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review

Teravail Telegraph tyre

7
£45.00

VERDICT:

7
10
Tricky to fit, but they make up for that with their good grip and rolling performance and an appealing price
Supple casing gives a good ride quality
They transmit plenty of feedback
Grippy compound
A tight fit initially
Weight: 
391g

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The Teravail Telegraph tyre provides a supple feel, good grip and a generally pretty sporty ride for what is a large-volume tyre. I did find them stubborn to fit on the wheels I tried, but once set up they offer a great performance on your road or gravel bike. And they're less expensive than a lot of the opposition too.

For more options, check out our best road bike tyres buyer's guide.

I've ridden a lot of gravel bikes specced with Teravail tyres but the Telegraph is the first of its road tyres that I've tried. And I must say I'm very impressed – once I'd managed to get them fitted to the wheels...

While their main carcass is fairly supple, the bead isn't, which means they don't have a huge amount of stretch to pop them onto the rim. Even with tyre levers it was an effort that resulted in much swearing and annoyance.

After leaving them overnight stretched over most of the rim they did pop on a fair bit more easily the following morning. But I wouldn't want to use them with inner tubes, where you're almost certainly going to pinch them.

2023 Teravail Telegraph tire - fitted 2.jpg

That said, when I removed them about four weeks after I fitted them, they came off without too much issue, which means were you to puncture on the road, you shouldn't have too many issues fixing it.

Anyway, back to the set-up. So, I went with tubeless and the whole process was pretty seamless after the initial effort. The tight fit meant that they popped onto the rim with the use of an Airshot and sealed quickly.

The sidewalls aren't porous, so they held their pressure overnight with just a quick top-up required before their first ride. Once I'd ridden for around an hour to fling the sealant around, they held pressure just as well as an inner tube setup.

From a ride point of view, I found them to be supple for a tubeless tyre and even when pumped up to my preferred firm pressures that suppleness remains.

You get plenty of road feel and feedback, which gives you confidence in the corners, and they roll quite smoothly too. Grip in the wet and dry also inspires confidence, there is a fair amount of 'bite' on the tarmac as you lean the bike over.

2023 Teravail Telegraph tire - fitted 3.jpg

Teravail has added a small amount of tread on the side of the rubber, which it says is for cornering grip. But on a hard surface like tarmac you'd actually be better off with a full slick for a greater contact patch. Tread is there to help disperse water, but as you're never going to aquaplane on a road tyre, it's irrelevant.

Overall, the Telegraphs don't offer quite the performance levels of something like Continental's GP5000 or Schwalbe's Pro One tyres – but they not far off, which is especially impressive when you consider that at just £45, they're a good deal cheaper.

I've had no issues with durability. Much of the review period was spent riding on wet roads (well, it was a British summer after all), which often increases the incidence of cuts and punctures, as the water and oil mixture from the road works as a lubricant for thorns and stones.

I have found no damage at all after around 400 miles. And while I wouldn't expect anything else for this distance, there are no signs of wear on the rear tyre so far, which bodes well for the longer term.

The Telegraphs are currently only available in a 30mm width, but 28mm and 35mm will be coming soon. And you do get a choice of black or tan sidewalls. Teravail also offers a choice of casings, with the durable getting a thicker casing, though this is only available in black. We have the Light and Supple version that is available in both colour options.

Value

I'd consider these to be good value compared with most of their competitors.

Performance-wise, I'd put them on a par with something like Michelin's Power Cup tyres. George really liked the 28mm tubeless offering, finding them fast, grippy and easy to set up. At 269g they are much lighter than the Teravails, but they are also considerably more expensive at £69.99.

WTB offers its Exposure TCS Fast in a 30mm size, and I liked the 36mm tyres for their grip when I reviewed them, though they are more expensive and like the Telegraphs they're hard to fit too.

Conclusion

If you want a set of durable wide tyres for the road with an impressive ride quality and grip, the Teravail Telegraphs are definitely a good choice. About the only downside is that they aren't the easiest to fit straight out of the box, but once they are up and running you won't be disappointed by their performance.

Verdict

Tricky to fit, but they make up for that with their good grip and rolling performance and an appealing price

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road.cc test report

Make and model: Teravail Telegraph tyre

Size tested: 700x30

Tell us what the product is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Teravail says: "Telegraph is a high-volume performance road tire. It offers all the grip and rolling speed of lower-volume road tires, with the comfortable ride of a larger 120 tpi casing. Telegraph's tread pattern features a slick center tread for carrying speed and a textured transition area for cornering grip. Telegraph is made for anyone who wants to elevate the road riding experience."

The Telegraphs deliver a very good ride quality and good feedback.

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

Designed and inspired by our experiences riding and racing on pavement

Grippy single-compound rubber

120 tpi casing

Slick center tread minimizes rolling resistance

Textured transition area

Tubeless ready for flat prevention, lower-pressure traction and comfort

Internal liner improves tubeless performance and durability

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
8/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
8/10
Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
 
6/10
Rate the product for comfort (if applicable)
 
8/10
Rate the product for value:
 
7/10

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

I found the tyres to be fast rolling and with a supple carcass that gave good feedback.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Good grip.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Tough to fit.

How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?

They are better value for money than most, coming in a fair chunk of cash cheaper than both of the rivals I mentioned in the review.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Use this box to explain your overall score

Overall, from a performance point of view I really rate the Telegraphs, and I'm impressed with their durability too. They aren't light, though, and they can be tough to fit straight out of the box.

Overall rating: 7/10

About the tester

Age: 44  Height: 180cm  Weight: 76kg

I usually ride: This month's test bike  My best bike is: B'Twin Ultra CF draped in the latest bling test components

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, club rides, sportives, fixed/singlespeed,

As part of the Tech Hub here at F-At Digital, our senior product reviewer Stu uses the knowledge gained from putting well over a 1,000 products through their paces (including hundreds of bikes) to write in-depth reviews of a huge range of kit. After first throwing his leg over a race bike back in 2000, Stu's ridden more than 160,000 miles on road, time-trial, track, and gravel bikes, and while he's put his racing days behind him he still likes to smash the pedals rather than take things easy. Although, as he spends a fair bit of his time reviewing ebikes these days he's becoming an expert in letting the motor take the strain. He's also waiting for 23mm race tyres to make a comeback!

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3 comments

Avatar
KDee | 4 months ago
1 like

Hi Stu, do you have the measured width when fitted (and inner rim width)?

Avatar
Steve K replied to KDee | 4 months ago
0 likes
KDee wrote:

Hi Stu, do you have the measured width when fitted (and inner rim width)?

I'd find this helpful info for all tyre reviews.  I run 28mm with guards on my Ribble Endurance Ti and the clearance is very tight (but fine) on the front.  If I go for different tyres, I want to be sure they'll fit!

Avatar
Stu Kerton replied to KDee | 3 months ago
0 likes

Hi KDee. The Reserve wheels that you see in the pics have an internal rim width of 25mm and the Teravails measure 30.6mm wide @ 60psi.

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