I use these tires (38x700c) mostly on the road. They show very little wear though I've now ridden them for over 5,000 miles (!) with NO flats (I use them tubeless and add Stan's every 3 months). I've ridden them over hard pack and very little gravel with no issues at all. I also turn fast and sharply on roads with total confidence. I ride them at 70 lbs. of pressure and weigh 200 lbs.
Below is a dump of my research. Currently I don't see a better option than what you're showing. My criteria is a tubeless mountain bike tire that is fast for pavement commutes and can do single track. - WTB Byway - Get's flats a lot. - Teravail Rampart - No puncture protection - Panaracer GravelKing Slick - More like Gravel Wimp - light and get's flats a lot. - Pirelli Cinturato - Expensive and only in narrow widths. - Continental Grand Prix 5000 - Expensive, 32 wide is max, no off center traction grippies. - Maxxis Re-Fuse - Bad name (lol) Considering the 700x40. No slick center, and no side grippies. All just file texture. Highly considering. - WTB Cruz Flat Guard - seems to be just 50 wide, slick enough, basically a motorcylce style tire. - WTB Venture 700x50 - Seems more a mountain focussed tire, slick enough on center. Review says paper thin for flats... - Specialized Sawtooth - Maybe a good option - quite inexpensive/ - Specialized Pathfinder - Seems really great! 700x38 or 700x42. Both good sizes. Basically the WTB byway with flat protection.
I’ve spent a lot of time on both the 38c and 42c since making this review. The 42c is my go-to do everything tire. I recently switched back to the 38c for another long gravel race and looking back, probably should have used the 42. They’re great tires! Cheers!
Great review man! I was looking for a long time for a review that talked about these tires on snowy conditions! Thanks for the info. Just bought mine :)
Hey Tyler earlier you had asked for an update on what I think of for making the low-cost wheel set. Speaking in regards to something "ghetto" I was looking into on my hard tail going tubeless. Meanwhile for my carbon gravel bike I found a cheap way to get really quality aluminum wheel setups. There're three good routes via DT Swiss with the goal to get nearly top in class DT Swiss Wheels that are not carbon featuring their renowned star ratchet system. These systems that come in often 3 paw (370 hubs on lower end wheel-sets like the GR 1800) or stock are already star ratchet natively which come at 16 stars stock can be upgraded to a 54 star ratchet system. $700 the proper way you get the 24mm internal Width GR 1600s that come with a star ratchet system stock, can be upgraded to the 54 star ratchet with a simple $100 upgrade + labor. For under about $950 you get a solid aluminum wheel set with full engagement. You then could also begin with the GR 1800s for $300, replace the free hub body with star ratchet (which reduces weight) and for $550 you have your essentially top tier aluminum wheel set with full engagement equivalent to the 1600s and replacing to star ratchet you save weight where they're basically the same. You could also start out with a DT Swiss G540 rim used by the whole class of Specialized Diverges for all their carbon frame models the $10,000 S-Works to their $2,900 Sport Carbon and build a full upgraded 54 star ratchet set for about $800 with labor.
@@TJonesMTB no problem dude-- cheers! And haha I was shopping today for the 42mm pathfinders for my girl and they're literally sold out everywhere I called 8 shops and had to drive 30 minutes. Good looks early on the pathfinder trend before it was cool and became the industry standard. We both were on that. Around the city I question like why wouldn't someone be on the pathfinder haha
@@TJonesMTB mmhm. I think fastest rolling smoothest center of the fast rolling center concepts. And also of the fast rolling center concepts they're the most agressive in terms of knobs. Best of both worlds when having both...Also a really nice hard compound where they just don't wear out! I've had other tires breaking ect they're wearing out in a couple months.
btw I myself ended up going the $550 DT swiss 54 star route on the $300 GR 1800s 24i and happy with them. Much simpler to start with the star ratchet though and just pop the better star ratchet in.
