Panaracer Pasela VS T Serv

[FierteTi52]

After riding Roly Polys and Michelin Pro Race 25's all summer, I don't think I'll be going back to 23's ever again. I have a pair of the wire bead 35mm Panaracer Paselas on my cross bike and they work fine. I'm looking at other tire opitions for my winter riding and prefer black wall tires, so the Panaracer T Serv has my interest. JP Weigle had a pair on his bike at the ramble and he was very happy with them. I checked the Panaracer website and the T Serv appear to be the same as Paselas, but in a blackwall style. Any one have any experience with the T Serv or any other tire suggesstions?
Thanks,
Jeff

[Brian Smith]

Got a grain of salt ready?
Here's what I think of Panaracer's T-Serv, which I agree really seems like a blackwall Pasela.

I'm glad they're at least black rubber, but I've not much else nice to say about them.

Though marketed as a tire for courier use, I never used a tire worse for city streets.

The marked sizes are as overrated as any tire I've ever seen (a 700x32c actually measuring about 25mm wide if I recall correctly.)

I bought an assortment for my shop to sell when they first came out and weren't being yet distributed in the states, and I ended up giving them all away since I really thought they were poor tires and worse than that, disingenuously sold.

One good friend who ended up with a set jokingly dubbed them T-Swerves after a week of riding them.

Nothing is useless.
They might look nicer than used tires on a used bike you might try to sell.

If you're looking for something inexpensive for nasty roads, and you have the clearance to fit them, the Club Roost Cross Terra is worth a try. They're now called 700x35, I haven't yet received a set, but their older 700x38 became a mainstay for my commuting and "town riding."

[rockdude]

If you want a skinny MTB tire for the street they are pretty good.. I have a street wheelset for my mountain bike with them on it. THey were one of the skinnist tires I could find for my MTB and they role pretty fast. I don't think I would use them on my Road bike. They are a little high volume.

[vandeda]

I have a set of T-Servs in 700x28s on my commuter and 700x25s on my Steamroller. I wonder if there were some QC problems when Brian got his, because my 700x25s are definitely wider than the 700x23s I've owned recently (a set of Continental Grand Prix's, Hutchison Fusion Long Distance, and Vredestien Tri-Comps) and my 700x28s are definitely wider still than the 25s, and appear to be about the same width as my Ruffy Tuffys which should be 27s.

I've been happy with mine. They roll fairly well, have been fairly tough (had an unfortunate sidewall cut in one when I ran over something significant at night, but my patch seems to be holding) with one flat minus the said sidewall cut including 400 loaded miles across NY, have done well in the dry, rain and light (2" or less) snow & slush. I will probably get another set as mine at least have worked well for me.

dan