Originally Posted by
daleb116
I have been looking around for info on a question I may have to pony up and answer myself. Does anyone have experience or thoughts on Panaracer T-Serv vs. Pasela vs. Compass Bon Jon? I am looking for new tires and thought I would go a little wider for my LHT or Volpe which have usually had 700x28 or 700x32 tires. I am looking for 35mm and a little more supple than my usual Contacts These would be for recreational and up to century rides and I am ready to experiment. Of course I could buy a pair of each
Although Compass tires are made by Panaracer, they are quite different than Panaracer-branded tires. They use different casings and compounds.
Compass tires roll noticeably faster than a mid-range tire like a T-serv or Pasela. Very noticeably.
Suppleness/comfort scale (according to my opinion)
0 - solid rubber tire
1 - "airless" foam filled tires
2-3 - most box-store MTB tires
4 - Schwalbe Marathon Plus (reinforced touring tire)
5 - Schwalbe Marathon
6 - Panaracer T-Serv, Pasela TG
7 - Panaracer Pasela non-TG, Soma New Xpress
8 - Panaracer Gravel King slick
8.5 - Challenge Gravel Grinder 120, Schwalbe liteskin/addix compounds
9 - Panaracer Pari-Moto
9.5 - Compass std casing, Grand Bois
10 - Compass EL, Challenge open tubular
(I've never ridden tubular tires, so maybe they'd get an elusive "11" on this scale.)
In my opinion, the price of Compass tires is worth it for the ride improvement. But, their value is diminished if you ride in flat-prone areas (gutters, thorns, etc).
However, they are updating their designs with tubeless-ready bead. Tubeless setup would fix their lack of flat protection.