Awesome explanation and demo. Can't wait for mine to arrive. Glad to just be looking at these reviews and hearing what folks are liking. I'm putting the final touches on my new city/off-road gravel bike and these were top contenders for both of my wheels. I'm planning on running a Pathfinder as my slightly accented more grippy, confidence boosting comfort gravel tire that finds compromise in having a fast rolling mid-section for tarmac. I particularly love these styles of hard rolling focused centers yet knobby treads on the shoulders. Upgrading to this class of tread and going tubeless at the same time (why not if your stock rims are already TR compatible?) was my first upgrade as stock wheels typically always come with a level of knobbiness throughout given they’re set to be a gravel bike (even in fast rolling low profile knobby forms, on paper it still appears to be suboptimal for road). I did a number of demos on tight knobs and different tire widths and for my style for sure it's the 40mm at least. 37 was a huge improvement over the 35 in braking which was a concern on the 35, street turbulence, hand fatigue (real thing) yet the 40 was just pure confidence in all aspects including in fast loose conditions (stomping off-road, grass, bark downhills) and with unnoticeable road inefficiencies. The enjoyment and value I was seeing from the 40mm width tires just gripping all road with pure confidence was liberating to experience with a point any direction feel. This feeling made me begin to care a lot about frame clearance. These demos were so fun and by far the 40s definitely carried me the furthest I went from the dealers’ shops as I spent extra time out there just loving the adventure (I definitely would have surprised the shop if I had told them the terrain I was hitting and how far I went on both of my 40 rides…). Not having clearance for the 40mm became my deal breaker for some bikes. Even ones with great components at great values since I knew I needed to include a 40mm and potentially more while many capped out around 37. The difference straight up of what size tire you could fit and how you are limited. I mean, thankfully the 37 was a great improvement and folks can suffice or enjoy their riding a different way than how I prefer given my sprinting style perhaps where I’m looking to sustain 20+ mph speeds on most flat conditions while still able to hit the grass or hop a curb (to avoid clusters of people that look unpredictable or cars). Yet with a focus for hitting city as well as gravel hard I wanted as little compromise in terms of fast rolling on tarmac (I'll be doing timed sprints with significant tarmac components) and is why the smooth strip center design on paper looked to check the box of competitive among fast rolling alternatives (especially among all of those with even tight knobs through the center or across the board). Meanwhile, the class of Pathfinder with knobby shoulders doesn't provide that trade off as much of lacking a decent level of knobs for at least medium off-road aggression and conditions. The Pathfinder among its in-class competitors of similar tread, offered the most accented shoulder tread while at the same time an extreme accent of including a fast rolling smooth tread through the center. Getting best of both worlds felt to meet my full needs of wanting to be able to push the envelope while stomping pedals both on and off road and while hitting hard turns and most terrain. To complete and top the wheelset off using stock tubeless rims and the Specialized Pathfinder tread, while a big fan of the 40mm capability, I gravitated to the 42m tire width for the front as it accents/exaggerates the value of the 40 I most appreciated due to the confidence the wider gave. From the 40 overall I felt so much value with solid off road grip, the aggression across different terrains it enabled, all condition breaking, and comfort particularly in the city. However, for my Rear wheel I was planning for an overall faster rolling tread and left off the versatility accent of the 42mm and decided for the more standard 40mm width. The tread I chose for my rear wheel (while leaning towards a faster rolling wheel) was quite similar to the Pathfinder. So instead of the Pathfinder