WTBByway TCS 700c Gravel Tire(Return to Product Page)

Thin, supple and fast. Byways are a great road/ some gravel, bike path tire. They are not very puncture resistant and they don't last too long, but they stick to surfaces really well. If I didn't commute in a glass covered hellscape they would still be on my daily.

I ride this tire for my all-around bike - commute to work (shoulders, road, multi use paths, gravel, singletrack), and for longer weekend gravel/mixed surface/road rides. Performance has been great on the roads and in the dirt and smaller gravel. On pavement the tire rolls nice and smooth, and the edge knobbies grip great corning in dirt and gravel. Tubeless setup was simple, and they hold air great for me with Stans sealant.

Knocking 1 star off because the sidewall took a rip in some larger gravel (logging access road). It's possible tire pressure could have been higher for the conditions, I feel like you may need to be a pressure hawk if the road gets too chunky - the line between success and failure may only be a few psi. I replaced that tire with the SG2 model (extra protection) in an attempt to more easily avoid sidewall failure in the future, which has been working out great. Wish they were able to produce that model with tan sidewall.

Very smooth, supple ride with confident grip. Aand I got 7 flat tires in 3 months city commuting. Threw these things out. You might have more luck as a tubless setup or off-road, but the Byways could not hack city commuting in my tubular setup. Switched to Continental Contact Plus, no flats in months since.

The WTB Byway is a nice rolling tire. I like that, but in a tubeless setup it's hard to get it sealed up. I noticed it leaked air pretty quickly from the beginning and then I found literally dozens of little pinprick sized spots on the sidewalls where the sealant was plugging up holes, so I put more sealant in and worked it around. That improved the leakage for a while but then it started happening again. Now, after a year of riding on it, I have to inflate this tire before every ride, even if it's the next day. I've considered taking it off and putting a tube in, but I've decided to just ride it until it's worn (almost there) out and replace it with something else. I will not buy it again, and I strongly recommend against using it tubeless for backpacking or touring unless you enjoy working the pump. Maybe with a tube it would work well. I did not buy the tire from BTD.

700c x 44m, used on my winter bike, a Kona Sutra LTD, for dry gravel and paved trails. My rides are typically 60% paved, and 40% gravel. These roll smoothly on pavement and feel pretty supple. On gravel they are plenty grippy, and have just enough side knobs for when riding on a side hill to not slip.

Setting these up tubeless was a mild pain. They weren't too hard to get on my rims, a set of Velocity Ailerons, by hand, but they did resist inflating a bit. Eventually, after a few tries, I got them to pop on and hold air. Once inflated, with 3oz of Orange Seal, they've done an excellent job holding air. I ride in goat-head country and have had no issues with flats.

The previous tires on this bike were a set of Rene Herse Snoqualmie Pass (44m) tires. They were super supple, very fast on pavement, and plenty grippy on gravel. The only place they fell short for my needs was on the side of a hill. They have no side knobs so were prone to slipping. I had a couple offs because of the lack of side grip with them. They were also prone to punctures.

The WTB Byways are close to the Snoqualmie's in speed and suppleness, equal in straight-line grip, and are superior in side grip and puncture resistance.

I bought the 700x 34 with tan sidewalls, which look AMAZING. They were a pain to install on the rim. I had to use soap and water to seat them properly and had to inflate past 60 PSI to pop them into place. Once installed, man are these tires awesome!! I bought these tires to ride on bad roads and light gravel & dirt. The smooth interior allows for speed and outer knobs offer extra confidence - exactly what WTB intended. I do not feel any slower on tarmac than I did on the 30mm Schwalbe tires that I replaced. Only criticism is the price, a little pricey. Will shall see how they wear over time.

Everything is great about these tires except one all-important issue too many manufacturers seem to ignore -- the ability to easily install AND remove when necessary. When I decided to swap these for a smaller, lighter set of tires I have, they refused to come off my rims. it was only after a major, hour-long struggle and the use of tools you're *never* supposed to use on tires and rims that I finally got them off. I shutter to think of being forced to change a flat while out in the boondocks.

Yes, denoting only one start may seem a bit harsh for otherwise good tires. But good tires are utterly worthless if you can't easily get them on and off.

By the way, the set of tires I replaced them with were Bontrager R2 Hard-Case Lite's, which unfailingly, easily pop on and off.

I don't have much to compare against because this is my first foray into any tires over 28mm and also the first time I've gone tubeless however the first couple hundred of miles on these have been great.

Installation: I have them mounted on Bontrager Aeolus Pro 3V. This was my first time mounting tubeless on a rim and at first I had some trouble but using a bit of soapy water I was able to get the wheel to pop in to place. There was a little beading of sealant the first day or two but certainly nothing excessive. Since it's been fine.

Sealant: I'm running them with Stan's Sealant and so far I've also seen the power of sealant go to work when I had a tiny shard of glass get stuck in the sidewall. I thought I was out of luck when I removed the glass and the tire was still losing air but once I popped the wheel off and rotated it around a bunch the sealant quickly plugged. Beautiful!

Use: I'm using these on prob about 60/40 road/gravel. I feel like the smooth centerline is great for the road and comfortable on gravel, towpaths, crushed rock, etc. I did find the wheel slipping at times when I was putting down some power on steep climbs but I also had the PSI at around 50-55 and so this could have contributed to that. Dropping the PSI may combat the slipping a bit.

