I ate Shizzy bad today. I’ll save you from the gore shots. Concussion, lacerations, bruised and fractured ribs. Had the air knocked out of me and I apparently have the world’s strongest collar bone. My shoulder is raw to the meaty bits. ANYWAY. Up till today I was rolling on Specialized Pathfinder 700c x 42. I will now be using something else on my spare set of wheels when I’m actually riding gravel. NEW GRAVEL TIRES. What you got. What is not going to lead me to a front tire wash out on this terrain? PLEASE.
by FLBikeGuy
20 Comments
**Thanks for posting to /r/gravelcycling! It looks like you’ve submitted an image.**
This community encourages additional context about image submissions. You can include details about your post in a comment below. Some suggestions for good comments:
* Bike details (make, model, accessories, and gear)
* Location (specific or general is fine)
You can also use **post flair** to give additional context about your post.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/gravelcycling) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I see a lot of loose gravel, nothing’s gonna help much with that I’m afraid.
Lot of chunky stuff there. Pathfinders, even at that width, are good tires. Maybe picking a better line, or go MTB tires if you got the clearance.
I’ve ridden similar with Maxxis Rambler 700×40. With stuff like this the line you pick and tire pressure are probably going to make a bigger difference than the tires.
Don’t crash
Should note the max width and preferred width if you have one.
I prefer a tire with some side lugs it can be smooth in the middle.
But most likely you fell because you put yourself in a position to fall by going to fast or taking the wrong line, braking too late etc.
Tires aren’t the answer to not crashing
Sorry you got hurt man, I’ve eaten shit a few times myself and it’s not fun.
Re the tyres, I haven’t used pathfinders, but I’ve always found less tyre pressure = less slipping. What pressure were you running? You might want to go as low as you can go and then slowly increase pressure until you find a sweet spot.
If you’re set on changing tyres before you reduce your pressure I’d look for something supple. The squidgier your tyres are the better they stick to loose surfaces.
I recently did a lot of research into which tyres are most supple, so I’ve got a few you could look into:
* any rene herse in the light casing (for this kind of terrain you could go full slick)
* challenge getaway, but the sidewalls tear easily
* tufo thundero
I went with the thunderos and am waiting for them to arrive. Whatever tyre you end up getting, remember low pressure is key. If you’re squeamish about going lower than the manufacturer recommends, get some vittoria airliners, they’re designed to let you bottom it out.
I’d ride slicks on that and just corner carefully.
Fot my test these can go well in 40-45mm and low pressure (2/2.2bar)
[Schwalbe G-One Bite 1](https://www.schwalbe.com/it/Schwalbe-G-One-Bite-11601057.01)
[Gravel Thundero | TUFO](https://www.tufo.com/en/gravel/detail/gravel-thundero/)
This is pretty typical “gravel road” in my experience. Both Gravelkings 700x38c and Teravail Cannonballs 700x42c have worked on similar terrain.
There are lots of great tires out there. Like some others have mentioned, it may not always be a difference maker, but it’s worth a shot. Sometimes the added confidence and peace of mind is worth a bit of weight or rolling resistance.
Another thing that doesn’t get much mention that has helped me is a relaxed grip. My hands are still in the right place and remain ready and vigilant, but I allow the front end of the bike to kinda “float” under me. You’d be surprised the gravel situations that can be ridden through. Obviously, this takes practice and finesse, as well as the core strength & endurance, but it works well for me.
Props to you for wanting to get back out there after a hard fall. Many would be tempted to hang it up for good. I’d try to find like-minded riders in your area who are familiar with the area roads and see what tires they like. Everything I ride is a file-tread or similar, but your gravel looks looser than what we have here in MN.
Heal quickly! You’re a badass!
First, I hope you heal up fast, ribs are painful, I have experience as well :(. Unfortunately part of the sport. Looking at that gravel, definitely loose, but not overly chunky. I would of said right off the bat, Pathfinder 42 or 47’s or Vittoria Dry Terreno, with similar sizing. Like other’s mentioned though, you could try the Maxxis Ramblers. If your bike can fit, I would go wider in all cases … 47’s. Also, what tire pressure were you running?
This is cat 1 gravel, mostly hard pack. I’d put my head down and go scorched earth on a 42 Pathfinder on this surface. I think bike handling skills and line choice would be my first concern, not my tires.
I’m not trying to be an ass hole, I’m trying to help you keep from eating shit again in a few weeks due to overconfidence on a new tire.
What PSI? If you’re overinflated, no tires is gonna grip. Your tires seem fine for this road, tbh
You could try something with block tread like Rene Herse Hurricane Ridge. I’m switching to Umtanum Ridge now, from my GK SSs. Tires aside, can you deconstruct your crash to see what you did wrong? (I’ve crashed a lot over the years, on motorcycles and bikes; I do this.) Your tires should have been perfectly fine on that road as long as the tires were rolling straight.
For Gravel, I use WTB Nanos and Specialized Ramblers, and I do drop my pressure to 25lbs PSI when riding off-road and then pump them back up to 50 PSI Bith are max at 60lbs PSI.
Being in a flat terrain, you may have been going pretty fast. Do you remember your speed?
I’ve been running a 42mm S-works pathfinder for almost 4k miles at this point and I can tell you it’s not the tire. If you feel yourself washing out on that surface you either aren’t carrying enough speed to get yourself through any loose/sandy spots or your weight distribution isn’t correct. I’ve ran those tires on way chunkier/looser stuff than that road without any issues. Depending on your weight I wouldn’t run much more than 30psi and going even lower might be better for you.
Rene Herse Oracle Ridge 700x47c.
Best gravel tire around!
As mentioned, low pressures are going to be key. I have only a short singletrack ride on the newly released 700x 45 GravelKing X1. It’s blocky outer tread is really stable, but it has pretty uniform strip in the center rolls easily on hard pack, and I like how it corners at speed around 28psi for the first ride. Honestly it’s my first real gravel tire cause my bike fits 2.2 29ers. Heal up and get back in the saddle