Panaracer GravelKing SK TLR Gravel Tyre

The Panaracer GravelKing SK TLR Gravel Tyre offers a winning blend of grip, cushioning and feedback. It's predictable and stable on all kinds of gravel, wet or dry – and it rolls well for its size, too. This isn't the lightest version, but it's still an excellent option.

Well here's a thing. 'The all new GravelKing SK features tread blocks specifically designed to generate peak performance on gravel and loose roads, allowing for the perfect amount of traction and rolling resistance.' So says Panaracer. Does every marketing department say that about every tyre? Yes.

Is it true? Well, that's the thing. In this case I'd say yes, because the GravelKing SK really does provide excellent traction alongside impressively low rolling resistance. I think I need a lie down.

On everything from dry, dusty forest tracks to wet fire roads built from the chunkiest rocks – and even in the inch-deep mud and soggy logging debris you typically get on bad fire road – these do really well. They're out of their depth in real mud, obviously, but you only have to look at either the name or the closely packed tread to know that.

At the other extreme they can handle tarmac just fine, rolling easily with little noise. Interestingly, on smooth gravel these actually roll faster than narrower versions of the same tyre.

With a width of 45mm these are pretty big – 1.8in in mountain bike terms, which was a common size back in the day – and at around 47mm they stand fairly tall. The result (assuming your bike has the necessary clearance) is a large volume of air to act as a spring. It deletes an appreciable amount of chatter from the trails, even in comparison to 38mm tyres; it's a difference that's noticeable within the first few pedal strokes, in fact, should you be wondering if the extra few millimetres is worth it.

Curiously, there was a fair difference in actual width with our test set: 45.6mm for one and 47.3mm for the other, when blown up on 26mm (22mm ID) rims.

I said that large volume of air is effectively a spring, but fortunately it's a well damped one. The 120 threads-per-inch Tufftex casing is supple despite the bead-to-bead puncture protection layer, and at lower pressures (30-40psi) it conforms really well to rough surfaces without flopping from side to side. Smacking through fields of large stones on fast, very rough descents or climbing through angular boulder fields resulted in plenty of pings and twangs, but no punctures or visible damage at all.

I like the redesigned 'Beadlock' bead, if only because I found it tighter and easier to seat than the older style – Beadlock's claimed intent is to work better with more types of hooked and hookless rims. I have some 38mm GravelKings that are horrible to fit tubelessly because they're just so loose, at least on my Hunt wheels, but both of these 45mm GKs seated and inflated with one blast from an Airshot bottle.

While we're on the marketing terms, ZSG is the compound, and a very effective one it is too. Wet or dry it's tenacious on all but the slickest stones, and its predictable grip is confidence inspiring. Meanwhile the TLR part of the name means it's tubeless ready, and the SK means – apparently – small knob. Though some claim it's 'square knob'. Choose whichever makes you titter more.

There are plenty of those small square knobs for climbing and braking traction, while at the outer edges there's a kind of small rail to lean on in the corners. I found them confident when leant over, and the relatively flat top of these wide tyres gives a good contact patch all the way over. I did have a couple of big front slides when pushing hard in quite deep dust, but each time a panicky weight shift saved it; these tend to let go quite slowly (and noisily) when they do, as they're still scrabbling for grip, as opposed to just giving up instantly and putting you on the ground.

That deep dust was a result, ironically, of large tractors trailering fresh rock in to repair some local fire roads after they were trashed by even larger (often tracked) logging vehicles. A dry spell during the repairs saw the tractors really grind some tighter corners to powder, and the predictable, drifty grip of the GravelKings made short work of them. Once the rain returned that powder turned to a thick, grease-like layer, and while the tyres slid in the mud pretty early, their impressive feedback and predictable behaviour meant they remained confidence-inspiring.

It proved much the same story in the deep gravel hairpins plunging into the Welsh cwms – the GravelKings drift very predictably, turn very well, and generally give excellent feedback as to what they're doing now and might do next.

At 619g they're not especially light, but the only times you really notice are when accelerating or braking hard, or when cranking up steep, slow climbs.

Value

If you want less weight you can get it with the GravelKing X1 R-Line TLRs, which were only 460g each in the 40mm versions we tested, though they have a notably different tread pattern and our reviewer Matt found them tricky to mount. They're a tenner more at £64.99.

For a bit less (£50) you can get the Vittoria Mezcal Gravel Endurance tyres, which also impressed our tester as all-rounders and are lighter – they're 538g in the 44mm width.

If you're after something a bit knobblier that can deal with proper soft mud, the Pirelli Cinturato Gravel S is very capable and available in 45mm. We tested the 40mm, which is fairly heavy at 551g, but proved very good nevertheless. They're pretty close to all these options at £57.99.

Our best gravel tyres buyer's guide rounds up more of our favourite tyres at a wide range of prices.

Overall

These offer exactly what you need in a tyre – predictable grip and a supple, communicative casing. Though they're not the lightest option, they're tough and the confidence they inspire makes it easy to stay relaxed; that, in turn, makes you fast. You can drop weight with a narrower version, but if you want trail-smoothing comfort and easy rolling at the same time, a set of these really is a great choice.

Verdict

Grippy, supple, strong, smooth and confidence-inspiring in any gravel conditions