As tyre manufacturers go, Panaracer finds itself in a extremely enviable place among the many gravel set – it manufactures what’s extensively thought of to be the benchmark tyre. A bit like the great previous Continental GP collection for highway bikes, they are not essentially everybody’s favourites, however they’re rated by many and few riders have not tried one.
Tyre comparisons on boards and group rides will normally circle again to ‘how does it examine to a GravelKing?’.
This particularly applies to the do-it-all GravelKing SK – small knob, should you had been questioning – which is the tyre we’ve right here, and has been round for eight years now. The benchmark of benchmarks, should you like.
The GravelKing vary has been relaunched for 2024 and now accommodates extra variations than you’ll be able to shake a stick at. Seventeen, to be precise.
They differ from the treadless, roadgoing model – the GravelKing Slick – by way of the Semi-Slick and the SK, to the extra excessive X1. There are light-weight variations of every (R-Line), in addition to extra-tough variations too (Plus), spanning what has grow to be a veritable GravelKing multiverse.
As with its many stablemates, the GravelKing SK is available in all kinds of sizes, from 30-50mm in 5mm increments, and three 650B sizes can be found in addition to one every for 29in and 26in.
The SK – small knob – tread is extraordinarily efficient off-road, offered it isn’t too muddy. It is quick and unobtrusive on tarmac too.
(Picture credit score: Future / James Shrubsall)
Development
So far as gravel tyres go, it’s this SK model that stands within the Goldilocks zone, with sufficient helpful tread for off-road driving, however not a lot that driving on the highway turns into a chore with a loud, buzzy soundtrack.
The profile is a really rounded one, with little in the best way of shoulder knobs. It is folding, and tubeless-ready, as denoted by the ‘TLR’ within the title.
The tread makes use of what Panaracer calls Zero Slip Grip (ZSG), which it says is engineered particularly for gravel surfaces to keep up traction throughout a variation of temperatures and to carry out nicely on tarmac too.
Many of the tread contains a large, central channel of the uniform small knobs referenced within the tyre’s title. On both facet of that runs a pair of dot-dash tread strains, adopted by one other pair, proper on the skin curve of the tyre.
There may be puncture safety within the type of Panaracer’s TuffTex casing, which reaches from bead to bead, whereas the beads profit from the corporate’s Beadlock expertise, which is designed to finest seat the tyre on all kinds of rim varieties, hookless included.
The tyre is available in two commonplace color choices – all black, and the now-ubiquitous black/brown that we’ve on check. For those who fancy standing out from the group, Panaracer’s in style multi-coloured releases have grow to be a daily (however restricted version) fixture. The most recent choice is ‘matcha’ – which just about quantities to a muted fluoro inexperienced – with the identical brown sidewall we’ve right here.
The Gravel King SKs seem fairly bulbous when mounted however measurement as much as spec
(Picture credit score: Future / James Shrubsall)
In use
Step one is after all to get the tyres mounted up, which may often show a little bit of an journey by itself and never essentially an fulfilling one.
Each GravelKings, although, went on and not using a hitch. They even went on and not using a booster pump – a easy ground pump did the job. Which will or will not be the Beadlock in motion however both method, it did not appear to harm.
The tyres look fairly large on the rim, with that lack of a ‘shoulder’ emphasising their bulbous, rounded cross-section, however inflated to a spot-on 45.1mm at 30psi on our 22.4mm inside depth rims.
On the primary few events, I took the tyres out inflated to 35psi, which I normally discover to be the on-road/off-road candy spot for my beneficiant, 90+kg weight. This appeared to work very properly on the tarmac, with the tyres providing an pressing and zippy journey that belied their measurement. However as soon as off-road, on something rougher than hardpack, they had been uncomfortably arduous and considerably skittish.
With a little bit of experimentation, I discovered 30psi to be the perfect compromise, preserving a lot of their zip on the highway however providing a good quantity of confidence and luxury as soon as off it.
Until you and I are the identical weight, you will most likely want to regulate these pressures once more – however simply be ready to go down just a few psi in comparison with what it’s possible you’ll be used to.
For me, there was little doubt that my keenness on the decrease pressures was partly because of the low-profile, fast-rolling tread and, particularly, the shortage of shoulder knobblage.
They had been fast to squirm throughout my frequent encounters with patches of mud (it has been a type of oh-so-British summers). This was in distinction to the WTB Riddler, for instance, which has an analogous tread however a extra pronounced and aggressive shoulder that, in flip, you pay for on the highway.
Verdict and worth
The GravelKing SK’s ease of becoming and multi-surface skills made it a pleasant tyre to check and one which I hope to place a lot extra miles on. There’s a restrict to these skills, and that’s discovered within the damp and within the mud when the path will get extra slippery. Sadly, these sorts of circumstances make up a good portion of the yr in and round Surrey’s leafy hills, so I can be becoming one thing a bit extra gnarly because the circumstances shut in.
This might nicely be a set of GravelKing X1+, or maybe the WTB Riddler, whose shoulder knobs have saved me upright in various conditions.
When it comes to worth, I’ve all the time discovered the GravelKings to be very keenly priced. These retail at £54.99 / $64.99 however can typically be discovered considerably cheaper with out wanting too arduous.
