BMC MC tire recommendation

[sokyroadie]

Bought a rim brake BMC MC on the forum and looking for tire suggestions. It came with WTB 40 Nano's but they seem too be a little knobby for mainly rough road use. I won't run fenders and think something around the 40 - 45 range would be fine. I will also NEVER run tubeless, so not a requirement. Even though I live in the boonies there are basically zero gravel roads.

TIA

[exapkib]

Such a wonderful frame!

I've run the following on mine:

Clement Strada LGG (28): the narrowest tire I run on this bike. Does well under a fender, and really makes the bike feel zippy in a fun way.

GravelKing SK (32 and 38): Love these tires for mixed surface rides. They don't feel ridiculous on the pavement, and do just fine on a good percentage of the dirt and gravel in this area.

Bruce Gordon Rock'n Roads (43): My go-to tire for more demanding dirt and singletrack. I love these tires. Great at lower pressure, and they can handle a wide variety of rocks and dirt.

Schwalbe Marathon Supreme (2.0 (measure about 51mm)): These have been my everyday commuting tires for years. I just can't wear these things out. Not the 'supplest' tire ever, as the kids say these days, but I can run it at such low pressure that it feels great anyway, and they just never flat. Many, many happy miles on these tires, and (so far) not a single flat. That's what I like from a commuting tire.

Compass Barlow Pass (38): My newest tires, and my new favorite for pavement. Literally feels like rolling around on a cloud. Expensive, but I have the feeling it may be difficult to leave these tires for anything else.

Such a versatile frame--takes on a wide variety of personalities with the different tires it can take. Have fun experimenting!

[jtbadge]

I have been a long time Nano guy - running on 5 years at this point - but have been riding the GravelKing SK 43c on a similar frame (All-City Space Horse). So far, I have been very pleased. Rolls great on pavement, with enough grip until it's super chunky or steep.

[GScot]

I've run Gravel Kings, 40s I think, with the grid of small square knobs on the main contact patch. Not too noisy and enough side knobs to be good in gravel or softish soil. Used them to ride trails that were either dry and hard as a roadbed or somewhat soft once dry enough not to be sticky.

When mostly pavement Compass 35s are great.

[scoobydrew]

When it was set up for gravel, my BMC MC had Nano 40 on them.

I've since swapped them out for Gravelking 35 (smooth tread) and fenders. Fantastic tires for the money ($70/pair) -- tubeless or not. If you don't intend to run fenders, you could go with the 38mm width.