CX/Gravel Tire Test: Vredestein Perfect-E 37

The Vredestein Perfect-E is a tire which has been specifically designed for use on E-Bikes. As expected for a tire that was designed for E-bike use, it has the ECE-R75 approval (up to 50 km/h). After checking the Vredestein website, the Perfect-E should be one of their fastest tires as they rate it the maximum of 6/6 on rolling resistance. It has a 30 TPI carcass, Vredestein OSP compound, and the Vredestein 'excellent protection' puncture protection.

The 'excellent protection' means there is a thick weave polyamide layer under the tread. This thick weave polyamide layer is still much thinner than the 3 or 5 mm thick layer the Schwalbe Marathon (read review) and Marathon Plus (read review) have. Vredestein also has the 'xtreme protection' puncture resistance system. This system does use both the polyamide layer and also a thicker, more elastic layer of rubber under the tread. The xtreme protection is used in the Vredestein Perfect Xtreme.

Manufacturer Specifications

Manufacturer Specs
Brand	Vredestein
Model	Perfect-E
Year	2015
Supplied By	Supplied by Continental
New or Used	New
Mileage	0 km
Price Range	Med
Buy At
Manufacturer part number
TPI	30
Compound
Bead	Wire
ETRTO	37-622
Specified Weight	660 grams
Max Air Pressure (psi)	80
Made In	Pro Data
Available Sizes	47-622 (28x1.75) 40-622 (28x1.50) 37-622 (28x1.40) 47-559 (26x1.75)

Vredestein Perfect-E 37 Test Results

Size, Weight, and Thickness Measurements

Size, Weight, and Thickness Measurements
Specified Weight	660 grams
Measured Weight	693 grams
Measured Width Casing	37 mm (un-round)
Measured Width Tread	mm
Measured Height	Pro Data
Tire Circumference	Pro Data
Measured Knob Height Center	0.0 mm
Measured Knob Height Edge	0.0 mm
Measured Total Thickness Center (excluding knobs)	4.80 mm
Measured Total Thickness Sidewall	Pro Data
All size measurements are taken at high air pressure on a 18 mm inner width rim.

While specified weight is 660 grams, my sample comes in at 693 grams. The measured width of the 37-622 Perfect-E is 37 mm and height is 38 mm. Sizewise, the Perfect-E measures very nice. It's good to see a 37-622 rated tire actually measure 37 mm wide. Most tires seem to come a bit short.

Tread depth is 2.2 mm, which is above average and indicates there's plenty of rubber on the tire. The total thickness of the tire at the center of the tread is 4.8 mm. 4.8 mm indicates the puncture resistance material is quite thin. The sidewalls measure 1.4 mm thick, which is an average value.

Rolling Resistance Test Results

Rolling Resistance Test Results
Inner Tube	Conti Tour 28 (170 gr butyl)
Measured Width	37 mm
Rolling Resistance Real tire width in mm: 30-32 = 66 psi/4.6 bar 33-35 = 60 psi/4.1 bar 36-38 = 54 psi/3.7 bar 39-42 = 50 psi/3.4 bar 43-46 = 46 psi/3.2 bar 47-50 = 42 psi/2.9 barHigh Air Pressure (54 psi / 3.7 bar)	Pro Data
Rolling Resistance Real tire width in mm: 30-32 = 55 psi/3.8 bar 33-35 = 50 psi/3.4 bar 36-38 = 45 psi/3.1 bar 39-42 = 42 psi/2.9 bar 43-46 = 38 psi/2.6 bar 47-50 = 35 psi/2.4 barMedium Air Pressure (45 psi / 3.1 bar)	Pro Data
Rolling Resistance Real tire width in mm: 30-32 = 44 psi/3.0 bar 33-35 = 40 psi/2.8 bar 36-38 = 36 psi/2.6 bar 39-42 = 33 psi/2.3 bar 43-46 = 31 psi/2.1 bar 47-50 = 28 psi/1.9 barLow Air Pressure (36 psi / 2.6 bar)	37.0 Watts CRR: 0.01109
Rolling Resistance Real tire width in mm: 30-32 = 33 psi/2.3 bar 33-35 = 30 psi/2.1 bar 36-38 = 27 psi/1.9 bar 39-42 = 25 psi/1.7 bar 43-46 = 23 psi/1.6 bar 47-50 = 21 psi/1.4 barExtra Low Air Pressure (27 psi / 1.9 bar)	Pro Data
The CX/Gravel section is a multi tire size section, air pressures have been adjusted to the measured casing width. All numbers are for a single tire at a speed of 29 km/h / 18 mph and a load of 42.5 kg / 94 lbs. Use the formula: RR (Watts) = CRR * speed (m/s) * load (N) to calculate rolling resistance at a given speed and load.

For a tire that is supposed to have the lowest rolling resistance in the Vredestein lineup, the Perfect-E doesn't impress in the rolling resistance test. With a rolling resistance of 24.6 watts at an air pressure of 75 psi, it's already 5 watts less efficient than our benchmark tire: the Schwalbe Marathon. When dropping air pressure, this disadvantage grows to 10.7 watts at an air pressure of 30 psi.

Even the Schwalbe Marathon Plus (read review) with its 5 mm thick anti-puncture layer has less rolling resistance. Let's hope the Perfect-E can impress us a bit more in the puncture resistance tests.

Puncture Resistance Test Results

Puncture Resistance Test Results (higher is better)
Total Puncture Score Tread	82 Points
Total Puncture Score Sidewall	Pro Data
Tread Puncture Force Sharp Needle	13
Tread Puncture Force Blunt Needle	Pro Data
Tread Total Tire Thickness	4.80 mm
Sidewall Puncture Force Sharp Needle	Pro Data
Sidewall Puncture Force Blunt Needle	Pro Data
Sidewall Total Tire Thickness	Pro Data

In the puncture resistance tests, which measures the force required to puncture the tire, the Perfect-E doesn't impress either. With a score of 13 points in the tread test and 4 points in the sidewall test, it scores lower than the Marathon as well.

The Puncture Factor scores are calculated by multiplying the puncture resistance scores with the thickness of the tire. Because the Perfect-E doesn't use any thick anti-puncture layer and the thickness of the tire isn't impressive, both Puncture Factor Tread and Sidewall come in on the low side as well.

Hard Surface Static Grip Test Results

Static Grip Test Results
Wet Grip Average	No Data
Wet Grip Center	No Data
Wet Grip Edge	No Data
Measured Knob Height Center	0.0 mm
Measured Knob Height Edge	0.0 mm
Grip in points = coefficient of friction * 100 CX/Gravel grip test rim width = 23.0 mm
Wet Grip Test and Off-Road Tires (info)

Conclusion

The Vredestein Perfect-E is a very mediocre tire. It doesn't impress us once, but on the other hand, also doesn't perform extremely poor in any of our tests. If these tires are already on your bike it probably wouldn't be worth replacing them. If you're looking for new tires, I'm sure better tires can be had at the same price point and weight. I'm looking forward to testing more Vredestein tires to see how they perform.

Rated 2/5 Not Recommended simply because much better tires can be had for the same price. The Schwalbe Marathon (read review) outperforms the Perfect-E in all of our tests and is still our number 1 recommendation.

RATING: 2.0 / 5
TEST VERDICT: Not Recommended

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