Panaracer

installed these 2 weeks before race day after puncturing the gravel king slicks. I ran the 35mm up front and the 38mm in the back. Installation went well for the rear, but had a tough time getting the bead to pop on the front. I first installed a tube to seat one side then it worked no problem. These tires were not as supple as the slicks and they are a bit heavier. They didn't seem to roll as well as the slicks on the gravel and I didn't feel much confidence in the linear should treads. 4 star rating because I think ultimately they do not provide much grip for the added weight of the shoulder tread. no punctures so far after 500 miles! I will ride them through the fall season and probably change over to something different with a bit more bite on the shoulders.

Purchased the GK for the farmer's daughter gravel ride in upstate NY. Did the majority of my training on these as well. The GK SS+ has stood up well, no flats and no issues. I felt very confident on steep descents with these and they roll nicely on the flats. No- they didn't do well in the singletrack mud on the day of but not to sure what tire would have handeld deep mud that well. Can't say enough good about the durabilty, handling and value of these tires. My 3rd pair and will contiue going with these.

I like the fine tread, but was wondering about some of the mounting complaints. This is my intro to tubeless on a bike I just got. I tried nearly every trick in the book (large volume air from compressor, lubrication, band around tire, leave the tire in the sun to soften...) and couldn't get the bead to seat. Finally I stuck a tube in and popped the bead on the rim, as expected. I rode a couple times and then tried without the tube. The front bead popped off on just one side and the tube pulled out easily. The bead reset easily with a compressor. The back bead came off on both sides and I had to fiddle a bit to get it back on, but it reseated also. Now I'm happy. I think the problem was the folded bead needed to stretch out before it could be used as a tubeless. This was one of the few tires I could get in 700x32, which I wanted for an 80% pavement-use gravel bike. Fiddled with best pressures and now ride 50 psi rear and 40 psi front (I weigh 160 lb).

GravelKing SK/SK+ are IMHO the most versatile tires in my gravel tire collection. I swap tires more than most, and I always find myself coming back to this tire. It grips sufficiently well on loose-over-hard (where the SS/SS+ would start to slip) without compromising *too* much speed on tarmac. I've heard other cyclists complain about punctures with GK tires in general, but I've had fairly good luck. (Interestingly, another comment I heard from others was that GK tires toss more debris into the rider on your wheel's face, so take that for what you will.) I've experienced average to above-average wear. On a final note, I'll add that the non-directional nature of the tread makes installation easier (sometimes finding those rotation arrows is more challenging that it should be).