Overall, these tires combined with my titanium frame make for a great pairing. I look forward to exploring other similar tires but hopefully not too soon! I'm looking to have these last for a while.

Also, I did have a quality issue with one of the first two tires I received but, as always, BikesTiresDirect, was lightning fast in helping to resolve. I was seriously bummed for not having it for the first weekend of my build (I thought the tire would show up the following Wed or Thur) and I had it delivered Friday - I couldn't be happier with the customer service here!

Bought this tire to replace the wider tires on my Fargo. I became tired of working too hard on hardpack and tarmac surfaces, in-between gravel. These tires are supple and absorb a lot of unwanted vibrations from the ground. I have found that correct tire pressure is very important with these tires (tubeless setup here). Started with ~40 psi and found they were a little squirrely on looser gravel. I reduced the pressure down around 30 psi and they ate the gravel for lunch. Instant stability. I've become a very large fan of these tires. I now find myself riding these tires on tarmac and bike paths more than my road bike. I would purchase the Byway again but would consider the new SG2 technology that just came out. I've had zero issues with the Byways but a little extra puncture protection wouldn't hurt.

A little on the pricey side but it's exactly what i was looking for on my cross bike. Solid center tread does well on pavement and I have no issues on gravel trails.

However, these 700x34 tires were the hardest set I have ever tried to seat. I knew it was going to be rough when getting just the first bead over the rim presented difficulty. I had no issues with 700x25 trainer tires, but it took me multiple rounds of soapy water and massaging the tire to get the bead to seat on the rim. So be careful and check the sidewall to make sure its actually seated! Other than that, no issues so far!

I have been super impressed with the look and the durability of WTB tires for years now - I first rode a set of 40mm Resolutes and loved them, but felt like I was leaving a lot of rubber on the asphalt between gravel roads here in the Mid-Atlantic so my next set was some 38 mm (I think) Riddlers which I also loved and when they started to look close to retirement age I started browsing for replacements and came across the ByWay 40mm and decided to give them a try. The tubeless set-up was super easy on my Chinese (Velobuild.com) 25 mm carbon "cyclocross" wheels and I have a good 500 miles on them so far on asphalt, gravel, grass, single track, mud and tar & chip - they perform great just like the other WTB models - a little spin-out now and again on steep gravel, grass or mud, but not horrible. For the few feet or so I needed slightly more aggressive tread I have miles and miles of carefree riding. No flats yet, Orange Seal works really well with these babies. I almost wanted to say I will not ride these at DK200, but am now having second thoughts after my experience AND reading and seeing so many of the top folks going more towards "slicks" ... I doubt anyone will be disappointed with these tires!

Set up tubeless on new rims without issue.

Did a 50 mile ride. Pressure slowly dropped over the first 30 miles, used a CO2 cartridge and made it home.

Swapped out my valve stem trying to isolate the problem and added more sealant.

Second ride: 10 miles over asphalt, followed by relatively tame hard-pack dirt trails. Went over a small rock, got a massive tear where the knobs meet sidewall. Used both plugs I had on me, a blast of CO2, and prayed that it would hold. Had to use my second and final CO2 cartridge about two miles later. But I did make it home.

12 hours later, and I can tell that the plugs won't be sufficient to squeeze even a little more life from this tire.

Maybe I just got unlucky, but I've done much more challenging terrain on bargain-bin tires without issue. I'd really hesitate to buy the Byways again. Destroyed in less than 2 weeks.

Bought 4 of these to mount tubeless on our Kona Libre DLs with Easton EA70 AX rim upgrades for Acadia. AS ADVERTISED, great for paved local, park loop and Cadillac Mountain climb and gravel carriage roads. One wheel set, all conditions. Must mention one tire had a sidewall pinhole defect. Never had a problem with WTB product before. Suspect this is very rare. BTD replaced immediately. Kudos for that.

Low friction in paved roads and good stability in gravel and non paved roads

The tire has a great feel, rolls fast but I never git as many flats as with this tore. Did I get a badly built tire? I been riding for 22 years + and have never seen a tire getting soany flat, even in tarmac! I wanted to like them but I cant take anymore flats!

Did the Big Bovine on these and loved them. Fast rolling and grippy when needed. Larger size provided nice cush in the washboard and more technical bits. I now keep them on a set up on a dedicated rims for frequent use.

Only a handful of rides on these, but so far I'm really liking them a lot over the Nano 40s they replaced. The center tread rolls nice and smooth on pavement and hardpack, but the shoulders provide just enough for confidence on gravel.

On my third set of the 700x34 and haven't thought of changing to a different tire. I love the versatility of them. Whether the path is paved, gravel or dirt, they are fast and dependable. I run tubeless and only had to throw a tube in once, but was super easy to get off the rim and back on. I have a feeling these will also be my 4th set of tires when needed.

This is the last WTB tire I will purchase. I've given this tire, of different sizes, numerous chances to become my go-to tire, but it continues to come up with defective construction, poor casings and poor wear. In comparison to competitors tires of this type, the WTB Byway rates low in my book. I ride about 125 miles per week, mostly pavement with 10% of that on fine gravel and single track. I tried. I'm done.

These tires are awesome on hard packed gravel trails and crappy paved city streets. The only small issue that I had was the bead seating correctly. I had to take the tire pressure up to 50 PSI and it popped into place. They have sealed correctly, but took a few days to seal the tire imperfections. Overall great experience!