Lava

TLDR; What are your suggestions for a 32mm+, slick and fast rolling, tubeless, and relatively puncture resistant tire?

I've been using 38mm GravelKing Slicks for my road riding, but recently had a spate of bad luck with punctures. They're set up tubeless, and I'm grateful for that, as the glass I removed from one would have certainly flatted a tube; I was at least able to get home before even noticing the leak. Cut to a few days later and the front tire did the same thing, with punctures large enough to prevent higher pressures for road riding (40+), but not so large that it won't hold a little air. After failing to the first tire, and discovering the new cut on the other, I think I need to replace both at this point.

I've enjoyed the GK Slicks for the comfort and speed, but if they won't be able to hold up to NYC riding, over glass and bad roads, I might need to find a more sturdy tire. I'm not looking for Gatorskins or anything that drastic, just something able to stand up to run of the mill glass and other debris. I'm hoping to stay tubeless, and as fast rolling as possible.

Panaracer now makes a reinforced version, the GravelKing +, but it's hard to find any info out there about it. If it kept the positive qualities of the GK while adding a little more puncture protection, that would be great.

The Barlow Pass looks good, but I've read that it's baby brother, Bon Jon Pass, isn't great for punctures or wear.

Should I just jump down to the 32mm GP5000s? I've had good experience with Conti tires, puncture wise, and @chas58 had glowing things to say about them in their recent thread.

Any other suggestions that fit the bill?

skipm

I've been running Schwalbe Kojaks 700x35 for a few months now on a Specialized Crux and I really like them. But I'm running them tubed.

-Skip.

Spoonrobot 

You don't plug your tires? Just curious, although I've not had any cuts or punctures on my 38mm GK slicks I did have a couple on the 650bx42 models and they took plugs fine.

I don't think there are any tires that are as fast rolling as that size of GK slick while also having more (on paper) puncture resistance.

Flats are such a person-specific distribution. I had a ton of flats on Continental tires but have had 0 on Compass tires with about the same mileage (~10,000) on each brand. So I'd say go for the Barlow Pass and also look at the Teravail Rampart - I know a couple shop buddies that ride them and they give good feedback for speed/flat resistance. The 700cx38 light and supple is probably the tire I'm going to get when my GK slicks wear out.

tyrion

Schwalbe Marathon Supremes.

tangerineowl

Simworks Volummy. 32 or 38.

jideta

+1

DrIsotope

A couple to consider:

Pirelli Cinturato Velo TLR, which comes in 26, 28, 32 and 35
Maxxis ReFuse TR, which comes in 32 and 40

Marcus_Ti

Fast rolling and puncture resistance are rather exclusive.

Specialized Sawtooth is what comes to mind wrt higher volume 700c semi slicks that resist sharps

Lava

I tried! It just didn't hold. I even asked the LBS to take a look at it to make sure I did it correctly, since I'm new to all things tubeless. They said it looked good and should hold, but on the way home it sprung a leak, necessitating putting in a tube to get home.

Maybe it was just a spate of bad luck, especially since like you mentioned, on paper the GKs are pretty robust. I am leaning towards the + version to see how those compare, but perhaps the Rene Herse tires would be good to try first, for variety's sake.

The schwalbe marathon supremes seem pretty strong, but boy are they pricey. The rest seem like good options, I'll look into them all!

I'm leaning against something like the Sawtooth, or the GK SK, since I have the WTB Nanos that came stock with the bike if I need a beefier slightly knobby tire. They seem solid and fast enough for most purposes, but I'd like something mostly slick for weekend rides and rides where I'm really trying to push myself.

RideMyLeMond

Specialized Roubaix Pro in 30/32mm. A little heavier than others but it fits' your description Wide, Tubeless, Slick, Puncture Resistant Tire.

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/review...ubaix-pro-tyre

shoota 

Gp 5000 tl

Lava

Oh nice, that seems more or less like a tubeless version of the Conti 4 Seasons, which I've had good luck with in the past.

Have you had good luck with them? I do feel like if I want to size all the way down to 32mm, the GP 5000s would be the way to go.

shoota 

I've both really positive and some negative, just like about any other tire. My LBS owner did a race across Denmark on them set up tubeless and swears by them.

Metieval

NYC is a gamble.....

ride the tire you want and just keep spares at home.

as for tubeless, a tire patch might work better than a plug? a plug will get you home though.

unterhausen

I had trouble with GK 32mm slicks getting flats late last year, so for the winter I used some Maxxis Refuse. I felt like they are really slow, but no flats, so that is good. The guys at the LBS says it's supposed to be pronounced re-fuse, but I'm pretty sure it's ref-use, as in you can safely run over garbage.

chas58

I have many thousands of miles on my 4 Seasons run ghetto tubless (with a skinny stripper on for safety). I did finally get a good slice in (3-4mm long) it recently, but sealed fine.

The GP5000 has litterally 1/2 the rolling resistance. Probably not a big deal at 15mph, but at 20-30mph (flats) it really adds up. Still, that is a race tire, and not something I would go to for the ultimate in puncture protection. They say its 20% more puncture resistant than the 4000, and certainly the TL version is built more sturdy than the tubed version. I love them, but I don't worry about flats too much.

I would probably go for some of those Schwalbe tires (Marathons) if I was concerned about puncure resistance. Are you worried about tread or sidewall or both? The reason I had the 4 seasons was for sidewall protection. the GP5000 has nothing there.

dim

Compass tyres 700Cx38mm Barlow Pass .... run them tubeless with Orange sealant (the regular Orange sealant, not the endurance) ....

If you are happy with 32mm tyres, get the Continental Grand Prix 5000 tubeless (I'm using the 32mm clincher version on my daily commuter/touring bike (40km round trip per day) and they are amazing .... close to 1400 Km so far on potholes, broken glass and very poor roads (sometimes in pouring rain) and they have not punctured, are fast and still look good (I would not use them on gravel though)

I'm using the 5000 tubeless version on my other bike (25mm wide) and have over 1600Km with zero punctures).... I think that the 32's in tubeless will be amazing!

chas58

They are (32mm TL), and thank God they make that size. I think I have an unfair advantage when doing high speed road rides with roadies. Not only are they at 8.3 watts resistance (really, 22 watts for a pair at our speeds), but even for the roadies with the same tire - I'm running half their pressure as I have so much volume. Our roads around here are horrible on 25mm tires (besides, someone is always pinch flatting every week it seems). At least the TL version has tougher sidewalls which will help in gravel. Still, if you are on crushed limestone (or the equivalent) you shouldn't have any sidewall issues.

Its not puncture proof, but if you put a priority on speed on less than ideal surfaces, nothing comes close.
Schwalbe and ReneeHerse have good alternatives, but the 32mm 5000 is in a league by itself.