I decided to give these a try after reading a positive review for them on bicyclerollingresistance.com. They score very well there in many of their categories and are highly recommended. First of all, the tires look great, with a creamy tan sidewall and crisp lettering--very premium looking. They grip very well on pavement and hard packed gravel, and they even handle slightly looser gravel well. Ride quality is fantastic, too. I run mine with tubes at about 38-40psi and I feel like I'm just floating over the road. I'm looking forward to trying these tubeless someday.
These tires felt good for the first 70mi or so. Logged a nice 50mi 40% asphalt 60% gravel ride on them and they felt quick. Nice curvature to the tread that lets you lean nicely into turns on smooth roads. Thin casing makes for lighter weight and a more supple ride. Second ride was pure road. 30mi in the bead on the front tire failed. Ouch. I reached out to the manufacturer (nicely) and sent them a photo of their defective product. Three months later... still no response. I deliberately did not provide them with the lot number from inside the tire so they would have to respond to obtain that info to investigate the defect. Avoid these at all cost. Injury is never worth it.
This was a replacement pair of tires for an unfortunate mishap that cut my first pair. I quickly reordered the same 45's. Fast tire in all conditions. Great grip in the corners and switchbacks. Surprising grip in loose over packed (don't get stupid, though, it's still loose!). A very compliant ride which lends itself to speed under rough conditions. I'm 6'2", 196 lbs, and an aggressive descender riding mostly Cat 3 forest service roads.
I am riding the 40mm tires on a mix of paved and gravel surfaces. They don't have the grip of a more open tread design but roll a lot faster on pavement and gravel. I have put about 500 miles on the tires and they appear to be showing no signs of cuts or tread wear.
Like the grip at 45+ psi and also down at 32-26psi in rough gravel/dirt roads, these tires have loads of grip and ahve a smooth round profile. After two sets of specialized's '2bliss pathfinder pro' gravel tires, these Tufo's not only weight 150gms. less per tire but, they're more compliant in ride feel and grip predictably without sliding.
