Panaracer Pasela pro-tite tire review

[Freeman]

I bought a new pair of these tires in 27" for a road-bike I ride a lot, sometimes putting 100 miles or more per week on. I installed the tires at the beginning of April 2023, and before the end of July of the same year one of them was scrap with the inner tube bulging out of a cut in the tread of the tire. I do a lot of riding on public roads in and around a city, and the tires were very susceptible to punctures and cuts. The "pro-tite" version of this tire is supposed to be the flat-resistant model, I would hate to know how bad the "regular" grade of this tire is, seeing how bad the pro-tite faired in normal use. These are not cheap tires either, not high-end, but cost much more than some Kenda tires in the same size that I have had much better luck with as far as flat resistance. The tires are light compared to cheaper tires such as the Kenda brand, and probably have a bit lower rolling resistance, but it does not matter if they are going flat all the time. I ended up throwing the rear Panaracer Pasela away at the end of the rear, and moving the front one to the back with the addition of an anti-flat strip between it and the tube, and the anti-flat strip certainly stopped the flats, but the Panaracer Pasela disintigrated and eventually the inner tube was trying to push the anti-flat strip out of the tire tread through a large cut. The actual tread on the tires never saw enough miles to disappear in the middle, a signal to many riders that it is time to get new tires. Today I am riding the bike with an old Michelin touring on the front and an old Kenda on the rear, with the tough anti-flat strip still in the back tire, and am riding around and getting no punctures or fatal cuts.

So my take on the Panaracer Pasela pro-tite is that if you have the money and you need a nice looking set of tires for a bike you do not plan on riding much, or are able to ride on clean streets and roads free of any broken glass fragments, screws, pieces of wire etc. then maybe they will work for you. But if you plan on using them to rack up any sort of real mileage in the real world, then forget about them and go the extra mile and get some Continental "hardshell" tires, or the cheap Kendas and put an anti-flat strip in at least the rear.

P.S. At one point I took both these tires off the bike, made sure to remove all the foreign objects which had pierced them, glued little pieces of inner-tube inside them over all the various cuts and punctures, and put them back on the bike to try and get more use out of them, but I would have been better off just throwing them out as they were so susceptible to damage they did not last much longer. I really tried to like and use them, but they would not have any of it and insisted on falling apart, and doing it quickly too.

 

[bagpuss]

I do that to most tyres what ever the brand . The only one that I have found well wearing is the Schwalbe Marathon plus . The down side if you can call it that , it is lifeless to ride . Bomb proof none the less .
Just had a look at the tyres I had been running since last summer for a tour that didn't happen and over winter on my Spa Elan tourer .Low and behold I had Panaracer Pasela PT fitted, no cuts etc probably 1500 ridden changed to Gatro skins for slightly easier rolling for summer about 4 weeks ago
Panaracer 700c by 32 . Folding
Gatro skins 700c by 28. Non Folding.
I am a big $od and am hard on everything I use especially tyres .
I ride on both city and country roads plus some trail .
I think it is luck of the dawer some times with regards cuts to tyres .
The state of our roads leaves a lot to be desired .

 

[LondonClassic]

I was a Panaracer Stradius sport evangelist for years - thousands of puncture free miles on a tyre that wasn't totally dead. Then they stopped making them and I went the Pasela route. Ironically I was fine on them doing 20 miles a day commuting in London but moving to the wilds of east Kent...the Paselas were not strong enough for the lanes here and cut up badly. My experience mirrors yours - thinking of patching them and getting more miles but its a waste of time.

I now ride Maxxis Refuse for general riding - sort of halfway between something sporty and a Schwalbe marathon - they've proven to be decent rubber and have held up well.

 

[Rod_Saetan]

For balance, I reckon I have 10,000 + miles on Paselas commuting through London - I have exclusively used them on commuter bikes for nearly 15 years - not sure which version, but probably the steel bead cheapest one in most case cos they were a good deal at trade. Obviously I had a few punctures but they were generally great and let me down very rarely, I have never thrown one away before the tread was worn out because of damage. London roads aren't great, but if you keep out of the very edge then you tend to avoid the glass etc. I spent ten years recommending them to commuters in busy shops too.

 

[bagpuss]

I kept mine at the recommended 95 psi pressure. I shall be fitting them back on at the end of summer . .
AFAIK all Panaracer tyres used to be made in Japan. I don't think this is the case anymore.
Are the compounds used,for their manufacturer as good ?

 

[Freeman]

The city I live in is one of the impoverished and abandoned industrial towns in the eastern USA, where all the work was moved to other countries or areas where cheap labor could be exploited. The streets are full of potholes and broken and cracked pavement, the streets glitter and sparkle very often at night from the street lamps reflecting off the accumulated crushed glass, from auto wrecks and people just throwing bottles out of the windows while driving. The winters here are harsh, it will be below freezing for months, often down to or below zero degrees F, so the frost breaks up the streets, and they cover the streets with salt-like chemicals to melt the ice, which also eats the metal chassis of motor vehicles, so there is a lot of rust and broken metal fragments, nuts, bolts, screws and pieces of wire on the roads. Yes most of it ends up over on the curb, and that is where you often end up on a bike as there are almost no bike lanes in my town, you either ride on the road with automobiles, who do not appreciate it especially during rush hours, or you are near or on a curb with all the rocks, cinders and debris. There is a nice place I like to ride where the roads are good and the traffic light, but the ride to it is bad, and I do not drive my bike anywhere to ride, if I can't ride the bike to where I want to ride, then I don't ride there, that is just one of my idiosyncrosies, all my rides begin and end at my home. So my environment certainly may have a lot to do with the short life of my tires. Once I rode a bike with a new pair of Continentals on it and I got one block and hit some scattered crushed stones on the street and it slashed the sidewall open! Another time a thumb-tack right in the middle of the front tire, as if someone had pushed it in to post a note. So I largely run on used tires these days, those I get because someone else bought a new set and cast them off, or off of second-hand bikes, or often enough out of the skip behind local bike shops. I also run cheap used bikes because after having a really good one stolen out of my garage I figure why have a lot of money into a bike if it may be taken. I gave a bike to a friend once and he saw the thieves cut the lock and chain off it with a hand-held portable grinder equipped with a cutting wheel in seconds. Well that is enough of a rant, thanks for everyone's input.

 

[Splatter Paint]

Yep, roll well, but vulnerable to punctures

 

[Freeman]

Yep, roll well, but vulnerable to punctures

A great summary of the entire post, thank-you.