Supple Tire Shoot-Out
Tires are crucial for a comfortable ride. The more supple tire the more comfortable you will be on a bumpy road. Up to this point, Soma Cazadero were my benchmark in terms of tire suppleness. But this could change because I got a pair of Rene Herse Barlow Pass tires which are well known for its suppleness. Let the fight begin!....Soma Cazadero tire is one of my long time favorite tire that I use on a daily basis. Even when you grab it you can feel that the sidewalls are very soft and flexible which promises a lot of comfort when riding. And this indeed is the case, especially with air pressure set up at 25 PSI. I also like this tire because it is very easy to mount tubeless on any rim that I used. It holds the air nicely and it is a benchmark tire (in my opinion) in terms of mixed gravel riding. Dry, wet, muddy, bumpy or any other condition you can imagine and the tire will perform remarkably well. It gives you a sense of security that allows you to focus on fast riding, wherever you are. The only real drawback I can think of is the rolling resistance, especially on asphalt. You can definitely hear the tire buzzing a lot and you can feel that this tire is slowing you down (especially compared to something like Barlow Pass from Rene Herse). https://gravelbikes.cc/tests/soma-cazadero-vs-rene-herse-barlow-pass-a-supple-tires-shootout/
Cazadero Wins CX Magazine's Editor's Choice
(Excerpt) With a continuous center tread and big side knobs, this tire is a great choice for rocky gravel, hardpack dirt and broken pavement adventures. Consider it the faster-rolling brother of the Bruce Gordon Rock N’ Road tire (one of eight gravel tires reviewed in Issue 29), as both are made in Japan by Panaracer, come in the similar widths and are great candidates for tubeless conversions.
On pavement, unless you’re riding it at 20psi, the Cazadero is a smooth-rolling ride. The continuous center tread is extremely effective in providing you with nearly road tire-like rolling resistance on the straights. Such pavement performance isn’t rare among the narrower, minimal knob or slick gravel tires, but for a tire with such volume and tall knobs, it’s impressive.
Ride the Cazadero at low pressure off the paved path, and the tall knobs will provide great grip should you hit steep climbs or loose patches, despite the continuous center tread. Normally tires that run smoothly on pavement and hardpack suffer greatly on loose climbs and corners, but the Cazadero’s raised center tread and side knobs sink into the loose sand, gravel and dirt, and the serrated edges offer some bite to keep you moving forward.
Lean your bike into a loose corner, and the Cazadero’s cornering grip is best in class. The tall, squared-off intermediate side knobs and shoulder knobs are well-supported, provide great edge control, and don’t suffer from a slot of squirm.
At around 500 grams, the Cazadero isn’t featherweight like the Maxxis Rambler, but it’s bigger, lighter and more supple than the Vittoria Adventure Trail 40c gravel tire we recently reviewed. At 30psi on a 17.5mm rim, it’s not quite 42mm, but 40mm, which still pushes the tire clearance limits of many cyclocross and gravel bikes:.....
https://www.cxmagazine.com/soma-fab-cazadero-42c-gravel-tire-review
RidingGravel.com - Cazadero 700c Review
The ride was very nice. First off, the center smooth section of the Cazadero’s tread is very effective at allowing the wheels to roll freely. In fact, on pavement the sound is of a wider, slick tire as you cruise along. Out on gravel, the supple casing has enough damping to allow for a more calm experience at the handle bars and saddle, much like other good, supple casings do on tires like the 120TPI Clement MSO or the Challenge Tire Gravel Grinder.
I was using lower pressures at first, (40-ish psi), but decided to try out something a bit higher to see where I might lose that nice, damped feel with the Cazaderos. I went up to around 50 psi, then closer to 60psi and I feel that for the current conditions, (Winter, cold temperatures), and my weight, (230lbs), I have an answer. In my opinion, the ride becomes noticeably more harsh at close to 60psi. I might feel differently about that if the temperatures were warmer though. However; for now I would probably run 60 psi if the course was smoother and/or mostly paved. I feel a loss of stability and grip on looser surfaces and especially on gravel at those higher pressures, so I would push that pressure back down into the 50’s psi for that. I felt the best balance of speed/grip/comfort in that range for pressures on gravel. Keep in mind I am running these tires tubed.
Now as for the Cazadero on other surfaces than gravel roads, I have found the tire to be an exceptionally fun tire. On the one hand, you have that centralized smooth sector of the tread, which acts like a narrower tire when you are just cruising along, but the tire has volume that no “skinny” road tire has, and with the quality of the Panasonic casing, the road faults become less of an issue for sure. So far....I give Soma high marks for hitting the weight and width specs for the tire with these samples. The casings work nicely over the gravel roads and the center raised tread section does what it is advertised to do. On pavement the theme continues and this makes for a versatile tire if it fits your bike. https://www.ridinggravel.com/gravel-news/soma-fabs-cazadero-42mm-tires-at-the-finish/