on the rear, I went with my other 700c top choice tubeless gravel tire. If I wasn’t planning on keeping up with my buddies on mountain bikes, I absolutely would have ran this other tire in the front too to optimize city while maintaining decent off road. To run on my RW I went with something more tarmac and durable in the center (a subtlety textured profile without knobs) and a shoulder with tighter knobs where actually the knobs looked to even enhance road performance providing grip while still knobby enough for off-road. The top choice for my rear wheel today was the Donnelly Strada USH Tire at 40mm. Overall, my front and rear wheels running 42mm FW Specialized Pathfinders and 40mm RW of Donnelly Strata USH look to be great choice gravel tires for balancing city and off road aggression while also emblematic pioneers of the knobby shoulder fast rolling center class of tire. Looking forward to installing these puppies to see and feel beyond on paper. I’ll have them installed on these 21mm TR stock rims in 3 weeks and hope to update this post these coming months. Glad also to hear you have experiencing running a 42mm Pathfinder on one...fingers crossed. In the meantime, I’m also experimenting with my fitness hybrid bike of having a front wheel installed as part of my regular servicing. I’ll be assembling the wheel with the tubeless tire on it and passing it off for a final check and installation at my time of tune-up. For this upgrade I’m looking to throw on a Tubeless Ready (TR) front tire that has a 2.15 inch width (54.6mm) which I see would emphasize larger over the more common 50mm and would step up my width of the current smooth and textured 47mm I’m running. I considered doing a complete tubeless upgrade on my fitness bike, yet to get this technology at a budget price was a near impossible task while meeting all my requirements. I couldn’t find a TR wheelset to just slap on and eventually found a $600 front wheel on sale for $130 (probably about a $200 wheel) and to complete the front wheel set for this upgrade I'm also having to throw on conversion caps to meet the quick release (QR) compatibility of my front fork. Looking into including the Rear as tubeless ready, since I have a 3x7 cassette bike, most all of the newer tech wheels don’t go down to 7 cassettes naturally and would have required spacers in the back. Also, as I was already having to do a conversion for converting the front wheel I was getting to QR from thru-axel, with the advantages of thru-axel I thought what if I just converted my whole bike to thru-axel. Looking into whether converting my bike to just thru-axel for meeting the modern thru-axel tech higher tech wheels are more commonly running standard and my rear axel in particular, I found you'd have to replace forks so considering this option was not worth it. For my Rear, with the upgrading requiring spacers and getting more messy, I ended up making the decision to keep my speedy stock 47mm in the back and not get into that mess calling it a day while having a spare speedy 47mm from my front that’s trued and on hand as either a backup or to swap in any time on my QR front. Perhaps there is just a time and place for my 54.6mm that I’m experimenting with, and thankfully my QR accommodates that well. I may look to update on the experience of my fitness hybrid bike upgrade as well. Updating as I fool around and experiment between the speedy stock 47s stock and a 54.6mmx700 FW. Overall, these upgrades I’m bullish on as my fitness bike has great clearance to check out the 50-60 range of tire sizes which I feel 54.6 was a good place to start in that vein. This may also provide the feedback if I should ever consider doing a tubeless FW upgrade on my gravel bike that has clearance to accommodate up to a 47mm 19” or 700c, or a 50mm 650b or 650c (the c’s are just slightly smaller and more often more roadish than MTB so the 19” were easier to search and find cheap wide width TR rims while the 650b is a newer concept and is often set for off road as well). The thought would be doing a Pathfinderesk 47 (or full blown knobby to use just for heavy off road days) potentially for my gravel bike should I enjoy the larger front wheel concept. Will keep you guys updated! Cheers!
