Hi there! I've spent the last week reading and watching all kinds of reviews on tires, but it's hard to find information for my specific needs. So I'm hoping very much for the combined experience of the bikepacking community to be able to share some of your experience here and guide me along my way
Let me dive straight into it! My bicycle (the new Canyon Grizl SL8) allows for 50mm clearance without fenders; 45mm with fenders. Unsure at this point whether I need or should want fenders (?). I live in the Netherlands and plan to ride across Europe.
The discs in my lower back are sort of worn out. 'Multi-level degenerative discopathy' is the medical term. Basically my discs are weak and prone to bulge out, causing hernia symptoms. To make a long story short: I need all the shock absorbtion I can get! I've covered all the other elements on the bicycle (frame, seatpost, bikefit) and I've now reached the most important gear decision yet: tires!
So my question in this thread will be:
which (kind of) tire will be best at reducing the vertical bumps & shocks caused by small rocks and/or bad pavement? I understand the importance of context here, so I will try to provide that as best I can.
While I am probably forced to ride mostly on tarmac due to my back, I do NOT aim to ride boring long flat roads and would much rather be out in nature. Also, even on 'tarmac' there are plenty of irregularities that cause my back to hurt after a few hours in the saddle. The good news for me is that I was able to solve the so called 'road gitter' problem by deflating my Schwalbe G-One Bite tires to about 20psi. I'm scratching the lower end of the PSI range there and the rolling resistance penalty was highly noticable and annoying at that psi. So, not ideal at all. I just did this test to see how comfortable tires can get at the lowest extremes of psi. 20 Psi was perfect for my shock absorbtion needs, but this isn't a sustainable solution. When I ran them at a more sustainable pressure of 30 PSI, the absorbtion wasn't enough sadly. The Bite's are decent, but not perfect for my needs, and I do need perfection due to my back situation. My conclusion was that I should search for a supple 120 TPI tire that rolls well at low psi.
Happy about the prospects of finding a 120 TPI tire that should be more supple, I started searching for gravelbike tires and so far I've found tires like Specialized Pathfinder Pro (42mm) and WTB Riddler (45). I like the semi-slick idea of these tires. I don't know whether they'll actually be comfortable enough though? Reviews do say that these tires are supple, but how supple is supple?
To a person with a healthy back, a 'very comfortable ride' can just mean that it's more comfortable than riding on a roadbike with 28mm tires. For me though, I would prefer not feeling road gitter at all, while small bumps should be dampened somewhat, resulting in a Cadillac-like experience.
I'm leaning towards getting the Specialized Pathfinder Pro 42mm, but I'm curious to see if you guys would rather recommend getting a touringbike tire? So far, internet research showed me that they offer much better puncture resistance and less rolling resistance, at the penalty of a little more weight and much less agressively treaded surface. I think I can live with less agressive treading, and I think ~200grams of weight is a good trade-off for increased puncture resistance, but usually more rubber = less shock absorbtion. So now I wonder how comfortable those kind of tires actually are?
So TLDR, I'm looking for a tire that:
- has a really good shock absorption (compliance/smoothness/suppleness);
- while not being puncture prone;
- doesn't induce needlessly high rolling resistance;
- and has enough thread and width to get me across european hills and mountains (I don't have to be speeding on wet rocky singletrack, I just need to be able to get across some rough sections that I will undoubtedly face while riding in nature)
What tire should I be looking into? Are Touring bike tires a no-no? Is Pathfinder the one? Can I do better?
Let me know and a big thanks for reading!
