700C x 31 Orondo Grade TC Tire

New: Limited Edition 85^th Anniversary model with all-black Endurance casing.

The Orondo Grade is a modern tubeless road tire with the performance, comfort and ride feel that our Rene Herse tires are famous for. It’s rated to a max. pressure of 90 psi (6.2 bar)—enough for heavy riders and those who prefer a stiffer feel to their bikes. A high-tech liner keeps our supple casings airtight without making the tire stiff and sluggish.

For our Orondo Grade tires, we also use an extra-strong bead material—the strongest that’s available today. This material costs a lot more. It ensures that the tire stays on the rim even at relatively high pressures. Many other companies use a hybrid bead that consists mostly of less-strong Kevlar. This is significantly less expensive, but doesn’t offer the same margin of safety.

We name our tires after the roads that inspire them: Orondo Grade is a 7-mile 10% climb up a side canyon of the mighty Columbia River. The Orondo Grade was the half-way point—and often decisive climb—of the near-mythical, long-defunct 285-mile cross-state race, S2S ‘Seattle-to-Spokane.’ Snaking up a canyon carved into basalt cliffs, the Orondo Grade is hot and barren—a true test of endurance. (The photo shows Jan in the early 2000s leading the race up the Orondo Grade.)

The supple casing of Rene Herse all-road tires rolls smoothly over surface irregularities. The tread pattern interlocks with the road surface for superior cornering grip, wet or dry. The tread has enough thickness in the center to last thousands of miles, but it’s thin and supple on the shoulders where it doesn’t wear.

The Standard casing is our more affordable option: comfortable and fast, yet also strong to withstand considerable abuse. The Extralight casing takes the performance, comfort and feel of your bike to an entirely new level. The Endurance casing is reinforced for extra sidewall protection and puncture resistance, while retaining the speed and comfort for which Rene Herse tires are famous.

The Orondo Grade is tubeless-compatible. For tubeless setup, we recommend Rene Herse Supple Sealant.

Pro Tips: While the Orondo Grade can be used with tubes, we recommend our 700C x 32 Stampede Pass for use with tubes, unless you need the Endurance casing. On older, narrow, non-tubeless rims (Mavic MA-2 or similar), the rim well is not deep enough to mount tires without stretching the bead—but the innovative bead of the Orondo Grades does not stretch, so they can be very hard to mount on these rims.