Pathfinders are great as far as slick/semi-slick tires go, but in general traction/stability isn’t great. If you’re running one set for everything they are a good choice, but there are better choices for courses with chunky, loose, or bumpy terrain.
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I hear ya… the pathfinder was even run in a XCC this year. And for what it’s worth I run them now and like them. But just because a pro runs it or it is the popular choice doesn’t mean it is the best. My experience aligns more with @Astorask but appreciate and understand others may be different.
I often run a pathfinder in the back and a more knobby tire in the front
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Agree. I’ve run them at Unbound in both 42 and 47 variants, and were great. No traction issues but not much in terms of technical cornering. I’ve run Pathfinder Pro’s at Big Sugar in the past as well and found them fine there too although nowadays if you have the clearance there may be better options.
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Ok I’ve read everything but I’m more stuck than ever.
If your bike has 50mm advertised clearance and you wanted the fastest tyre choice with at least medium levels of puncture protection, prescribing to the ‘wider is faster’ DJ mantra, what is the go-to tyre right now?
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If your bike is advertised with 50 clearance, then it likely has some buffer room. I suggest looking to see if a Schwalbe 2.1 (54mm) will work. Only the 2.2 Race Kings are good, but not many bikes will fit a 55/56 tire.
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Per ISO standards, a bike tire must have 6mm clearance at the nearest point from tire & frame. So going from 50>52 should leave you with 5mm instead of 6mm.
I have a new bike on the way with 45mm clearance on the rear with 50mm in the fork. I plan to run 47mm pathfinders, but would consider switching to a thunder burt up front if needed.
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I’ve bitten the bullet and gone for some thundero 48mm just because I was sick of being indecisive.
I may end up getting some 2.1s too, so I have a full range of widths for different scenarios, but there doesn’t seem to be an obvious winner at 2.1 (unlike 2.2).
The thunder Burt at 2.1 seems to be the consensus, no?
I got the 48mm Thunderos as well (happy with them) and 1 2.1 thunder Burt to try out. Turns out it can fit fine in the front on my bike (checkpoint) but not the back. I’ve tried it out a bit, but haven’t yet committed to running it full time.
From what I’ve seen about the thunder Burt’s, while generally comparable to race kings performance wise, I’ve seen many reports about them seeming prone to flats.
Getting a flat you have to plug/refill in a race will quickly negate any performance gains from a good tire that wouldn’t have flatted.
It was mentioned in a thread (maybe this one) where Dylan Johnson said that it rubs his frame when he runs a mtb tire on the back. I’d love to see the watts/data on that and whether it is still faster than something that doesn’t rub…
I am curious to hear others experience who have run both Thunder Burts and Race Kings extensively, be it on gravel or on trails.
I’ve run various versions of the Thunder Burt as a rear tire at various points over the last few years and have been lucky and not flatted. This was all on an XC bike. This year I ran the 2.35 TB’s on a Supercaliber with Super Race casing and did a bunch of gravel and then some riding out in Leadville including the SR and again no flats. I did have the front tire wash out though during what felt like “routine” riding, so agree with the prior comments of it being sketchy. The lack of knob certainly would in theory make them prone to punctures through the tread.
I’ve got Race Kings on my gravel bike at the moment (Lauf Seigla), so will see how they hold up. Big Sugar is in a couple of weeks so should be a good test. I’ve flatted on Race Kings in the past including at Leadville when I tore off a side knob and then had a hard time getting it to plug.
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I have a Raceking 2.0 mounted front and rear on 23mm IW rims on my carbonda 696. They measure 50.5mm and I don’t there’s any chance I could get 2.2’s on there without contact.
55.3mm on a set of ENVE 4.5s that are 25mm ID.
I pre rode the (little 50 mile) big sugar course today on my MOG with 2.1 burts. Got 6 punctures. Finally had to plug one. Back to 47mm pathfinder pros 
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6 punctures in one ride?!? 
Wow. SuperRace or SuperGround casing?
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The 2.0s are the slower compound, but I wonder if they have better puncture resistance as a result. It could be unrelated, but hopefully there is some benefit to the higher RR. If that is the case, maybe they’re actually the better choice, esp. since they actually fit.
This is the way.
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I can’t help feeling like Big Sugar should have a similar tire choice to Unbound. I’m thinking of the Panaracer GK series with “+” protection or Maxxis with silk shield. Sure ride quality will suffer but six punctures?
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Yeah, they were small punctures that would seal up on their own if I stopped and let the sealant work for a second. Otherwise it was spraying everywhere. Never have I cleaned so much sealant off my bike