[Closed] Gravel tyres and punctures protection

GKs have never been good for puncture avoidance in my experience on my local rides (thorns more than flints/glass etc) whereas WTB resolutes have been brilliant 🤞 I'd recommend a different tyre

WTB Nanos in 700c x 40 and WTB Sendero and Venture in 650b x 47 have been good for me.

All tubeless.

I’ve found that WTB tyres are also bad for punctures and have paper thin sidewalls. My mates have also had same results with GK SK and WTB’s

What width and tyre pressure are you using?

Vittoria for me, have never punctured with tubes or tubeless and have been getting progressively more uncaring towards them almost just to see what I can get away with. Have buddies on Hutchinson and Panaracer who between them have had about 8 or 9 punctures to my 0. I think didn'thurt on here managed to puncture a Terreno Mix but I think he had just gotten unlucky hitting a big rock at speed

That'll be me having completely jinxed myself now...

I guess the Terreno Dry would be your nearest match although it's possibly a little less knobbly although I've found it to be excellent in most normal conditions (slippy wet grass or mud being the obvious exceptions.

Hutchinson Toureg here for the last 10 months or so, seem pretty robust, no issues.

The WTB Resolutes I had before do seem more fragile (more supple, thinner sidewalls), but only a couple of issues in the 2 years I had them on.

I was using the original Gravel Kings for a while, but found them to be about as puncture proof as a pound shop condom - despite being the smoothest/nicest tyres i've ever riden.

I've moved onto Gravel King SK+ (the + is supposed to mean extra puncture protection) but am running them with tubes at the moment as never had much luck with tubeless.
I've found the SK+ to be noticeably draggy compared with the originals.

I'm not sure i'd buy Panaracer tyres again - i got sucked in by the tan-wall good looks but don't think their performance lives up to their reputation.

the panaracers 700x38 have been great on my bike 1000km not an issue yet although over 2/3 is tarmac/paved, rest a mix of canal towpaths/cobbles/woodland, yorkshire bridleway, rather than rocky/slate.

was running tubeless at 45-55psi, i converted to rimpac inserts (very simple install and run straight immediately) i'm now running 30-35psi, they are brilliant, feels like riding on carpet across the cobbly/rutty canal towpath, and got some PBs on trickier techy climbs.
i'm not seeing any rolling inefficiency in a month of using them

exact opposite with WTB, slashed tyre walls twice, once was a week old replacement :0(

I've got MSC Gravel on mine, 1500 odd KM and they're totally puncture free, mega tyres

I’ve found that WTB tyres are also bad for punctures and have paper thin sidewalls. My mates have also had same results with GK SK and WTB’s

What width and tyre pressure are you using?

23 mm internal rim, 38mm tyre and most often 45/42 psi, a few psi either way depending upon conditions.

WTB Nano's were terrible for me.
They are now more useful in my garage to hang my windsurfing masts up.

Give Orange Seal a try.. over the years I've tried Stans, MucOff, Finishline, Bontrager and ended up with Orange Seal. Compared to other brands it was a lot more effective at sealing all sizes of puncture, lasted longer, and unlike Stans doesn't separate into water and latex eventually.

Just coming up to 7000miles on my Gravel bike and finally had to stop and fix a puncture for the first time, hit a fist size rock on fast rough descent and snakebite pinched a 3-4mm cut at the bead and tread. It took 2 attempts of stopping and pumping it up and riding and loosing pressure, it then sealed and was still up to pressure at the end of the ride a couple of hours later (and the following morning). Everything else has sealed itself without any drama, thorns and smaller objects seal pretty much straight away once pulled out.

Tyres used: Gravel Kings, Donnelly Xplor MSO, Teravail Cannonball, Teravail Sparwood.
Ditched the Gravel Kings as they were just too draggy on tarmac sections.

Might be a stupid question, did you thoroughly shake\mix the sealant before pouring it in?. Catches a few people out if still new to tubeless.

I've used the following that all punctured easily on the South downs, often within the first 20 miles of use. Not gnarly terrain but nothing seems to cope with razor sharp flints. I'll put them in order with the worst first.

Schwalbe G One
Wtb riddler
Maxxis rambler
panaracer gravel king
Schwalbe marathon Mondial

Even the marathons suffered an inch long gash that had no hope of sealing, (yes was running tubeless but it's not a tubeless tyre!) I think that was just unlucky. The replacement has been entirely puncture free.

So far the only tyre that has been totally puncture free has been the Continental Terra Trail, but I've not used them as much and have learnt to not ride my gravel bike like a MTB. Would buy those again over the others, and save the marathons for winter use mostly on road.

Would like to try '+' version of Gravel kings and SG2 version of WTB's.

Good luck. I feel like gravel/tubeless/flints is just not meant to be. MTB tyres on same terrain are totally fine.

Whats similar to a Resolute and not paper thin? Need some new tyres but Resolutes seem to be out of stock everywhere.

Good luck. I feel like gravel/tubeless/flints is just not meant to be

That is my experience over 20 years of riding flinty gravel roads. The only tyre that has not punctured is a Marathon plus. Even other plus tyres such as Durano Plus and Supersort Plus have punctured.
I hate getting punctures as my rides are always quick 1-2 hour blasts around and back home so having a puncture ruins it (especially in wet cold winter months) so I use very puncture resistant tyres but realise that most others would rather have faster rolling tyres and just deal with the punctures.

How do people find the Specialized Pathfinder Pro?

WTB wise, I went from 42mm Resolutes (lovely but punctured far too easily) to 44mm Raddlers, with the "ATG" layer. These have, so far, been great- puncture free on the same routes.

Running them at about 45-50PSI, tubeless.

Might be a stupid question, did you thoroughly shake\mix the sealant before pouring it in?. Catches a few people out if still new to tubeless.

Yep, well shaken bottle. The punctures due to thorns seal quickly but I'm getting a lot of wee cuts, only a couple of mm long, that struggle to seal. I've never known tyres to cut like the Gravelkings, last winter I rode the same sections on Challenge Grifo cx tyres and went puncture free.

Perhaps I'm just having an unlucky streak?

NOT Clement Xplor MSO - thorns etc seal no issues, but I've binned two tyres in 12 months due to slashed sidewalls. Perhaps I've just been unlucky as they don't feel particularly flimsy off the bike.

1500km+ on WTB Riddlers (45c - summer) and Resolutes (40c - winter), both between 20-30psi (and inadvertently less than 15 for 1 ride), only had 1 puncture when I hopped a stick and landed on a rock on a descent (but that was when I was running a tube in the first 100km of use). Have been tubeless since then. I have given them a chuffing hard time, reckon I hit the rim square edge at least once per ride with multiple dents in front and rear. They still seal first time with a tubeless pump.

Currently running an almost bald Riddler on the rear that I really should change!

750km on 35c gravel kings.

Two tiny punctures. One I didn't notice then it popped in the shed so fixed with a mushroom plug.

One sealed with 30 seconds of spinning and being pumped up once.

Mostly they have been ridden on sandy or rooty trails. Almost nothing rocky that would give cuts.