Originally Posted by
Rides4Beer
Did a 100k gravel race yesterday on the 42mm Pathfinder Pros, they performed fantastically. Also noticed that most of the front pack I was with were riding Pathfinders, they were all on the 38s. We were pacelining on the pavement at 28-30mph, and no one had grip issues on the gravel, it was pretty loose and dry and we were hitting it hard.
I rode the
Dirty Boar, 173km through the Ardennes in Belgium and the Eifel and Hurtgen Forest Germany, on Saturday on Pathfinder 700x38s. I think 42s would have definitely been more comfortable, but the 38s I was on performed quite well, with the only exception being the excessively muddy places. But, wet crossings (with rocky bottoms) and rocky and gravel trails were great, and on pavement the slick center section rolls fast and effortless, with a couple of asphalt descents that got above 60km/h. They're my all around general tire, and at $40 a piece, I find it hard to spend $90+ on Rene Hearse, or even a $20 more for some of the other options, to get no measurable (real world) gain. The Pathfinders seem to provide the grip to life balance everyone seeks- long wearing and super grippy. For the record, I only started using tread on gravel 2 years ago, for years I solely used slicks, in 32mm width.