Which gravel kings, which valve stems ?

[windsurfer]

Finally ready to ditch the Kenda small block8s on my sscx/fixed gear trail bike.

Currently riding 35s. Want better ride quality, willing to go tubeless for the first time

Riding mostly gravel roads and well groomed trails with some poor quality paved thrown in. The paved areas are the worst surfaces.

Wheels are h+ tb14 laced to dura ace track hubs.

What tires and stems should I use?

[zambenini]

Watching with interest as I also run TB14s with gravel King SK 38, but with tubes. Thinking of switching to tubeless. Did your h+ son's set up okay? You just use tubeless tape?

I really like the 38 SKS. I did not whatsoever like the smooth gravel Kings. I also liked g ones. The ride was excellent though they were slightly faster than I would have liked on primarily pavement type rides.

[8aaron8]

Don't have much too add other than HPlus son rims are not tubeless compatible.

[kppolich]

Stans or orange seal valve stems. Orange seal in particular comes with a few valve stem sealing options to best fit your rim profile. Stans on the other hand, those valve stems have the most plush rubber seal i've used.

[boomforeal]

i couldn't get my tb14's to set up tubeless. ymmv

[windsurfer]

Originally Posted by boomforeal

i couldn't get my tb14's to set up tubeless. ymmv

which tires were you using ?

[ryker]

TB14 tubeless is not a good idea. Probably negligent if done for a customer.

[windsurfer]

OK, so it sounds like I need to stay with tubes.

how to decipher the range of gravel kings ?

looks like there is
Gravel King (which is a road tire?)
Gravel King TLC
Gravel King SK TLC
Gravel King SK plus TLC
Gravel King plus TLC
Gravel King ext TLC
Gravel King AL TLC

which one do I want and why ?

[weiwentg]

Originally Posted by windsurfer

OK, so it sounds like I need to stay with tubes.

how to decipher the range of gravel kings ?

looks like there is
Gravel King (which is a road tire?)
Gravel King TLC
Gravel King SK TLC
Gravel King SK plus TLC
Gravel King plus TLC
Gravel King ext TLC
Gravel King AL TLC

which one do I want and why ?

When I was shopping, the Gravel King was the mostly smooth tire (fine on dirt roads). The SK has tread and is great for a lot of Midwest gravel (haven't tried it anywhere else in the US). EXT is the muddy conditions model. It looks like they added an AC (all conditions) model. It's got more widely spaced tread blocks than the SK.

They say the SK is for gravel, dirt, and roads. They say the AC is for gravel and dirt. Anyone have thoughts? Was the AC a very recent addition, or did I just miss it earlier in the year?

TLC means tubeless. There are usually TLC and tubed versions of each tire version, except for the AC model (which is tubeless only). I think the Plus versions have additional puncture protection over the non-Plus versions.

[Jaybee]

Based on your description of surfaces above, i'd go with SK's unless you found that the SB8's weren't grippy enough. The SKs are really nice - they seem to offer almost no extra rolling resistance over the slicks. The EXT and AC versions are knobbier and though I don't have experience with them, they seem a bit much unless you'll regularly be getting into loose or muddy situations. The Plus casing adds an extra flat prevention layer - I don't have experience with these.

[GoldenUnicorn]

OMG, TB14s set up perfectly fine tubeless. There is nothing negligent about doing so.

Whether certain tires play nice or not is something completely different, but generally, a tubeless tire works well on a wide variety of rims. Especially Panaracers.

Please remember that anecdotal evidence does not determine the validity of something, or render it invalid.