Have you considered doing ghetto tubeless on the wheels that you talked about compatibility issues with? That could solve a lot of the issues it sounds like you’re having. Best of luck with all the mixing and matching! Looking forward to hearing what you end up with
@@TJonesMTB Interesting consideration, I mean ghetto I feel like is perhaps what I'm going for. Unless you see another opportunity in that vein I'm all ears. Is there a good way to go cheap tubeless? I felt like I was choosing the cheapest tubeless wheels possible that would meet the specs of the 54.6 tubeless tire I selected and my bike-- which was probably my main issue starting with the tire and working back instead of visa versa. I get highly limited while searching for tubeless 29" that are 6 Bolt Disc and in the $50-150 per wheel range. Perhaps it's just worth going clincher for that QR system I have and getting 2 wheel sets for the price that would easily be compatible with one optimized for street and the other for MTB. At least this way should all go well I get the tubeless upgrade with the exact desired tire for the style I'm seeking. All good. I think I found my solution though on the rear wheel and getting spacers involved for the 7 cassette QR in the back that a mechanic told me sounded like a scary mess. So again the problem is trying to accommodate the tubeless wheel that doesn't go down to x7 and naturally and is also thru-axel against my QR bike. I'm just going to add a pin kit (the kind to prevent people steeling wheels, seats ect) that is a 9mm threaded that you bolt on with a special key vs. allen. This route I can keep my QR in the front, and bolt my back (in effect acting like a thru axe that would require a fork change and are 10mm and won't fit anyways). So add the spacer in, pin it up...shouldn't be a problem. Not worried about more moving parts in the back, a QR rattling off and having a mess back there. It will be pinned up and all set. Meanwhile we'll see if there's any issues running 54.6 over 25i and 23i rims which on paper should be fine. I think the bike is good to go! I'll let you know about this one and my gravel bike how that comes together with the new tubeless tires 19x42 FR Pathfinder and 19x40 RW Strada. Really excited, got a Carbon Frame and GRX and plan to head off trail out by the Golden Gate Bridge over in the San Francisco Marin Headlands keeping up with my buddies on MTBs ;) Also, some road adventures into Sausalito keeping up with my buddies on road bikes ;) I'll update in about a month!
@@TJonesMTB Ah probably best in the future to just convert tubeless. Will find much better deals that way. I'm discovering this while looking into my gravel bike where my standards are high yet not willing to fork out top dollar to meet every little spec req on a TR wheel. The move is looking tubeless compatible and converting despite the extra work that is.
Just a heads up for people not to confuse pathfinder " pro" and pathfinder " sport" , 1st is tubeless 120 tpi and 2nd not tubeless, 60 tpi , and doesnt fold
This video is very timely.. I am by no means a racer, I have a Surly long haul trucker and yesterday i noticed that my continental tires are shredded..t he tread is just peeling off. luckily I have Never had flat in them.. they are 700X32, and I live in the desert. There are some nice desert trails but I always felt unsure with them and I do ride on canals and in some gravel now and then. I ride a lot on tarmac as well. The thing is, that when I see a huge 4x4 truck pulling up behind me and I have no bike lane, I feel that I have pushed my luck with those idiots.. they get close to scare me, honk and even slow down and floor it to push soot in my face.. Good ole Arizona.. anyway, I now have a mirror and will divert onto the gravel off the road if I see someone in my mirror that is just not moving over. and since... I just shredded my tires, I need something else. I am looking at these pathfinder pros, ... so what is my questions... my bike will handle the 42mm size, do you think that there is a huge difference in speed between the 38 and 42? I like that they can handle some higher PSI than other tires, so if I am just going to be on the road I can pump them up. I am just about to pull the trigger.. probably on the bigger tires. in the meantime I have some continental 700 x38 to put on, but.. they always felt like I was riding in mud. not a problem, I don't go fast, but I don't need to go slower.. I am a big guy, and ride every day.
Chris Bates stay safe out there! I don’t think there is a huge difference between the two sizes. I will likely run the 42c size on my next gravel bike for most riding and then put the 38c on for smoother races. For everyday riding I would go 42c! Do test and make sure you have enough clearance all the way around the tires though. My bike is rated for 42c but I even had issues with the 38c on a wider rim rubbing. Once on a narrower rim, the 38c fits great and still measures about 1.5” wide. These tires seem to run a bit wide. Either way you will be happy and these will be great on the pavement while also allowing you to dive out into dirt without fear! Cheers!
Chris Bates also even on the road I still run the tire at about 38 psi (tubeless). I find it is more comfortable, grippy, and still stable at both high speeds and while corning. I have never had an issue with them being too slow at that speed. They do ride differently than a performance road tire but I’ll take the benefits over a slight speed penalty any day!
Thanks for the review Tyler! I just put on the WTB Nanos on my gravel bike. Do you have any experience with these tires? I am assuming they would be pretty comparable to the Pathfinder?
