Ere Research Tenaci 700c x 32mm Gravel Tire Review

By Matteo Pistono

Gravel riding in San Diego’s north county offers a combination of urban shard-ladened tarmac connecting hard packed sand and rollers on washed out and rutted mountain bike loops. In these conditions, for traction and stability, I prefer to max out the tire size to 38 mm on my Foundry Overland. But with the Belgian Waffle Ride date quickly approaching, and other adventures like the SBT GRVL, where I will likely run a smaller tire choice, I thought I would test out Ere Research’s 32 mm Tenaci.

The Tenaci tires were delivered to Gravelstoke’s headquarters in Carlsbad and they looked like something out of an Apple store. Reminisce of opening a new iPhone, the Ere Research tires come in a beautiful matte black box. Inside you will find not only the tire but an explanatory card about the tread, as well as tube of Stan’s No Tubes sealant and an alloy valve. Classy? Yes, but after all, Ere Research does have World Champion and Olympic Gold medalist Fabian Cancellara on their marketing team.

Tubeless set up was smooth and within a half hour, I had the Tenaci tires on my DT Swiss wheels. With the Spring Classic seasons just a month away, I did wish that my new tires had a tan sidewall. Still, as I pedaled off into the night, I was pleased to notice the reflective Ere logo on the tires.

Ere Research products—namely tires and saddles—are the handiwork of former professional racer Piet van der Velde. After racing he moved into product design and performance ergonomics. The saddle that you are riding on now was most likely influenced by, if not designed by van der Velde. He crafted saddles for years at Specialized, Selle Italia, and Selle San Marco. Ere Research continues to offer saddles, as well as an entire line of high-performance tires for road, adventure, and cyclocross—and their Tenaci is one of their top sellers.

The next days I tested the Tenaci with varying tire pressure in San Elijo Hills, rolled up the paved and dirt climbs of Double Peak, and many of the dirt and road sections of previous editions of the BWR, including Sandy Bandy and Lake Hodges.

The stand out features of the Tenaci were sensed immediately. The fast-rolling tread in the centerline felt smooth on tarmac while the cornering knobs provide enough grip where normal road tires fail, such as turning off onto to fire roads or the ball bearing-like sand on top of pavement. The tires really shined on varied, unfinished fast surfaces. Hammering in the rock gardens around Lake Hodges, the aramid bead-to-bead protection, with a doubled layer just under the tread for extra puncture resistance, ensured no flats or sidewall cuts. After a month of riding the Tenaci, I am considering it as my tire choice for this year’s Belgian Waffle Ride.

One downside of the Tenaci is its performance in soupy mud or wet sand. But to be fair, Ere Research does not recommend this as a cyclocross tire for Belgian-like conditions. No, the Tenaci is for all-road racing and the adventure rider who wants to push the pace.

The Tenaci comes only in 700c, in 30, 32 (tested), 36, and 40 mm widths. The Tenaci retails at $89 for tubeless (with sealant and tubeless valves) or $70 for standard clinchers. See https://ereresearch.com for the Tenaci and the full line of tires and saddles from Ere Research.