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TPE15: Panaracer readying road tubeless, prototype gravel road tires & more

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panaracer-gravel-king-road-bike-tire

Panaracer’s expanding their gravel bike tire collection to larger sizes. The new 700×41 GravelKing, shown to the left of the current knobby 32mm size, should be in stores in July. Weight is TBD, price should be $44.95 for a folding Kevlar bead version. The smoother GravelKing at the top left of the image comes in 23, 26 and 28 millimeter widths.

The Pacenti Pari-Moto will also add a 41mm width, which will be available in May. Also $44.95, weight also TBD.

Click through for pics of those and an update on where Panaracer stands on tubeless ready tires for road and cyclocross…

panaracer-gravel-king-road-bike-tire

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panaracer-pacenti-pari-moto-gravel-road-bike-tire

If you recall our article on why Road Tubeless hasn’t exploded, it’s definitely not for a lack of interest. One of the major stumbling blocks is a lack of standards, which makes it hard for a tire or rim manufacturer to commit to making something that’s not certain to work with a majority of other parts out there. Here, in the words of Panaracer’s Jeff Z, is their position on it:

“We originally felt we wanted to do it specifically for road tires. There’s been a lack of equipment that leaves consumers without the right choices to make an informed decision. And if we can make a system that works just as well with or without sealant, then we make it easy to adopt.

“Part of the problem is there are no standards, but we’re developing something that addresses how the casing and the materials interact in a manner that’s different than anyone else. That leads to a more supple tire, which negates some of the concerns some folks have, and allows us to use more traditional road tire materials.

“And now, cyclocross and gravel are making huge strides and that crowd really wanting tubeless options, so we’re looking there, too.

“You’re dealing with a completely different range of pressures, so the bead has to be redesigned. It can’t be a standard Kevlar bead since the pressures are so much higher on road, and they need to be able to handle up to 120psi at a minimum. Not that people will be running it that high, but it might go that high during installation or under different riding circumstances. In the manufacturing process, we’re looking at a different method of attaching the bead to the rest of the casing to address this concern.

“The other part is the rims, so we’ve been testing a wide range of wheel brands ranging from 17mm to 25mm internal width. Anything beyond that presents a whole new set of problems. Wider rims will want to pull the bead wider, which can cause the shape of the bead in relation to the rim’s seat and possibly cause burping.

“We’re not looking to create a new standard, we just want something that’s going to work with as wide a range of wheels as possible, and do it safely.

“We’re in round four of testing now, and you’ll likely see something in the wild this summer. Road first, followed by cyclocross and gravel.”

Panaracer.com

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Aaron
Aaron
8 years ago

Is the Pacenti Pari-Moto 700c? or are they just adding another width to the 27.5?

Eric Hansen
Eric Hansen
8 years ago

No standards, are they serious? Shimano and Hutchinson hashed out a detailed road tubeless standard years ago. If National doesn’t want to buy into it, that’s their problem.

Chris L
Chris L
8 years ago

My understanding is Pacenti is sticking to 650b (27.5 for newcomers). If you want a Pari-Moto in 700c check out the Compass Barlow Pass which is a 38mm file tread tire weighing as little as 360g. I have the Babyshoe Pass which is 650bx42 and it’s a ridiculously nice tire. I got the Extralight model and could tell the difference from my already nice 42mm Hetres. Compass, Grand Bois and Pacenti are all made by Panaracer. It’s really hard to go wrong with any of them.

Sevo
Sevo
8 years ago

Eric-That standard set by Shimano/Hutchinson is not the standard though. It’s more their standard and they want people to pay to use it. Which is why tubeless “road” rims from Stan’s, Velocity, etc.. are all different (though those two are the closest in releation).

The extra pressure is a real issue. Low pressure tires are easier to set up tubeless by quite a bit. Higher pressues=higher margin for error if tolerances are tight tight tight.

Eric Hansen
Eric Hansen
8 years ago

It’s *the* standard. Just because National and Stans don’t want to buy into it, doesn’t make it less of a standard. It’s the only interface out there with any engineering behind it, and it’s proven.

Dude
Dude
8 years ago

They all patent and license their different “standards”. There needs to be an open design standard, or at least a fit requirements standard, that everybody can get on board with. It’s got to get to the point where anybody’s tire mounts on anybody’s rim and works.

Rick
Rick
8 years ago

Standards in cycling anymore???? Nope. Just a race to put out something to sell to the next weight weenie with an abundance of cash.
Our sport has gone mad…

John-Mtb
John-Mtb
8 years ago

They used have the nickname “Panic-racer” when I used to road ride back in the day 25 years back. Great tires until it rained… always ended in tears. Hope the use better rubber now!

Eric Hansen
Eric Hansen
8 years ago

Yeah, duuuudes. Despite Hutchinson, Schwalbe, Bontrager, Specialized, Maxxis, and more producing tires for Shimano’s road tubeless standard, the “airquotes” STAAAANDARD “airquotes” maaan, totally doesn’t exist.

(deleted).

long duck dong
long duck dong
8 years ago

@Eric Hansen. How many types of tubeless tire set ups and combos are there for mountain bikes?
Seems the roadside of things may be slow because the dirtside can’t agree.

Mac
Mac
8 years ago

Long duck – theres the mavic standard and the other one that virtually everyone is using. Don’t get tripped up by the different buzzwords tire companies use the describe that the tire is tubless ready (2bliss, tlr, tcs, etc.)

This isn’t the rocket science that those who are late to the party on the road side are making it to be, in order to cover their tracks. If theres a proper bead shelf on the rim, and the tire has a bead that won’t snap, it will likely work.

Aaron
Aaron
8 years ago

@Mac Tubeless ain’t all the same. For example, WTB’s TCS system uses a (Mavic) UST bead but designs the casing in such a way that it requires sealant to hold air. Whereas a Schwalbe, Maxxis, or Bontrager tire just has the tight Kevlar bead that snaps into place.

Mountain tubeless is just about as devoid of standards as road. The problem is that each system addresses a different set of issues. Road setups need to be able to deflate (if they do fail) in a non-catastrophic manner, since speeds are so high and stopping distances are much greater. Also, they need to be serviceable in a manner that doesn’t kill people’s hands (e.g. putting a tube in afterwards).

The largest roadblocks in road tubeless are tire availability, lack of standardization, tire cost, and marginal (or nonexistent) gains once the conversion happens. The other thing is that tubeless really starts to get good once pressures get lower and tires get bigger. I’m waiting until 28-30c is the standard road tire size and we get used to pumping tires to 70-85psi instead of 100-120psi (madness!)

I was running regular old Michelin Pro4s tubeless on my Pacenti SL23 rims for thousands of miles without issue. It was awesome and I loved it, possibly a glimpse into the future of road tubeless-ready, but the tires are certainly not tubeless, voided my warranty and I don’t recommend it unless you have very good experience with running non-standard tubeless setups. It’s uncharted territory.

JasonRico
JasonRico
8 years ago

@sevo, you’re wrong about Hutchinson charging to use their Road Tubeless standard.
It’s free to use and Hutchinson encourages wheel brands to work with them (for free) to develop the correct rim shape.
This is what Shimano, Campagnolo/Fulcrum, Easton, A-CLASS and others have done.
Stan’s and Reynolds are the only ones I know of that have not gone through this process.

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