I dont. I ran 2 pairs of the WTB CrossBoss and really liked their traction, but durability was a bit of an issue. Upon further research, that seemed to be a common thing among reviews of wtbs other gravel tires which is partially why I ended up on the pathfinders. I expected traction to be significantly lower on the pathfinders but found the only place they struggled a bit was steep loose dirt climbs(like really steep) and steeper snowy climbs. Otherwise the traction has been on par with the much more aggressive CrossBoss. The Nano is definitely a tire I looked at but ultimately settled on the Pathfinders
Hey man, thanks for the video, it made me straight go for the pathfinder after a long serch and they are fabolous. One question: what pressure you would reccomand (tubeless) for road only use?
Hey Ali! Hopefully you enjoy the tire as much as I do! Personally, I run about 38-40 psi when I’m on the road currently. I don’t adjust much between mix terrain and purely road. Maybe 38psi if I’m going between pavement, gravel, and singletrack and then 40psi if I know I’m only on pavement. Ultimately your tire pressure will be based off the road surface, and rider weight. Cheers!
@@lazurm it kinda a gray area. If you ask Specialized, legally they will likely say it matters. But then all the employees are probably running 30psi. I still run 38 psi and have never had an issue of any kind. I have tubeless ready rims which helps the tire to rim engagement. Mtb tires are kinda they same. The pressure range is always higher than what they are used at. The carbon rims shown in the video have a max pressure rating of 45 psi which is lower than the lowest listed rating of the pathfinder… i would say if it doesn’t feel right, then it’s probably not right. Hopefully that gives a little bit of clarity. Cheers!
Awesome video. Why did you pick these over the WTB Byway (if you looked at them). the byway was going to be my next gravel tire, but I’m leaning towards these now.
Honestly, I didn’t even look at the Byway. The Pathfinder was just a tire that seemed like it’d meet my needs so I went for it and have not been disappointed at all! Cheers!
Do you notice much difference in rolling resistance between the 38 and 42 on pavement? I'm going to buy these soon and ride about 30% smooth pavement, 40% chip seal roads, and 30% gravel. Not sure whether to go with the 38 or 42.
Honestly, no. I rode the 42c for a long time, but switched back to the 38c for a gravel race. I will eventually switch back to the 42c when i find the motivation to switch them. The 42c, in my mind, has more wind drag but I have no way to verify that. The 42c does seem to be a bit more comfortable overall for day to day riding. They’re both great tires! The 38c will probably be great for you if 70% of your riding is on some sort of maintained surface. Hopefully that helps somewhat! Cheers
michael I believe they use slightly different casings which results in weight differences, at least that’s how it is with the FastTraks(mtb tire). I have only ran the Pathfinder with the tan sidewall so everything in the video is based on the tan tires. The black might be a touch heavier and thicker going off the mtb tires but I am not certain on that. I would try contacting a Specialized dealership. Cheers!
How would you feel about these for a ride like BWR Cedar City. If you could fit 42's on our gravel bike, would you go that wide? I've riding the WTB Byway 40's and am looking for a lil more traction in the corners.
Charlie Geary I haven’t had the chance to look at any of the details on the Cedar City race. I ran the 38c version of this tire for the 140 mile Steamboat gravel last year and had no issue. I’ve also used them in a lot of rough areas and have had no issues. If the course is calling for traction but still quick rolling tires then I’d say this is a good choice. I’d be surprised if the 38c isn’t enough but like I said, I haven’t gotten to look at any course details. These are fast when going straight and have great cornering traction for a gravel tire. Only place I’ve ran into any kind of drawbacks is steep loose climbs where you have to get out of the saddle. That’s where the center strip slips a bit. Hopefully that helps somewhat. Have a great race!
