FSX - Switzerland Professional X Easy Install Latest Version
Brandy Nauman
As the gravel trend emerged, I figured this was a good opportunity to smooth out my ride and add some comfort. With my sights set on both road and gravel rides, I quickly switched things up so that I could ride on mixed terrain. The goal was to have a tire that could handle both gravel and asphalt.
I was pretty much dead set on gettin the WTB Venture. I really like my WTB Horizon tires and figured another WTB tire would be worth looking at. The Venture looks to be a solid choice and, who knows, maybe in the future I might look at this tire again. But as I kept reviewing and reading reviews and comments about other gravel tire choices more options emerged.
FSX - Switzerland Professional X Easy Install latest version
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The last tire I looked at was the Specialized Pathfinder Pro 2Bliss Ready tire. After reading various reviews, I was convinced this was the tire to ride on. Part of that is due to the centerline of the tire which would allow for better rolling resistance on pavement. The other part is that the tread would allow for better traction on heavier terrain than even the WTB Horizons.
My thought was that, with the Pathfinder Pro, I would end up with two wheel sets that would give me more varied choices for the ride at hand. The 650b/Horizon combo would still be good for casual road and gravel rides. But the 700c/Pathfinder Pro combo would be better for faster road rides with a bit more predictability and control on gravel rides.
The Horizons tend to spin a bit on sharper uphill gravel climbs. The hope is that the Pathfinders will have more grip on these kind of climbs. Yet another situation where this combo would be an asset.
One thing I noticed is that, while the max clearance for my bike is 40mm, the Pathfinder Pro darn near maxes the clearance out. I could probably have gone with a 40mm tire but, man, it would have been pretty tight. The front offers a little bit more clearance than the back. In the back, I would be concerned going with a 40mm tire with the same amount of tread. Pretty sure it would still fit but I would probably feel more comfortable after changing out the front derailleur bracket.
With the Pathfinder Pro, the diamond patterned tread showed its colors as I hit various mixed gravel roads. Maneuverability along the trail seemed a bit more stable than the Horizons. This was especially true on rougher terrain. I had a few times when I needed to quickly veer around a big rock or bull pit (my name for the gravel equivalent of a pot hole). The Pathfinder Pros definitely give me a bit more confidence when I need to move and move quickly from side to side along a gravel path.
There was little to no slip when going up and down big gravel hills as well. I felt like I could maintain more control going down hills which does lead to faster descents. However, I will say that I still had to stay seated when going up gravel hills, otherwise the back tire slips. Pretty much any tire will slip in the back if more weight is being applied to the front when going uphill. The added tread and larger diameter of the Pathfinder Pro though does seem to help with uphill climbs on heavy gravel.
Overall, it was a successful ride and taught me a lot about what the Pathfinder Pro was capable of compared to the WTB Horizon. However, I did wonder...how much better can the Pathfinder Pro be with a tubeless setup?
Now, I have never done my own tubeless installation. This would be my first time. It was definitely a learning experience for sure. I got the wheel tape on, no problem, and it was a piece of cake getting the tires onto the rims. The fun part came when adding the sealant.
The second tire was much, much easier. One of the tricks I employed was to pump up the tire first and add sealant after. I started pumping and pumping and, after a series of pumps, I was surprised that the beads popped right into place. The pressure held and I was able to pump it all the way to the max PSI. From there, I took out all the air, removed the valve, and added the sealant. This was a much, much easier approach with almost no mess. Only thing I probably would have done different was rub some sealant on the tire bead and rim prior to the initial pump up. I had to top off the sealant on the last tire I installed so adding some sealant to the tire bead probably would have helped it stick and seal better.
Overall, the install was relatively easy. In fact, with a little practice, I think tubeless might be an easier install than with tubes. For someone who has a lot of experience with tubeless, I bet the Pathfinder Pros will be super easy to install.
