Protocol is Silca's first tyre line, and the engineering logic runs opposite to convention: Poertner started from XC mountain bike geometry and distilled inward, rather than inflating road-tyre construction to gravel dimensions. The result is a 120 TPI high-density casing paired with larger air volumes — and carbon fibre beads in place of Kevlar to cut stretch, moisture absorption, and tyre wobble over time. It targets the same customer Silca has cultivated since 2013: technically literate, budget-flexible, already bought into the marginal-gains argument. The Dylan Johnson signing underlines the positioning — his first tyre sponsorship, after years without one, is a credibility signal aimed squarely at that audience.