Originally Posted by
Bekologist
You need a bigger tire to fill out the fargo,
but if you're going to run tires under 38mm, there's a lot of excellent choices from most manufacturers that would suit.
I used to run Conti Travelcontacts, but never liked the squirm of the sideknobs of that tire, and have switched to smaller, microtread designs and been very, very happy on gravel tours.
I've used the Panaracer T-Serv tires for many miles of gravel touring and very happy. Also, even a straight road slick like the Bontrager Racelite 700x32c. At a bike shop i worked at, i'd regularly suggest riders going on gravel rides consider the Panaracer T-Servs, and got many positive reports back.
Here's the kinds of conditions I've railed Panaracer T-Servs thru over the last five or six years. Put them thru their paces extensively on the gravel roads of the cascades and the olympic mountains in the NW.
I now have a 29er to tackle the sandy roads around here, and would like to see more microtread tires in a 29er size, but they are nearly non-existant, and i've had to settle for racing oriented, small block 29er tires. not the ideal tire for me.
+1 on the Panaracers, they are great tires!
I run a Panaracer T-Serv Pro-Tex on the front of my commuter (26 x 1.75*). I do occasionally take this bike on a little bit of singletrack on my way home or out and about exploring and they occasionally see a little gravel as well. The Panaracer seems to have a very high rubber content, the casing seems soft and springy on the outside, but has great puncture resistance. I only have it on the front on my commuter because I prefer something with a higher PSI on the rear. For what it is worth, sometimes when I decide to take the trail for part of my route home it is with a heavily loaded pannier on the front rack and everything performs fine. It's nice to have touring skills!
* I don't know about 700's, but in the 26" versions of this tire they run small. Although the ones I have are listed as 1.75", they are closer to one and halfs.