Panaracer GravelKing Slick TLC Folding Tyre

Product Information

ThePanaracer Gravelking SK TLC gravel tyre is in fact a blend of both road and off-road worlds. It's actually pitched as a more aggressive version than the standard Gravelking tyre, with the knobbly side walls boasting extra grip. Front doesn’t show much wear, but the rear has lost all the bumps in the center. I’m guessing it probably has quite a few more miles left in it, but I haven’t found any reference for wear markers. Price

Each item entering Canada will be charged GST (General Sales Tax) and PST (Provincial Sales Tax - varies by province) based on the declared value.The criteria for selecting the tyres to test was a wheel size of 700c and a tyre width between 38mm and 45mm. The only thing you need to watch out for is width if your frame's tyre clearance isn't massive. On a set of modern wide rims like the Hunts, these 35mm tyres measured up at 37.5mm. Value Puncture Force Blunt Needle: The Blunt needle has a flat tip and won't split the casing wires. To puncture the tire, the blunt needle has to cut the casing wires. NOTE: As of 2021, we've improved the puncture resistance tests and now provide 'Total Puncture Score' as the main puncture resistance indicator.

The eyewatering prices of these "gravel" specific tyres set me off in search of less fashionable but cheaper alternatives. And not tubeless either, I remain unconvinced of the benefits relative to cost of converting. I just don't suffer enough real world punctures to give it cause for serious consideration. Advanced Extra Alpha Cord: AX technology uses extremely narrow cord which is weaved at a super high density into the casing for lightness and flexibility. This increased density improves resistance to cuts and abrasions.

How we tested

Puncture Force Sharp Needle: Pre-2021, this score was known as 'Puncture Resistance'. On some tires with weakly bonded casing wires, the sharp needle can split the casing wires resulting in a lower score. There will also be many surfaces where the total grip will be a combination of the tread compound grip and the grip provided by the knobs. Under these circumstances, the hard surface grip can still be a deciding factor.

It's critical to understand our static wet grip test works with a hard surface. This means the grip data is only directly useful for comparing tires on hard surfaces where the rubber compound creates the grip. Understanding the test results gets more difficult when grip is created by the knobs digging into the surface.They have indeed been a little more comfortable of a ride. Much of that may be from only inflating these to 90 psi rear and 85 psi front. The GP4000 I was doing 110 psi rear and 100 psi front. So, I don’t know how they would compare at the same inflation. They have real good grip and I have always felt confident riding on them. I have also had no flats, which is great. I do think I lost a little bit of speed with these. This is probably due to them being a little higher rolling resistance tire plus the lower inflation. Max inflation for these is only 105 so I wouldn’t be able to go as high as I did with the GP4000. The Gravelkings are also quite a bit heavier as they are supposed to be about 320 grams vs 220 grams for the GP4000. Durability First thing I should mention is that for me they are not that wide of a tire. My rims have a 17 mm internal width, and these measured 26.55mm when first installed. Now I have about 1500 miles on them, and they have expanded to about 27.24 mm. It’s good they are not wider as my frame clearance wouldn’t work with more than a mm wider. My 25mm GP4000 were measuring just a bit over 28mm when I removed them. How’s the ride? On the road they felt amazing, the comfort of a large volume tyre on a carbon gravel bike is really welcome. On mixed surfaces they didn't inspire much confidence. For muddier conditions, the GravelKing EXT offers a more aggressive tread with wider-spaced, deeper-profile knobs, and you should look out for Panaracer’s ‘Plus’ tyres if you’re looking for extra puncture protection. Panaracer GravelKing SK TLC performance

Given these shortcomings, we feel our grip test, combined with the knob height measurements, will still be valuable information when comparing tires. The combination of genuine gravel trails, cobbles, off road and on road riding gave the tyres, not just a good going over for each geographical element, but also how well they transition from one to another, and I have to say I was really impressed with the balancing act that thePanaracer Gravelking SK TLC gravel tyre managed to perform.tofudog415 wrote: I use the 38 mm (622-40) Terreno Zero as my rear tire. When new, it inflated to about 39 mm on a 21mm ID rim. After six months, it has stretched out a bit to about 40.5mm. I typically have 38-40 psi in it. I have punctured it once since I installed it, but it was one of those stealth punctures that sealed without my knowledge. Only discovered it when I was pumping up the tire and noticed an abnormally low starting pressure.