The Halo RXR is a tyre that crosses road and gravel boundaries, delivering a fast ride and a little more grip than you might expect. It fits a niche, and overall performance is quite good, but with just the single size available, that niche is a small one.
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Halo RXR Road Plus Gravel Tyre – Technical details
Classified as “Road Plus” the RXR is not something you'd associate with the best gravel tyres, as it's more suited to road riding, but it has some capability should you want to head beyond sealed roads. The dual-compound tread design is like the Halo GXR, with a lower profile and no shoulder tread. The carcass is shared between RXR, GXR and the Halo GXC with a relatively low 60 TPI casing. The RXR is only available in one size – 650b x 47c, with a choice of the black version as tested, or with a tan sidewall.
The tyre is tubeless-ready, and it was reasonably easy to fit on two different rims. A tyre lever was needed, and the Stayer rim which features a deeper centre channel helped make it slightly easier. On both rims, the tyres inflated very easily, using just a track pump, and both held air well throughout the test.
To test the tyres, I used routes that provided similar surfaces for the design, predominantly on sealed roads, but also heading off-road and aiming to find the limits. When installed on a Stayer Gravel Adventure rim, with a 24mm internal rim diameter the Halo RXR tyres measured 47 mm in actual width.
The claimed weight for the black version is 525g, and the tan sidewall at 505g. Our test tyre weighed 567g, which is quite a bit over the claimed weight. The opposite was true of the slightly more aggressive treaded GXR, with a claimed weight of 575g, our test tyre was 518g.
Halo RXR Road Plus Gravel Tyre – Performance
On the first ride, the tyres were 35psi rear, and 32psi front, which is a little higher than I would typically use on a pure off-road gravel tyre of this size, but I believe this is a pressure that would be considered low for pure road use. Halo claims minimum rolling resistance and maximum comfort, but my initial thoughts were that comfort is not a highlight. On almost all roads there was more vibration feeding through to the handlebar, and the sidewall simply feels too rigid, and not able to deal with the smaller bumps found on typical smaller roads. The level of comfort isn’t prohibitive, but it isn't a highlight either.
On the roads, there is some noise from the tyre. This varied depending on the exact surface, with some of the smoother tarmac surfaces giving the loudest noise, which was a constant hum or buzz. On rougher roads it is less noticeable and off-road it is unlikely to be a concern.
The tread depth is very minimal, and I expected it to struggle on all off-road surfaces, but just as the GXR version did, it surprised me with how much grip was available. On steeper slopes when riding out of the saddle there was some slip but it still maintained traction overall and when seated it proved impressive. All the off-road riding was done on hardpacked forest roads, which were wet and, given the time of year, had a lot of leaf litter to deal with. Traction uphill was also a plus on moss-covered back lanes, and not once did it lose traction.
More care was needed on the downhills and, when pushing through faster, sweeping bends I felt some movement and sliding but well within what I would consider acceptable looking at the very minimal tread. It was difficult to gauge the traction at times, with the firm sidewall giving little feedback on the level of grip to truly push the limits. Mud or anything without a hard surface is best avoided, as there is nothing to dig through to find traction. For this reason, I chose routes that avoided anything too slippery.
The RXR is a fast tyre and, despite heading off-road during the test rides and taking on plenty of elevation, the average speeds I was achieving were similar and at times faster than my winter road bike. The weight of the gravel bike used for testing would have been a factor, as it is lighter, but there is still a definite feeling of speed, with 20mph easily achievable on flat roads.
Puncture resistance seems good, and I have not suffered a single puncture to date while using the RXR or the GXR which has the same carcass.
Another plus for Halo tyres in general is the packaging, which includes a reusable strap in addition to the cardboard display. It can’t match a purposely designed Voile strap for example, but it was still of use to me. I chose to strap a spare 650b tube in place on the frame, but the strap is long enough to be able to hold far more.
Halo RXR Road Plus Gravel Tyre – Verdict
The biggest drawbacks are the fact it is only available in a single size and the price. Just with the GXR tested, the single size holds it back. I feel it would become a far more popular option should it be available in 700c, but with bike frames increasingly accepting wider tyres, maintaining the wide design would also be key. If you are looking for a 650b road plus tyre, this fills the gap between a true gravel and a mountain bike tyre with few others currently available. The closest competition are the WTB Horizon and Byway tyres sharing the same width, carcass TPI and similar claimed weights.
The price of Halo tyres has risen by £10 since we tested the GXR, and they are now £60 each which puts them among premium tyres. Compared to the WTB tyres, the standard 60 TPI version they produce retails for £50, and the SG2 version with enhanced puncture protection and higher 120TPI casing is still cheaper at £55.
The Halo RXR works brilliantly as a back-roads blaster, rolling quickly and with more grip than you might expect, which continues off-road, too. But, despite Halo’s claims, it isn’t incredibly comfortable and it feels like the firmer, less supple sidewall is the main cause. If your expected riding is vastly more road based, the RXR would suit, but with a little more off-road the GXR has more grip, it is lighter and that also impressed with a quick ride.
The single 650bx47c size means it will only appeal to some riders and bikes, and within this niche, as a “Road Plus” tyre it succeeds but could deliver more should it be produced in a more popular 700c version.
