Once the terrain of adventurous folks with smoother mountain bike tires or cyclocross bikes with the fastest tires made with some loose surface capability, gravel riding has become the fastest-growing genre of cycling. The sense of adventure, conquering new challenges, and simply experiencing a new style of riding beyond pavement are some of its big selling points, but doing so without the proper tires makes the difference between having fun and cursing and hollering on the side of the road. With the grassroots growth and quickly legendary epic day long events, the gravel scene has quickly embraced, and been embraced by, cyclists who love to race. Companies like Specialized have started to develop and master more race-specific bikes and equipment to serve the need of those who prefer to make a 10 hour event a 7 hour event. While the Pathfinder Pro 2Bliss Ready tire has always been fast and capable, it was built to endure and is a bit weighty for racing. Fortunately for those who love the tread design, Specialized has the S-Works development team, and this new S-Works Pathfinder is seriously fast, has very good overall protection, and a dual-compound tread system to maximize speed and control, all while weighing in at 100 grams lighter than the Pro in a 700x42. Race on!

The Pathfinder S-Works Pathfinder 2Bliss Ready Tire allows you to change and adapt pressures for various conditions and needs, while maintaining integrity and handling characteristics. It is a directional tire with a speed tread design, but more grip and traction than you'd think, especially at the lower psi range of each size. The pattern also dispels water and fine particles for more cornering confidence in wet or dry conditions. The S-Works version applies Specialized's GRIPTON T5 compound in the center of the tire. T5 is firmer, so it wears better, and has reduced rolling resistance. With a narrow, flat, true center line, T5 allows the rider to maintain real speed on gravel, hardpack or pavement and while delivering good braking control and that desirable speed on pavement. The GRIPTON T7 used for the shoulder sections is a little softer, ensuring better grip, compliance, and the ability to adapt more to the rougher terrain and varied loose materials. Yes, it might wear a little faster but it still holds up well and truly delivers what you need despite arelatively low-profile tread system.

The 120 TPI S-Works Pathfinder is also equipped with both BlackBelt puncture protection and the newly developed woven polyamide GRID RACE casing with lightweight sidewall resistance. This keeps the casing consistently supple, allowing the tire to adhere better without the rider needing to worry about event ending sidewall failures. Finding the proper tire pressure for the combination of speed, grip and control is crucial, but this tire gives you a workable tire pressure range to work from, such as the 35-65 psi of the 700x42.