I did the Cedar City BWR (video up on my account - you'll get an idea of the terrain), and I saw people riding a huge range of tires (Panaracer Gravel Kings seemed popular). Me personally, I like grippy/knobby tires, and run Rene Herse 42mm Hurricane Ridge tires, my current favorite tire that I don't see changing anytime soon, if ever. They were fast on the dirt/gravel parts, and still reasonably quick enough on the road parts. I ran pretty low pressures (tubeless of course) at 27 psi in the front and 30 psi in the rear, and grip felt really solid. It also handled the sand sections well, but I'm not a very good sand rider (actually I'm not a very good off road rider, but that's a whole other story). The single track section at the end was brutal, and glad I had 42mm tires with grip. I saw a lot of people on more narrow tires as they're probably used to the San Diego BWR, and while they mostly got through it, the day was more enjoyable with the comfort/traction/durability of the wider knobby tires. The Hurricane Ridge tires are the only gravel tires I've found that almost offer mtn bike levels of grip on a gravel bike and on gravel roads. I had never heard of them before I saw Ted King using them, and now I know why he does.
@@drouleau great insight. Saw some footage from the race and definitely will be trying to get out there next year! Looked awesome. The 42c pathfinder in question I know was ran by the 5th place finisher Dylan(saw in his YT video). Looked like a diverse course where tire selection was critical.
@@drouleau Thanks Dana. I ended up riding the Waffle also. I did go with the Pathfinder 42's and they were outstanding. I normally ride a slightly narrower byway for all my gravel riding so this slightly larger volume and added tread made for a great day. What an event. Thanks again for your response. See ya next year! :)
@@TJonesMTB Yep, I was just watching his video again and then did a review search for those tires and found your video lol. You should def try the Cedar City ride, it was a really good (or masochistic, depending how you look at it lol) course they have there.
Hey there! I haven’t had the opportunity to ride the GravelKing SK, so I can’t give a fair opinion. I am super happy with my Pathfinders and haven’t really explored many other tires since. Sorry I can’t provide much insight for you! Cheers
@@Gerald-iz7mv thanks for the question. I can’t think of a single situation where you want to run a tire at max PSI! Also, in this video, I have the tires mounted to carbon rims that have a max psi of around 45 I believe (I’d have to double check). By having a lower PSI, the tire is able to compress as it rolls over bumps, whether that’s gravel or even bad pavement. Overall that means your bike isn’t being deflected and therefore losing efficiency. By absorbing bumps, you’re able to continue carrying your momentum forward with less deflection (changing your direction to up instead of forward). The other big factor is traction, whether corning or climbing something steep. Your tire has a larger contact patch at a lower PSI creating more grip. I believe both Sram(ZIPP) and Specialized(Roval) have multiple articles on the sciences behind the reasoning for lower pressures, wider rims, and wider tires. Hope that helps! Cheers
Hey Matt! I much prefer the pathfinder! For me the Sawtooth doesn’t offer any cornering performance. If you’re on road and maybe the simplest of gravel routes, then it is probably a decent option. I didn’t like how the sawtooth rode though and feel that the pathfinder doesn’t have too many drawbacks for adding knobs. I’d take the pathfinder 99/100 times. Hopefully that helps! Cheers
Hey Leonardo, Could you please clarify what you are asking? I have used wheels ranging from 21mm internal to 25mm internal. I know people that run them on 30mm internal wheels also. Let me know if that’s not what you’re looking for. Cheers
@@TJonesMTB I see well I am being schooled by my team that the pro isn’t for long duration DKXL type stuff but the Pathfinder was seen 9 plus times on bikes and only 2 flats. colin also had the pathfinder (only) and I can’t seem to tell the difference or see any tires for sale that just say pathfinder.
@@rynhadn13 I’m not aware of any racer that uses the low end pathfinder. I wouldnt choose the SWorks version for Unbound XL, but the Pro version should be fine. Most the pros run the Pathfinder pro unless the course is really buff, then s-works. The low end pathfinder really seems to only be used as a stock tire on lower end new Specialized bikes. Whatever your team says is best! Have a good race/ride!
Tyler check out my new vid! Got the pathfinder tubeless up on the front and set a KOM next to the Golden Gate Bridge! -- Probably best I do Pathfinder front and back as while I like the profile of the Donnelley Strada USH I'm running for the road, I'm not getting the grip to climb well up trails.
