First shown as a prototype at Interbike, the new Donnelly EMP gravel road bike tire is officially shipping. Named after Emporia, Kansas, it’s a nod to that area’s explosive gravel cycling scene and the Dirty Kanza event.
The tire is their most aggressive tread pattern yet (for gravel, anyway) and features a full but small knob grid across the majority of the top surface. The sides are bolstered with taller, longer cornering knobs to prevent washing out in the turns. The design is a blend of their MSO (center knobs) and BOS (side knobs), combined to give it more bite in any direction.
Underneath that tread cap is a puncture protection layer, too. The EMP is available now in 700×38 tubeless ready ($72) and 60tpi folding bead ($47) versions. Claimed weights are 484g for tubeless, and 460g for the regular version. Next spring, they’ll add 700×45 sizes for both versions, too.
