli Cinturato M tubeless tires.
One of the requirements for my new bike was 29er (700c) wheels that are tubeless-ready.
I am a firm advocate for tubeless tires. Tubeless tires (like those found on your auto and most motorcycles) have the advantages of lighter weight, ease of plugging most punctures, and the versatility to vary pressures depending on the load and road conditions.
I also prefer the larger 700c (29”) diameter over the 650B (27.5”) diameter tires. Having logged many miles on both, I can testify that the larger wheels are faster. The ONLY argument for touring with 27.5” wheels is that there might be better availability of basic tires in some remote third-world village – which will never be my problem.
The Motobecane “Adventure” model included 29-inch rims that were tubeless-ready.
Like nearly all bikes today, “tubeless-ready” wheels also means that the stock tires are NOT tubeless-compatible. I can understand why brands sell bikes without tubeless-ready tires: the majority of urban buyers don’t bother to spend the extra money to complete the conversion process. Even many round-the-world tourists still ride on inner tubes.
My first goal was to replace the stock 38mm tubed street tires with 50mm tubeless gravel tires. I needed better traction, increased volume with weight capacity, and a strong but lightweight construction to offset the larger tires. After shopping the various options, I chose the Pirelli Cinturato M gravel tires.
Side note: I have ridden thousands of touring miles on 10-speed bikes with the original 27 x 1.25” tires (that is, approximately 32mm.) More recently, gravel riders and racers have “upgraded” to 35mm or 40mm tires. Currently, the most popular gravel tire is the 50mm width.
This is really no surprise since gravel riders have always known that “Smooth is Fast”! Tires with a larger profile simply absorb the trillions of jolts and vibrations better than hard, narrow tires. To learn more about choosing gravel tires, see this related article on the GreatOutThere blog.
Light carcass tires are sold folded for better merchandising in bike shops. This means your new tires are FAR from round.
Especially if your goal is tubeless conversion, do yourself a favor and install the new tires on your rims with the stock inner tubes for at least 24 hours. Inflate to full pressure and allow the tires to stretch back into circles!
If you choose, you can also ride the new tires with the inner tubes installed for days or a few weeks. In the process, the tires have conformed to the rims, including the beads of the tires and the matching hooks on the rims.
Tubeless conversion will also require new tubeless valves and adhesive tape to seal the tops of the spoke nipples inside the rims. Of course, you will also need the liquid sealant that is added to the tires. Order all these components when you buy your replacement tubeless tires. For more information on the complete tubeless tire conversion process, including troubleshooting tips, see this related article on the GreatOutThere.online blog.
After first installing the inner tubes and stretching the Cinturato tires overnight, I removed the tires and prepped the rims for the tubeless conversion. This is also the best time to check your rims for trueness and adjust the wheel bearings, if necessary.
Some brands of tires have given me trouble. I’m happy to report that these Pirelli Cinturato tires were high quality and mated with the rims on the first inflation.
If possible, inflate the new tubeless tires, add the liquid sealant, and then go for a short ride to ensure complete coverage of the inner tire casing. The next day, it’s not unusual to find a few bubbles of sealant along the rim, or at the valve or a spoke. You might need to remove the valve core, add more sealant, and reinflate once or twice until your tubeless conversion is successful.
I’ve logged many miles on the new Cinturato tires. My local gravel is premium, crushed red Wisconsin granite – the state mineral!
When well-packed, our gravel roads are nearly as smooth as pavement. When worn, the chunkier base rocks are exposed. “Gravel” in other parts of the state can be sharp crushed rock, mud, or sand. I recently completed the “Bear’ gravel grinder in Laona, (northeastern Wisconsin) and the route included all three of these conditions after an inch of rain the day before.
I am happy with my choice of this new gravel and light bikepacking rig and the tires chosen for my styles of riding. At the recent gravel race, I was very competitive with gravel bikes that cost 2 or 3 times more! The tread pattern never clogs with mud. The center tread blocks function like a continuous rib on hard-pack and pavement, rolling smoothly and quietly.
There is no perfect gravel bike, and there are a wide range of requirements for tires to suit your individual needs. But for my type of “gravel” riding and light bikepacking, the hybrid bike outfitted with Pirelli Cinturato 50mm tires is my new favorite!
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