Review: Delium Tires - Mid-Term

 Note: Delium Tire sent over two pairs of tires to Guitar Ted Productions at no cost. I am not being paid, nor bribed, for this review and I will always strive to give my honest thoughts and opinions throughout.

A few weeks ago I received these Delium Tires and now that I have ridden them in some I have a bit more to share on them. If you missed my introduction to these tires you can find that HERE. Keeping in mind that these tires are more of a value oriented type tire I will be adjusting my review take slightly to accommodate that fact. These tires aren't equal to tires costing much more. They should do a decent job for those who cannot, or will not, spend a lot on tires. This is my expectation for the Delium Tires. 

In this post I will cover how the tires have been to 'live with' and how they have been performing so far in my testing. I would assume these tires would be upgrades from a stock entry level gravel bike, and perhaps going home to a first time tubeless user as well. The review will take a viewpoint from such a stance. 

Alright, let's take on that very derivative AllRounder model then. This 700c X 43mm tire is a dead-ringer for a Panaracer Gravel King SK. I happen to have a set of 650B X 50mm Gravel King SK's on a set of wheels in my possession, and so I was able to make a direct comparison. The resemblance is uncanny. So, does this AllRounder do the Panaracer dance? Well.....yes, sort of. 

It will fling a bit of small stone, it does pack up with tacky mud/dirt when that is encountered, and it rides well enough. So, in many ways, the experience is similar. However; you have that break-in period to get through which might be a bit depressing as this tire felt odd. Like a dragging brake was causing you to work a tiny bit harder. But miraculously the feeling changed during one ride recently and the tire felt just average from that point onward. 

Weird! But I'll take it. I tried the roll-down test again and it performed slightly better. What is going on here? My belief is the tire casing, which is fairly stiff when new, broke in and became ever so slightly more supple.
 

Now on to the Speed-X which has some slight similarities to a WTB Riddler. This tire, ironically, never felt 'draggy' like the AllRounder did. This tire did have a LOT of those mold-release "whiskers" on them which made the tire perform below average initially on the roll-down test. Once I rode the "shine" off them though, these tires picked up a lot on the roll-down test and are fairly impressive in that regard now. 

This tire also seems to have a bit better grip in hardpack corners and it also has a flatter crown which I prefer in loose, deep gravel. The ride is supple for such an inexpensive tire. (Same with the AllRounder) But both tires have a couple of traits that are a bit concerning.

One I mentioned already, and that is initial tubeless set up. Frankly, these tires would probably frustrate a new-to-tubeless user so badly that they'd likely swear off tubeless for good. I've set hundreds of different bicycle tires up tubeless and these Delium tires are some of the most difficult to set up tubeless I've ever dealt with. 

Then there is air retention. The Delium tires are not great in this regard, and each model has displayed a tendency to lose all of its air in the span of a few days time. One tire from each pair, so I am watching for this so as to see if it maybe is an actual characteristic of Delium gravel tires or if I just hit the flat tire jackpot within two days time. We will see.... 

So Far... Okay, I like the ride quality and the handling of these tires is fine, really. But these issues with the casings being hard to set up tubeless and the mysterious loss of air I noted in two of the tires is a bit concerning. Stay tuned for a few more weeks and I hope to get to the bottom of it all and have a final verdict for all of you that may be interested in these tires.