We’re stoked to announce American Classic’s stacked range of road, gravel, and MTB tyres is now available on Acium, the first time for an Aussie online store.
Simply put, we rate American Classic as the best bang-for-buck tyres on the market. American Classic sprang from a tyre factory wanting to sell under their own brand at lower prices than through their customer brands. You get many years of manufacturing experience for a bevy of other brands and well-thought out patterns for an aggressive price. We wore out multiple different sets before putting our order in, so we’re confident you’ll enjoy their balance of performance and value.
Below you’ll find the quick-fire guide to the American Classic tyre range with plenty more detail on each product’s page.
ROAD
Performance-chasing roadies have the Timekeeper and that’s why we put it on J-C's titanium rig. He's set up tubeless with a 25mm width, pitted them against Woodend Victoria's cold and sodden winter at a plush 70 psi and given them a ringing endorsement for the price.
- Size range: 25, 28, & 30 mm
- Tubeless and tubed versions
Want a longer-life tyre? The Torchbearer has you sorted by taking the Timekeeper and adding a nylon strip for extra protection. I chose to test the Torchbearer and have been genuinely surprised. My tyre preference is traditionally supple cotton clinchers but I’ve enjoyed the road feel of the Torchbearers. These aren’t the wooden and disconnected feeling rubber that you can get with endurance tyres. For $65 they’re a rock-solid deal.
- Size range: 700x25, 28, & 32C
- Tubeless and tubed versions
GRAVEL
American Classic has a substantial six tread patterns, three sidewall options, and two-wheel sizes across their full selection of gravel tyres. Let’s run through them from least to most grippy.
Kimberlite is the classic fast gravel tyre with a smooth centre tread and tightly clustered shoulder knobs. It’s perfect for the lighter gravel and hard-packed surfaces, or the confident gravel shredders who like to keep it loose. We’ve already got a set on a Time ADHX and it’s an absolute rocket.
- Size range: 700x35C, 700x40C, 700x45C 700x50C, 650Bx47
Aggregate brings a more familiar studded tread pattern that’s shallow in the centre and gets taller towards the shoulder for extra grip in mud and sand. It’s still quite a light pattern and the set we’ve used is a good lower grip all-rounder that can do a little more than the Kimberlite. It’s reminiscent of the legendary Schwalbe G-One.
- Size range: 700x40C, 700x50C, 650Bx47
The Udden lands right in the middle of the range and adds a fine pattern that grabs nicely onto dry and dusty roads. We found it’s surprisingly decent in mud as well with enough bite and gaps between the knobs to give some purchase. The wear life was impressive too considering the lightness of the tread. Truly rugged riding would be better served with the following patterns so gnarly riders can read on.
- Size range: 700x40C, 700x50C, 650Bx47
The Wentworth is a fun mixture of speed and grip, closely resembling the lightning fast XC patterns you see tearing up dry MTB courses. It’s a tyre that rarely leaves you wanting for grip apart from the deepest slop and shiftiest pea gravel. I've dropped the pressure down to 20 psi and lower with the 50mm width and smashed through some sodden local trails and fire roads. We’ve marked it down as a future bikepacking tyre for the versatility.
- Size range: 700x40C, 700x50C, 650Bx47
I was lucky enough to get two sets of Krumbeins when they first released in 700x50C and 650Bx47 and loved their high-grip shenanigans. They’re a blast for tearing up trails and fire roads with chunky tread blocks and plenty of gaps to clear mud. The 50mm width is excellent cushioning for long days on bone-rattling gravel roads. I've done some fondos and Kidman Trail flashpacking on Krumbeins and absolutely recommend them to people wanting grip and sturdiness.
- 700x40C, 700x50C, 650Bx47
Unbound Gravel 2023 saw American Classic unveil the Grus to fill the racing niche. It's currently 40mm only and they won't be available on our store until the next shipment but we'll keep you posted when they land.
MTB
We don’t have an in-house MTB tyre expert but we’ll be getting some out to some local shredders for feedback so we’ll give you the quick overview of what each tyre tread is for:
- Mauka - Downcountry all-rounder that's quick enough for XC riding but grippy enough when things get technical.
- Basanite - The lightest pattern for Trail / Enduro riding with casing, construction and compound variants focused on those disciplines.
- Tectonite - American Classic's mid-range Trail / Enduro tyre for harsher riding than the Basanite. Again, there's variants for Trail and Enduro.
- Vulcanite - The gnarliest Trail / Enduro tyre you can get for the harshest features and roughest terrains.