A couple of weekends ago, I attempted a gravel ride but it got cut short due to an incident I had with my back tire. Seems I hit something on the way down a hill that punctured the hell out of my back tire. I was able to plug the hold in the side of the tire with a Dynaplug. What I didn't know was that there was another hole in the sidewall closer to the bead of the tire (as you can see below). Definitely don't feel confident in attempting to repair it so...gotta ditch the tire!
However, rather than just buying another Pathfinder Pro tire, I figure it might time to switch things up. I've had the Pathfinder Pro's for a good year now and they've served their purpose. But I think maybe a different tire will suit my needs better. As such, I decided to ditch these and go with the WTB Riddler tires. Will post a review once I got 'em and have ridden on them a bit.
UX Architect, comic book reader, cyclist. Jeff enjoys participating in various road and gravel cycling events. Diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis in 2009, Jeff uses his bike to fight inflamatory bowel disease.
Hi! As far as I understand, these tires are directional. But looking at the tire lugs visible on your pictures, it seems that in some instances, the tires were mounted backwards (rear tire on 700c, front tire on 29"). I'm wondering whether that doesn't invalidate the review, as the tires might have not been performing optimally for you due to the reversed directionality.
Not really because the problem has to do with the thickness of the sidewalls. A thinner sidewall is more subseptible to punctures on rocky terrain that might have sharp rocks. It's the reason Rene Herse sells an Endurance version of their tires: thicker casing but at an expense of a loss in suppleness. Harsher ride but way more protection against sidewall punctures.
I should also note that all my wheelsets have matching rims for both front and back. I did switch out the wheels but the differences in rim size and width shouldn't have had and major impact. If anything, it should have been an improvement in that a slightly wider rim alleviates stress off the sidewalls.
I did read another review somewhere mentioning to be careful with these tires if taking hands off bars momentarily as the center strip is raised and may cause disruption when it touches the side as they are different height. That's a minor issue but you seem to roughly concur with a difference being there on this tire.
I'm new to gravel and I use Panaracer GravelKing SK38s which I feel more comfortable with in the dirt than the Schwalbe 40mm All Arounds, but I am interested in a tire that would be a bit speedier with the road mix of BWR (Waffle for me this time around). Also looking into IRC Boken 36.
I've read different things about the centerline on the Pathfinders. Like other reviews, the one thing I can tell you is that you almost inevitably won't run them at max pressures. I dial mine down quite a bit when I'm riding gravel routes. In fact, the last time I went on a gravel ride with them, I dialed down the PSI into the upper 40's and lower 50's (52 or so in the back and 48 in the front). That allows more of the tire to hit the ground, allowing for more tread, which does help a lot with the problem you described.
However, I think the big problem is just breaking them in. Virtually any tire I've used that has any sort of slick part requires a significant amount of break-in if it's a stiff tire. The Continental Grand Prix 5000 road tires I got were like that. Slicker than snot before breaking them in. Actually wrecked with them due to how slick they were. Ended up switching to a more reliable tire due to that.
Another tire that's very similar is the WTB Byway. I almost got that one. Because a lot of the gravel rides I go on involve some pavement, I figured that a slicker centerline would help. I'll likely mix it up next time and go with something like the GravelKings or possibly the WTB Ventures. The Boken's look a little too beefy for my taste.
I think if I had to choose just one between all these I'd probably get the WTB Venture. I have a set of WTB Horizon's on a 650b wheel set and really like riding on those. Even rode a few lighter gravel rides with no problems. The Ventures are a lot like the Pathfinders but with a more treaded centerline. It's tighter tread so it'll likely still roll well on pavement but with some good grip on loose gravel. However, I probably would have to go with the 650b version. Not sure if I can even fit a 700c set on my bike. 38mm is about as high as I can go on a 29" rim.
Really depends on the terrain you ride on. That's what really determines the tire. If in doubt, get multiple wheel sets with different tires so you can pick and choose which one based on the ride you're going on.
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