The north course really isn’t known for mud though is it? anyone been in that direction and had epic 2023 like mud?
Not like the south course, but I do remember reports of some depending on the weather. But you also don’t need a lot to make things bad if you’re pushing clearance limits.
There was one section last year that they had to re-route at the last minute due to mud. There is a Facebook video in the 2024 Unbound thread of a Police SUV plowing through the mud and it is daunting!
So while the North route is not as bad, there are still opportunities for the organizers to screw with the route and include mud.
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I ran to close to the sun and got some mud on a creek crossing. Had to stop and clean it off
The Tufo Thundero comes in an HD version that has a little bit extra puncture resistance with not much additional rolling resistance, according to BRR. I picked up the HD Thunderos for my race this year.
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In my experience, not as much of the peanut butter variety mud going North, but still multiple sections that can stop you in your tracks. Surface conditions on race day last year were near ideal, but I pre-rode most of the north course about a month before the race and there were some bad spots. The worst section was Divide road right out of Eskridge (where I started my first ride from). Within the first 10 miles, I was off my bike clearing mud multiple times and had a sidewall cut (this is all riding solo and picking lines as carefully as possible). It was about 24 hours after some heavy rain. That wasn’t the only bad spot, several other sections I had to walk a bit. There was also a bunch of road grading going on, I think that made it worse for me but it was packed down better by race day. Race day conditions were like riding completely different roads. Pic of my bike less than 10 miles into the pre-ride -
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In addition, when we did a pre-ride on Friday last year on the opening miles of the course, there was some peanut butter mud about 10-12 miles out that we quickly flipped around on vs. clogging up the bikes and damaging them. Those sections were dry enough by the next day for the race, but it shows how constantly-changing the mud can be out there.
it will depend on the rain…if and when it falls.
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Being the tire whore that I am: I have plenty of Race Kings on hand for my MTB. I have an almost new set of Pathfinder 47’s on the bike. I have a set of Thundero 40’s for the road with fenders and a set of 2.1" Schwalbe Rocket Rons I’d bought if I wanted to do some muddy CX type stuff. And now for good measure, just ordered 2.1" Racing Ralphs and Thundero 48’s.
So, I guess I have all the bases covered and I can always sell everything I don’t use!
This probably means that they’ll very soon release a 2.0" Race King 
(Enve MOG with 50mm advertised clearance and room for more, don’t think I’d go below 47/48 even with Mud)
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I would like a 2.0 race king for my front tire.
I’m doing the 100. I picked up G-One RS in 45mm and just ordered Pathfinders 47mm, for my Crux. I’m hoping between the two I’ll be good for whatever comes. I don’t want to have to switch out tires at the last moment but will need to decide which ones to set the bike up with ahead of the race. The 47s might be the best bet as they should carry me through wet or dry, but I think I’d prefer to ride the 45s. My first Unbound, so it’s all about trial and error I guess.
I rode the 47’s last year and they were fantastic.
If you have a set of second wheels (even if alloy), I’d set up your mud choice on them and your A choice on your good wheels. Then you don’t have to worry about swapping tires. You also then give the second set of wheels to your support crew so you can do a wheel swap at the aid station, if necessary.
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Over in the MTB/Gravel tire thread, there are rumors that Specialized will be releasing updated Pathfinders in the coming weeks.
Would you trust a brand new tire for unbound?
PRobably not. Too close to that race at this point and those tires have held up well for me in the past. I figure give it a season to see how they are holding up and what the rolling performance looks like.
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That is my feeling also.
Thank you for this. It’s very helpful. I do have a pretty good second set of wheels that I could swap in with mud tires, as needed. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this option before. Duh.
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That is the great things about threads like this…you get to mine the collective experience and knowledge of a bunch of people. Sometimes you come across tips that may seem obvious, but can actually be easy to overlook because we all get pretty myopic at times.
I have a couple of buddies doing the 100 and I volunteered to crew for them, so I’ll see you out there. 
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99 days, really only 12 weeks of training left. If your not training, better start soon.
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Just started Sustained Master’s Build which ends right on the Sea Otter Fuego XL, then it’s a rest week and specialty phase until 1 week before Unbound.
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Brand new, generally, no. But if I could get a set on a few weeks and rack up some miles beforehand, I’d consider that worthwhile. Maybe 300-400 miles of mixed surface. Given the durability of the current pathfinders and their reputation, I could be content with that path forward.
We’ll see what the release looks like.
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