Delium Tire Introduction

Delium Tire AllRounder and Speed-X Tires.

Review of Delium Tire AllRounder and Speed-X Tires:

Last April news broke at Sea Otter that a new tire company, (well...new in the sense that most people hadn't heard of this company before), was going to offer some new gravel tires. I was asked if I wanted to review some of them, so I agreed and Delium Tire sent over two sets of tires at no cost to me for testing and review. 

The new tires are the Speed-X and the AllRounder. The tires got a first look from me in my Sea Otter post HERE. (Scroll down to the bottom of that post) 

I was hoping that Delium would have the 50mm tires by this time but that is still not the case yet, So, I asked for and received the AllRounder in the 43mm size and the Speed-X in the 40mm size. 

What It Is: Delium is doing a bit of a different take on casing construction. They have what they call a "Dual Zone" construction with the casing having sidewall protection from the beads to about halfway up the side wall. Then a more supple construction from that point over the top of the tire is there which is supposed to lend a bit more compliance, and therefore comfort, to the rider. It is kind of hard to imagine so I grabbed this following graphic from Delium's site to help illustrate this concept.

Image courtesy of Delium Tire

This construction and compound application is the same for both tires I have in for this review. Both tires cost a very reasonable $49.99 each, So, the only differences are the width and the tread patterns here. Let's take a closer look at each tire and I'll give my take on these designs. 

The AllRounder First Impressions:

This is the tire that has some strong "Gravel King" vibes. It features squared off knobs, smaller in size, but which stand proud of the casing enough to provide some grip. The shoulders feature lateral bars which one would assume are there for lateral stability and some cornering grip. 

The 43mm casing width (claimed) is also very much in the ball park for the tire this AllRounder resembles. The design of this tire is familiar looking and if the trend holds true through to riding performance I expect that this tire will do well, albeit that it may be prone to a bit of 'stone flinging', as similarly treaded tires I have tried will do. It seems that the central small, squared off knob pattern tends to grip little stones like fingers and then fling them up into the air as you ride. We will see if the AllRounder follows in this trait. 

Weight: 492gm/495gm

The Speed-X First Impressions:

This tire is very reminiscent of a few tires I have tried which feature very low-tread centers with bigger knobbed shoulders. Tires like WTB's Raddler, or the Maxxis Rambler tires come to mind. This Speed-X is in that ballpark, so I expect a fast roll but good cornering traits and possibly a little more weight due to the heavier side knobs. 

Weight: 502gm/496gm.

The tires will be set up tubeless, of course, and in my next post in this review I will get to how that went and how the first rides went as well. The plan is to set the Speed-X tires up on my Honeman Flyer and the AllRounders on the Standard Rando v2. 

So Far... At a suggested retail of $49.99 each, these tires fall into a category that has not got many competitors, unless you are scoring some great deals on tires, which is a distinct possibility these days. But as for a direct comparison on price, only the American Classic tires come to mind immediately. I tested some American Classic Kimberlite 700 X 40mm tires back in 2022. So, as I compare the two brands, keep in mind that the Kimberlite was a low-treaded, semi-slick tire. 

When I look at weight, the American Classic tires are slightly heavier. Those Kimberlites weighed in at about 506 grams a piece. The big difference could be in width, because the American Classic tires were really 38's, not 40's, at least the pair I tested were never 40mm wide. So, if the Delium tires here can best that by being their claimed width, then we have something to celebrate. 

Then we have ride feel and performance to test out. The Delium tires could prove to be really good, or not. But that is the point here, right? To find out what we have going on with these new tires on the market. But beyond that, we also need to consider whether or not the company is committed to the market. That may seem obvious, but in reality, it isn't. I have tested tires before from companies that produced some enticing models and then pulled out of the US market. Rubino and Hutchinson come to mind. Then there was Vee Tire, who dropped a model of gravel tire and then never really made it available. Same with Tioga. So, will Delium tire join that list? Let's hope not. 

Stay tuned for the next update on this review coming soon, and for breaking news on more tires, which will have dropped here on the blog today after 9:00am CST.