Teravail Telegraph ‘Durable’ review: a great all-season tyre, but why aren't there more size options?

SQUIRREL_13181997

The Teravail Telegraph, with the brand's ‘Durable’ carcass, is a great-value all-season training tyre.

It ticks almost all the boxes you'd expect, delivering good ‘halfway house’ performance between the raciest and hardest-wearing all-season rubber.

While not the easiest tyre to fit and remove compared to those with a more accommodating bead, there’s much to like here, especially if you want to try a tyre from a so-called ‘alternative’ brand.

Teravail Telegraph ‘Durable’ tyre details and specifications

The Teravail Telegraph ‘Durable’ tyre is one of the more cost-effective all-season training tyres on the market – at £48, it’s much cheaper than the Continental Grand Prix 5000 AS TR (£89.95) and Pirelli P-Zero Race TLR 4S (£79), and still very competitive in the US at $75.

It features a 120 TPI (threads per inch) casing. This is true of both the ‘Durable’ version as tested here, and the ‘Light & Supple’ iteration. However, the 'Durable' tyre also has an additional nylon puncture protection belt sandwiched between the casing and tread.

A dedicated tubeless liner renders the tyre tubeless-ready, while the brand says the tyre has a single-compound tread to promote consistent performance.

That said, the shoulders feature cut-away strafes, as well as a slightly rougher textured surface for improved adhesion while cornering.

The sidewalls feature a fortified layer to protect against tears, with a cross-hatch design similar to Continental’s DuraSkin (as seen on the Grand Prix 4 Season clincher tyre) and Vittoria’s ArmorSkin layer (used on its RideArmor tyre).

The Telegraph is available in 700x28, 30 and 35c sizes. Teravail says the middle size offers an intentional blend of racy characteristics and comfort, the 28c version is for bikes with limited tyre clearance, and the 35c version is for riders also sampling some light gravel riding.

That’s fair enough in principle, but I prefer 32c tyres on my bike in winter, because it offers an appealing step up in comfort and grip from 28c options (compared to the smaller jump to 30c).

Given this, I’m disappointed that my chosen size isn’t catered for, and with many modern performance road bikes maxing out at 32 or 34c, there could be many riders who’d like to go wider but can’t with these tyres.

In this 'Durable' version, only black sidewalls are available. For a tan-sidewall option, you’ll need to opt for the racier construction.

I weighed my test 700x28c Telegraph tyres at 364g each, which is generally par for the course for an all-season tubeless tyre.

At the tougher end of the spectrum, the Vittoria RideArmor weighs 378g, while lighter tyres include the Michelin Power Protection TLR and Specialized S-Works Mondo at 322g and 317g respectively, in the same size.

Teravail pitches the Telegraph as a ‘fast’ road bike tyre though, so it’s not unreasonable to view the 'Durable' version as one might the Continental Grand Prix 5000 AS TR or Pirelli P-Zero Race TLR 4S tyres compared to their lighter, racier siblings.

These are both 20g or more lighter than the Telegraph ‘Durable’ tyre, but both a chunk more expensive too.

Teravail Telegraph ‘Durable’ tyre installation and setup

Fitting the Telegraph tyres was initially complicated by the fact that they didn’t shape up into a circle very easily out of the box – getting the bead to sit where I wanted it while I cajoled another part of the tyre over the rim proved finickety.

That said, this is fairly common with box-fresh tyres, but it’s something you’ll need to deal with for that first installation. After this, they shape up far better and are a little easier to install.

The bead and toughened sidewalls meant getting the final part of the tyre over the rim needed a little more tyre-lever bending force than I’m accustomed to.

Once there, though, seating the beads proved easy with some vigorous depressions of a track pump.

However, the tyre was relatively challenging to prise off again – this was fine when I was doing it in my garage, but not a job I’d relish doing on the side of the road with cold hands.

Of course, the ease of this process always depends on your chosen wheels, as well as your mounting technique. I’m quite experienced, thanks to my testing background, but not to workshop mechanic standard.

It’s worth noting my Hunt test wheels had a hooked design, with 22mm internal and 30mm external rim widths – progressive, but said to be optimised for 28mm tyres.

Inflated to 80psi / 5.5 BAR, the Telegraph tyres measured 28.7mm wide.

Teravail Telegraph ‘Durable’ tyre performance

The Teravail Telegraph proved to be a very good all-round all-season tyre. With the 'Durable' casing, it straddles a happy middle ground in the context of all-season rubber.

It offers good road feel despite the tougher casing option (I’d be interested to try the Light & Supple version in the future), and grip is tenacious.

The compound lacks the tread pattern of the Specialized S-Works Mondo or Michelin Power Protection TLR (which is said to boost cornering grip in poor conditions), but it doesn’t suffer for it. The rubber bites down into the road admirably and feels confidence-inspiring in the wet.

In fair weather, bearing in mind all-season tyres should also perform to a decent level year-round, I enjoyed the grip and sense of speed.

I’ve seen one notable knick just off-centre of the rear tyre, probably caused by a rogue piece of flint or glass, but I was pleased to see it didn’t expose the carcass under the compound.

My preferred year-round tyre on my own bike has been the Continental GP5000 AS TR until now, but I’d only lament switching owing to the ‘missing’ 700x32c size option.

However, if you’re happy with one of the three sizes on offer, the value is excellent – I struggle to think of an all-season tyre that offers this much entertaining performance at this price.

How we tested | all-season road tyres

I tested this selection of the latest all-season tyres through the northern hemisphere’s late autumn and winter.

Testing conditions varied wildly, from a prolonged period of dry, mild days to the aftermath of storms Ashley, Bert, Connell and Darragh. By the end of testing, I had covered in excess of 1,500km.

I used a Hunt 50 Carbon Disc wheelset for testing consistency, and assessed ease of installation and removal – after all, while we hope all-season tyres will save us from punctures, it’s never guaranteed.

Each tyre’s specifications, sense of speed, grip and suppleness were also assessed, with the overall goal of indicating where on the all-season tyre spectrum each sits – and relative value was also addressed.

All-season tyres on test

• Specialized S-Works Mondo 2Bliss Ready T2/T5
• Michelin Power Protection TLR
• Teravail Telegraph ‘Durable’
• Vittoria RideArmor TLR
• Pirelli Cinturato Road TLR
• Schwalbe One 365 ‘Performance’

Teravail Telegraph ‘Durable’ tyre bottom line

The Teravail Telegraph, in this ‘Durable’ guise, is a great-value all-season tyre.

To leave it there would do it a disservice, though – it’s compellingly fun to ride, thanks to its suppleness, and feels grippy in all conditions.

I have no fragility concerns following my test period – although it’s impossible to be definitive when it comes to puncture resistance.

The fitting and dismounting could be a little easier, but for many this will be an acceptable trade-off.

SQUIRREL_13181997