"Most riders should choose a larger tire size than they are currently using," advises Lauf founder and CEO, Benni Skúlason. This advice pertains to all kinds of riding, including road, mountain biking, and gravel bikes—for which Lauf is most recognized.
Skúlason notes, "What shocks me is how long it has taken people to embrace the reality that bigger tires are faster. Still, more and more individuals are beginning to understand this. Tour de France riders are seen sporting 32mm tires. Two years or a year ago, this would have been laughed at.
Including its first foray into road bikes, the Úthald, Lauf provides broad tire clearance across its entire model line. Although the Úthald is a race geometry bike, it can use 35mm tires. Without even including that if you're more comfortable, you can ride longer, and if you're more confident, you can downhill faster, test results reveal that 32mm tires are ideal for speed. Skúlason says, even without these elements, 32mm tires are just faster.
"We now have a lot of data demonstrating that wider tires are indeed faster. Overcoming the speed sensation paradox is a major obstacle for riders, though; thinner tires give us a sense of speed, and it's quite difficult to believe that this impression isn't real. You feel like you're driving fast anytime you experience noise, vibration, and a rough ride."
Skúlason wonders whether this general impression results from using 32mm tires on wheels designed for 28mm or smaller. "Once wheels are adjusted to work with 32mm tires, perhaps we'll see that 35mm ones might be faster than 32mm ones," he says.
Skúlason clarifies the effect of tire construction: "We decided that broad tires were slower since we used to believe narrow tires were made for speed while wide tires were commuter tires not built for speed. But the picture alters if you use a wide tire meant for speed."
Skúlason anticipates a slow development in all cycling disciplines towards more wide tires. "The speed paradox is breaking down first in road cycling, then gravel, and lastly mountain biking. I believe this is so because road cycling statistics are more easily gathered. While road surfaces are somewhat straightforward to standardize, gravel surfaces abound in variety. Getting consistent data for gravel is somewhat difficult."
According to Skúlason, bike designers' obsession with aerodynamics stems mostly from their capacity to analyze data and provide repeatable measurements, so sometimes neglecting other elements influencing ride efficiency. "Wind tunnels offer reproducible data, which has driven people's attention toward bike and tire aerodynamic performance. Though they are perfecting every aspect of aerodynamics, people are neglecting clear elements like which tire width is fastest."
He thinks that this limited emphasis on aerodynamics sometimes comes at the cost of other equally crucial elements that significantly affect the ride quality of a bike. While these elements could be more difficult to quantify, he thinks that enhancing rolling resistance and vibration damping will boost confidence when descending and provide a general better riding experience.
Lauf's bike designs, Skúlason notes, fully utilize the benefits of bigger tires: "In Iceland, we have a history of riding gravel roads, and people noticed that tires about 50mm rolled faster. Therefore, I believe that gravel bike tire widths should hardly ever drop below that; in the future, gravel bikes could become standardized at 50mm."
With most gravel races now employing 45mm tires, this is far broader than the current standard, much like road bikes are. "I am asked frequently, 'How large a tire do I need for this course?' This question assumes that smaller tires will be faster; hence, you only go wider in case the ground is too rocky. This is really a basic misinterpretation; the ideal tire width for the Rift Gravel Race in Iceland is about 55mm. Being able to roll over washboard terrain with larger tires yields a significant speed benefit."
Skúlason sees not only the breadth of road and gravel bike tires but also space to get broader here as most mountain bikers are still riding 2.3-inch or 2.4-inch tires. Like pulling a grocery cart on a gravel parking lot. You understand how difficult it is, but lower pressure, wider tires will glide over these surfaces."
Skúlason, meantime, is especially excited about SRAM's new 13-speed gear since it represents a major new technology allowing gravel bike construction. Most gravel riders, he thinks, dislike the front derailleur since it reduces tire clearance, adds weight and complexity, and is not aerodynamic. Changing chains breaks your pedaling rhythm, and front derailleurs are prone to mis-shifts and chain drops.
"People have been able to rethink their gear choices and finally abandon 2x systems with the launch of SRAM XPLR AXS 1x13-speed," Skúlason says. "For most riders, this design mixes a sufficiently wide range with tight gear spacing."
Between the 10, 11, 12, and 13-tooth cogs, the SRAM Red XPLR AXS provides single-tooth jumps; then, two-tooth increments for the 15, 17, 19, and 21-tooth cogs. While still offering up to a 46-tooth cog for the steepest climbs, this covers the range most riders employ during their rides.
Skúlason points out, "The new 13-speed powertrain maintains precise gear spacing but offers a larger range. For top-level gravel racing—like Unbound—where you have high-speed gears and a 46-tooth gearing for climbs—this is perfect. Including it within the Seigla excites us greatly.
The Seigla, Lauf's flagship gravel bike, is totally 1x-oriented. "For the simplicity, less weight, low maintenance, and peace of mind 1x offers, even with the 12-speed XPLR 1x, the trade-off is totally worth it."
The new Full Mount design of SRAM also marks the end of the derailleur hanger, sometimes the bike's Achilles' heel. This removes alignment and limits screw problems, therefore enabling the derailleur to move correctly even under load.
Skúlason notes, "SRAM has made a daring move by doing this, as all frames must follow the UDH guideline. We decided right away to go to UDH since removing the hanger makes sense. There is no tolerance left over with hangers. SRAM can put in the 13th speed and tighten everything and increase accuracy without the inconsistencies in outside components."
So would Lauf's initial product, the Grit fork, become outdated if everyone starts using bigger tires? Not at all, says Skúlason. He says that although bigger tires effectively absorb high-frequency vibrations, a bike must smooth out a spectrum of frequencies to be both quick and pleasant.
"The Grit fork works much better when matched with somewhat bigger tires. The ultra-fast stimulation from surface texture/roughness cannot ever be countered with any suspension fork in the world. A suspended wheel simply cannot move its mass quickly enough to handle washboards at speed, while Lauf's Grit forks react faster than telescopics due to their substantially lower unsprung mass and absence of friction."
Skúlason so thinks the Grit fork still has exceptional usefulness, particularly in handling medium- to high-frequency hits like rocks or potholes. " If you ride narrow, hard tires on a Grit fork, the frequency that hard and skinny tires can handle and the frequency the Grit can manage are separated in a 'dead band'. Running 50-55mm tires at appropriate pressures has shown to help to close the gap up to the Grit's range.
