Which Tyres?

I've got a new GravelKing 700x32C here in brown. What's the general opinion of these? They cut up too fast or something? I was thinking about using it as a spare for Transiberica. Thoughts?

Speedy but fragile.

That's pretty much the conclusion drawn here:
https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/cx-gravel-reviews/panaracer-gravel-king

They're basically a bit more durable of a road tyre. I was thinking about using GP5000 32mm for this race and nursing the gravel sections. I carried a spare tyre last time and used it so I reckon I'll do the same again. I still have some GP4000 tyres and even a BNIB 28mm GP 4 Seasons from some boot sale or something that might be a smaller/lighter spare option.

Where's your Scotland pics?

I've put loads on Strava
Will do a proper write up here one of these days

Excellent, I've got them for my bike when it's ready. Everyone I know who has them really rates them.

I wouldn't even bother with GKs with tubes, there's no anti puncture belt. Mines only got manageable until I started to use Stan's race and even so the rear got absolutely shredded with dozens of punctures. But you wouldn't be riding over wet British roads I guess.

Nice. I'll have a look through.

That doesn't sound great. These won't be tubeless. Maybe I should just add them to my sale thread? :)

I just came here to post how useless I've found Gravelkings to be both with tubes and tubeless. Any good alternative around 32mm with tan walls? I've G-ones in 35mm and found them to be very good but want to go slightly smaller.

I ran 32s on my commuter with tubes and they were puncture city. Switched them to tubeless and they did surprisingly well for a year or so I had them (no issues).

I'll stick up for GKs

I've run 32s (tubeless) and 38s (tubeless) with little to no issues

Is there more glass on the roads these days? I don't commute any more so no idea. Maybe they are just very thin and have no breaker so everything cuts through.

Any idea if they've cut and sealed?

38s - I only have about 400k on these so not sure - def no gashes/lacerations. expect I've had a number of micropunctures that have sealed without my knowledge

32s - I put about 4000k on a set and they went through the usual cycle of puncturing / sealing that you'd expect for tyres ridden on canal paths, cycle paths, windfarms etc. I didn't get any large gashes though. the one issue I had with them was that they punctured once and did not seal - not an issue because I was literally a mile from home so just pumped them and rode on the slow puncture. could have just put a tube in if I was further from home. refreshed sealant, pumped them up to 60PSI and that sealed them. I used these on (slow) winter club training rides and light off-road / touring - perfect use case imo

This was pre-pandemic. No commuting atm :(

Thanks. I guess there's always an aspect of luck with this stuff. Maybe people see "Gravel" on the label and then ride through all manner of shit when really they're barely suitable for UK goat track roads?

Anyone have any comments on Turbo Cotton Hell of the North tyres. What is puncture protection like?

Terravail Rampart.

Do not bother.

I've run GK's both tubed and tubeless. They don't put up much resistance to punctures and they don't seal that well in my experience. There are better options IMO.

Still early days but I have switched to a set of Bontrager R3 hard case lite in 32c tan wall. Seem to roll better than GK’s but I need more miles in the bag to validate durability, however initial impressions are good

Not quite the same but I've just taken off some Gravel King SKs 700x38c (measured 40c) and replaced with Teravail Ramparts in 700x38c (measure 36c). Different tyres but the ramparts were much nicer to setup tubeless and are much nicer to ride (could be placebo).

Mate of mine punctured GK's every time he left the house. Would often goto the shed and be pre-punctured to save time, which was handy.

They are basically just the 28 version of the normal TCs. The only difference is that the centre tread has a slight file texture instead of slick and it wraps around a bit more.

So they are damn fast, damn grippy but with no particular puncture protection

I don't know the Ramparts but the fact that GK SKs are a bit of a pain to setup, to me, implies quite a supple tyre which "normally" equates to faster. But then you obviously have tread impact and stuff so this is a bit of a fluffy opinion.