Panaracer GravelKing Semi Slick Plus TLC review - all-round performance

Many a gravel aficionado will be familiar with the Panaracer GravelKing name. It has been around for nearly 10 years now in one form or another, with the ‘Small Knob’ (SK) variety proving eternally popular amongst the best gravel tires for everything from hardpack trails to muddy singletrack.

The Semi Slick Plus TLC, says Panaracer, is designed for race days and dryer conditions. The bumf steers studiously away from mentioning tarmac, but for many users this tire is going to be perfect for rides where plenty of time is spent on the black stuff. It’s ideal for those longer tarmac link-ups between dry trails – and of course those trails themselves.

It bridges the gap between Panaracer’s GravelKing ‘Slick’ – designed for road use – and its gnarlier offerings such as the SK and the EXT (Extreme).

The Semi Slick Plus TLC is a folding tire and tubeless compatible, as signified by the TLC designation. The ‘Plus’ indicates enhanced puncture protection. It comes in all-black, or with the brown sidewalls of our test version. If standing out from the crowd is your thing, there is also a limited edition featuring tread colours in ‘Sunset Orange’ and turquoise.

Construction

Straight off the packaging, the Semi Slicks feel like a sturdy prospect. The brown sidewalls feel like they could take a beating – more than adequately engineered for the hardpack they’re designed for.

Much of this feel likely comes from Panaracer’s proprietary ProTite Plus puncture protection, which is wrapped around the entire tire and is described as ‘ultra strong reinforcing material’.

It also features a separate ‘anti-flat’ casing, as well as a AX Advanced Alpha Extra cord threading, which aids protection against cuts and abrasions, says Panaracer.

All that puncture protection adds up in terms of weight, of course, with the ProTite Plus adding an extra 50g per tire, which totalled 553g each on our scales. This is about average for a tire this size, and within around 10 grams of similar offerings such as the 45mm WTB Riddler and Specialized’s 42mm Trigger Sport (although both of these have more of a tread to them).

The 120 TPI casing features a tread with a little bit of everything. The crown of the tire features a wide band with a very fine file pattern, which morphs into a somewhat deeper tread either side. Even further outboard, on each shoulder, runs a trio of cornering ridges that are broken up in a dot-dash pattern.

The tread features Panaracer’s proprietary ZSG compound, whose fast-rolling, hard-wearing properties are extolled by the brand. Given that it stands for Zero Slip Grip, it seems likely it also offers enhanced grip too.

The ride

Setting the Semi Slicks up as tubeless involved a few false starts when it came to getting them seated – perhaps down to those relatively rigid sidewalls. They also needed reinflating every few days as the bead settled in, but after that there were no issues on that front.

Having grown used to riding on WTB’s gnarly Raddlers in recent months, the first few muddy corners I took on the Semi Slicks felt like a leap of faith. But, helped by the fact I was running a low-for-my-considerable-weight 30psi, they held fast enough with only a hint of squirm.

That said, I’ll state the obvious up front: these tires are never going to deal as assuredly with the more slippery off-road stuff as something with a more aggressive tread - but they do cover quite a few bases. Everything, in fact, from road riding to a bit of surface mud (providing it’s not too slick).

Their 43mm width plays a part in this, coping with a surprising amount of movement without actually letting go, especially at lower pressures.

Inflated to 40psi, I was able to make full use of their road performance and had no issues on my usual 50-mile road loop. Although I went a fair bit slower than I often do on my road bike, there was no general feeling of having my strength sapped by the tires. It seems more likely my own lack of fitness, and the extra weight I seem to have amassed, that caused much of the deficit – but I wasn’t using a power meter so it’s hard to tell for certain.

I found they worked best for me at a middling 35psi, which seemed a jack-of-all-trades pressure that would enable me too take on a mix of road and off-road riding without sacrificing too much comfort or efficiency.

Sad to say that despite all that puncture protection, the Semi Slicks didn’t prove infallible, with one sharp piece of gravel creating a hole big enough that I needed to plug it. Again, once that was done – no more issues.

Conclusion

I’ve enjoyed using the Semi Slicks and have been quite surprised at how versatile they have proven – far more so than Panaracer’s own ‘race days and dry conditions’ designation might suggest.

They can do almost anything without blinking – from mid-length road rides to damp trails and everything between. They’d get you through a whole summer of mixing road and off-road, and probably most of spring and autumn too.

The build feels solid, but neither did they put up much of a fight when it came to wrangling them onto a wheel. I’m also willing to give them the benefit of the doubt over the one non-sealing puncture I did pick up – after all, we all know they can strike at any moment.

While they’re good for a bit of everything, they still feel like a journeyman tire to me – a jack of all trades. In this tester’s opinion, an ideal set-up would involve two sets of wheels / tires: something gnarlier that would cope with mud minus the heart/mouth moments; and one more road focused. The 37mm version of this Semi Slick Plus TLC might indeed do the latter job. 

At £54.99 / $74.99, they are towards the premium end of the market. Then again, there are much more expensive models still - Schwalbe's range topping G-One RS tires command a retail price of $88.00 / £74.99 / €74.90.