I recently moved to Washington from Los Angeles and I’ve been a huge fan of the Specialized Pathfinder’s for a couple years now. The Pathfinders have surprised the hell out of me with all the different types of terrain it can take and still feeling confident. The tires have been taking the chunkiest of gravel here in Washington and it’s they’ve been great —
But what I’m worried once the rainy season hits that the tires won’t hold up. Has anybody ran the Pathfinders in the mud?
What tires do ya’ll seasoned PNW folks ride for the mud?
Thanks!
by EMO_KNIEVEL
8 Comments
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I’ve been happy with mezcal on more wet days. I’m actually running pathfinders during summer season and mezcal for other seasons. For really wet days, which typically the winter and spring, I use terreno wet.
But, local people seem to love Rene hearse, probably because they make decent tires and is a PNW company.
I ran the pathfinders and really enjoyed them right until I tried a wet, fall gravel ride and lost traction multiple times trying to get up steep sections in the forest. Too slick. I switched to WTB Resolute 42’s and have been very pleased with them. I don’t ride the gravel bike on pavement much, except of small connector sections, and they do fine there as well.
Not from pnw but I’d consider riding Pirelli M’s in muddy/wet conditions. Pretty sure the Everything’s been done yt channel has great tire recs!
The only gravel tires I’ve ever run that didn’t just become slicks in the mud are renee herse knobbies.
I ride year round in Oregon and got these tires specifically because I was tired of spinning out through muddy climbs.
They’re expensive, but worth it. Not as loud as you’d think, nor as draggy on pavement as similar tread types. It really is a pretty magical tire that I would highly recommend.
Where I am in the PNW (east of Seattle), i don’t change up tires for winter. Where I ride is super rocky, chunky, gritty, and typically drains well. It gets slicker but not muddy. I ran IRC Boken’s last winter and Pathfinder Gravelkings the winter before.
I rotate between two wheelsets with pathfinders 42mm and RH Manastash Ridge 44mm (endurance casing) depending on the conditions. If I am hitting any single track in Cap Forest, then I am skipping the PFs.
Welcome to Capital Forest! As others are saying, Rene Herse knobbies have worked well for me. Also have been trying Schwalbe G-One Ultrabite tires and have been happy with their grip at Capital. I’ve been doing trails like MnM, McKinney, Campground, ect (more typical MTB trails) and have had outstanding performance. I put them on in spring so had a bit of testing in the mud and they did pretty well. Come October I’ll know more lol.
When it’s dry pirelli cintutato Ms worked really well, ironically like ice in the mud.
The Schwalbes are sluggish on pavement