CX/Gravel Tire Test: Specialized Pathfinder Pro 2Bliss Ready 42

The Specialized Pathfinder Pro 2Bliss Ready is a tubeless-ready gravel bike tire made for a mix of asphalt and gravel roads. When looking at this tire, we see quite a remarkable tread pattern with a slick center tread, small closely spaced knobs between the center and edge of the tire, and larger and wider spaced knobs along the edge of the tire.

The Pathfinder Pro 2 Bliss Ready is an interesting tire to test as it's our first test of an off-road tire with Specialized's Gripton compound. We already know the Gripton compound from some of Specialized's road bike tires, and we've found it to be a very fast compound. We're not sure if the Gripton compound that's on the Pathfinder Pro is the exact same compound as used on the fast road bike tires, but you can be sure that you get Specialized's best compound.

When we take a look at the specifications of the Pathfinder Pro 2Bliss Ready, we see it's made from a tubeless-ready 120 TPI casing with reinforced sidewalls and a BlackBelt anti-puncture strip under the center of the tread. Almost all gravel bike tires come with reinforced sidewalls, but we do not see an anti-puncture strip under the tread all that often.

It's available in the 38-622 (700x38c), 42-622 (700x42c), and even wider 47-584 (650x47b) sizes which seem to be the most popular sizes for gravel bike tires at the moment.

We've tested the 42-622 version of the Pathfinder Pro. If you're a regular visitor of our site, please be aware that we added support for gravel bike tires up to the 42-622 size. Gravel bike tires with a casing width between 39 and 42 mm now use even lower air pressures (50 psi, 42 psi, 33 psi, 25 psi).

Manufacturer Specifications

Manufacturer Specs
Brand	Specialized
Model	Pathfinder Pro 2Bliss Ready
Year	2021
Supplied By	Bought in store
New or Used	New
Mileage	0 km
Price Range	High
Buy At
Manufacturer part number	00019-4413
TPI	120
Compound	Gripton
Bead	Folding
ETRTO	42-622
Specified Weight	540 grams
Max Air Pressure (psi)	80
Made In	Members Only
Available Sizes	38-622 (700x38c) 42-622 (700x42c) 47-622 (700x47c) 47-584 (700x650b)

Specialized Pathfinder Pro 2Bliss Ready 42 Test Results

Size, Weight, and Thickness Measurements

Size, Weight, and Thickness Measurements
Specified Weight	540 grams
Measured Weight	573 grams
Measured Width Casing	40 mm (un-round)
Measured Width Tread	41 mm
Measured Height	40 mm (un-round)
Measured Knob Height Center	0.0 mm
Measured Knob Height Edge	2.4 mm
Measured Total Thickness Center (excluding knobs)	2.30 mm
Measured Total Thickness Sidewall	Members Only
All size measurements are taken at low air pressure on a 17.8 mm inner width rim.

Rolling Resistance Test Results

Rolling Resistance Test Results
Inner Tube	None (30 ml sealant) (current protocol)	Conti Cross28 (160 gr) (test protocol)
Measured Width	40 mm	40 mm
Rolling Resistance Real tire width in mm: 30-32 = 66 psi/4.6 bar 33-35 = 60 psi/4.1 bar 36-38 = 54 psi/3.7 bar 39-42 = 50 psi/3.4 bar 43-46 = 46 psi/3.2 bar 47-50 = 42 psi/2.9 barHigh Air Pressure (50 psi / 3.4 bar)	Members Only	Members Only
Rolling Resistance Real tire width in mm: 30-32 = 55 psi/3.8 bar 33-35 = 50 psi/3.4 bar 36-38 = 45 psi/3.1 bar 39-42 = 42 psi/2.9 bar 43-46 = 38 psi/2.6 bar 47-50 = 35 psi/2.4 barMedium Air Pressure (42 psi / 2.9 bar)	Members Only	Members Only
Rolling Resistance Real tire width in mm: 30-32 = 44 psi/3.0 bar 33-35 = 40 psi/2.8 bar 36-38 = 36 psi/2.6 bar 39-42 = 33 psi/2.3 bar 43-46 = 31 psi/2.1 bar 47-50 = 28 psi/1.9 barLow Air Pressure (33 psi / 2.3 bar)	20.3 Watts CRR: 0.00609	24.1 Watts CRR: 0.00722
Rolling Resistance Real tire width in mm: 30-32 = 33 psi/2.3 bar 33-35 = 30 psi/2.1 bar 36-38 = 27 psi/1.9 bar 39-42 = 25 psi/1.7 bar 43-46 = 23 psi/1.6 bar 47-50 = 21 psi/1.4 barExtra Low Air Pressure (25 psi / 1.7 bar)	23.2 Watts CRR: 0.00695	28.2 Watts CRR: 0.00845
The CX/Gravel section is a multi tire size section, air pressures have been adjusted to the measured casing width. All numbers are for a single tire at a speed of 29 km/h / 18 mph and a load of 42.5 kg / 94 lbs. Use the formula: RR (Watts) = CRR * speed (m/s) * load (N) to calculate rolling resistance at a given speed and load.

Puncture Resistance Test Results

Puncture Resistance Test Results (higher is better)
Total Puncture Score Tread	48 Points
Total Puncture Score Sidewall	Members Only
Tread Puncture Force Sharp Needle	Members Only
Tread Puncture Force Blunt Needle	Members Only
Tread Total Tire Thickness	2.30 mm
Sidewall Puncture Force Sharp Needle	Members Only
Sidewall Puncture Force Blunt Needle	Members Only
Sidewall Total Tire Thickness	Members Only

Hard Surface Static Grip Test Results

Static Grip Test Results
Wet Grip Average	78 Points
Wet Grip Center	Members Only
Wet Grip Edge	Members Only
Measured Knob Height Center	0.0 mm
Measured Knob Height Edge	2.4 mm
Grip in points = coefficient of friction * 100 CX/Gravel grip test rim width = 23.0 mm
Wet Grip Test and Off-Road Tires (info)

Conclusion

The Specialized Pathfinder Pro rolls quite fast, and the tread offers great puncture resistance although that does come at the cost of quite a high weight. If you're specifically looking for a gravel bike tire with a slick center tread, that offers good off-road cornering grip, and you don't mind the weight, the Pathfinder Pro would be our number one choice.

We're happy to see the Specialized Gripton compound performs well on off-road tires as well. Although we didn't test many off-road tires with the Gripton compound yet, we're confident all tires that use this compound will perform well on our tests.

RATING: 4.0 / 5
TEST VERDICT: Recommended

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