Hell, even 2.8-3" Plus sizing died fairly quickly, after they were billed to be the next big thing.
Tire size/pressure is a function of the amount of load it’s carrying and bikes + humans are only so heavy.
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They need to test 45mm tires on 40mm external width rims. I think that will prove to be the fastest gravel set up
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I just listened to the Bonk Bros Episode. DJ still said the Pathfinders are one of the best blends of puncture resistance and rolling resistance despite “being over them” (I think those were the words)
In saying he “Quite literally moved on to bigger and better things” he referred to the race king 2.2 on the podcast, but I’ve seen him trying Thunder Burts too.
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To add to that, the reason he is moving on from the pathfinders is because his bike fits larger tires now. The Factor he was riding the past few years only had so much clearance so for that bike, the pathfinder 47 was the tire he picked. Now that his bike has greater clearance, he has been running the race kings because he can. Regardless, we have to understand he is just testing things out and only testing what is available. It may turn out that a slick 2.2 is the best possible tire for gravel, but I don’t know if he can find one of those.
Another thing he highlighted in that podcast is just how different the puncture resistance equation is if you’re in a proper racing bunch versus riding on your own. I’ve started to come to the same conclusion and am much more likely to fit my pathfinders for a shorter race where I’m more likely to be in bigger groups, but still prefer my Terra Speeds for training and racing in longer, more spread out fields where I’m going to be on my own a lot.
If it’s going to be more than about 4 hours and I don’t anticipate being in the top 15%ish of finishers then it’s usually a pretty safe bet that the groups I’ll end up in will be small, friendly, and fairly non-competitive. Plus the time penalty for stopping to plug a tire starts to become less and less significant the longer the ride gets.
I wonder if that was part of Sophia’s logic at Leadville? Surf wheels conservatively for the first half of the race while there’s lots of options to follow and then plan for that solo break where once you shake the others off your wheel you’ve got a decent aero and RR advantage, with puncture risk mitigated by having complete autonomy over line choice?
One other thing Dylan slips in at the 54min point of the podcast is that a buddy of his tested the 47 Pathfinder vs the 45 TerraSpeed and the 47 Pathfinder was faster. He goes into no further detail and recommends the 47 Pathfinder to the person writing in.
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Need a real world test of the Conti Hardpack 50c, Pathfinder 47c and the Thundero 48… Thunderburt and Raceking are faster but whats that fastest of the gravel tires?
I’ve ridden full slick road tires on soft, wet, muddy gravel and am not a fan, makes me think I wouldn’t really enjoy the slick centre of the Pathfinder.
Dylan J. ran race kings 2.2 at mid south last weekend.
There’s a few teasers in this video about his upcoming overall evaluation of tires for gravel.
I think the title is a misnomer. It should be “are lower pressure tires faster” - which they showed to be the case.
The whole point of riding a larger tire is to be able to run lower pressures while being able to avoid excessive risk of pinch flats.
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I’m approaching it the opposite direction. I don’t want to have the long race ruined vs short races where I might be able to top 10 my age group.
Long race above 100 miles pathfinder
Short race under 100 Terra speed
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100%….which highlights how bad their “protocol” was. It just made no sense and wasn’t even consistent from the first round of testing to the second.
I’ll bet a good chunk of money that had they followed Silca psi recommendations for the roll down tests, the 50’s would have tested better.
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After doing a bunch of research, I think you’ve got the right idea with different tires F/R and tire choice. I plan to go with the same set up as you: Swampero front and Thundero rear. Having read multiple negative comments about punctures, I’ll be going with the HD versions though.
I’ve run Pirelli Gravel H since they were released. Excellent puncture resistance (1 flat, which was when the tire was towards the end of its life) and rolls fast. I agree the ride is relatively stiff, even at lower pressures. At times, I do feel like these tires are holding me back on some of the trails here by not giving me enough confidence. Since I’ve been satisfied with the Gravel H, I was thinking of doing the same thing you’ve tried in the past, which was a Gravel H on the back and Gravel M on the front to give me more front end traction/bite (especially for loose over hard type surfaces).
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Something about it reminds me of a monster truck 
(Video on the bike, gravel tire sizes, etc, supposedly in the works)
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What’s going on with the cranks? 
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Aero cover 3w, wonder if that is true. If so cheap gains
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I’m betting the aero bottle on the downtube is empty and there just for aero too…
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One thing I found interesting in his race report video was that hes using a road wheelset, 21.5mm internal, with these wheels the Race Kings blow up to 53mm. I expect if they were mounted on Reynolds gravel wheels they wouldn’t clear the frame.
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Suprised to not see a wider rim.
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Yeah, that shocked me when I heard him say they were only 21mm IW. For a guy who seems to really understand the benefits of wider tires, that seems like a poor choice.
I’m guessing he feels he is getting some aero benefit from using a road wheel…will be interesting to see his video from his time in the wind tunnel w/ Silca.
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I wish I would pull the trigger on the 45mm deep 40mm wide 30mm ID wheels. I bet those are nice