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Panaracer Duster II ATB tire

MSRP $ 24.99
# of Reviews 14
Average Rating 2/5
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Submitted by kenneth Ambray a from NJ
Date Reviewed: August 30, 2007
Duration Product Used:Tested or demo'ed only
Strengths:none because I'm not into mountain biking
Weaknesses:doesn't look good
Similar Products Used:none, hello I dont know how to ride
Bottom Line:The looks of that tire sucks
Value Rating:1Overall Rating:1

Submitted by mike Nation a Weekend Warrior from Crestview, FL , US
Date Reviewed: June 3, 2002
Favorite Trail:Timberlake (Eglin AFB)
Duration Product Used:6 months
Price Paid: $15.00
Purchased At:Performance
Strengths:Durability above average. Good in mud (not muck, but the silty mud type)
Weaknesses:Doesn't corner well at all. I almost went to the hospital after taking a moderate cornering turn in my driveway! They plow through the sand and dirt as opposed to floating over it. Their rolling reistance is by far the worst I've experienced.
Similar Products Used:IRC Pirahna Pros.
Bike Setup:Gary Fisher Hoo Koo E Koo w/ XMO front shock
Bottom Line:This tire is well described in the previous reviews. It is a very specific tire. The only time I've actually enjoyed riding it is when I'm going through rainy conditions on the trail where I hit alot of mud and water. Try to inflate them as much as possible to ensure a smoother ride.

Since I did buy them so cheap ($15.00) I'll give it a 4 flaming veggies. As far as overall...well I'm going to have to give it a one flammer.
Value Rating:4Overall Rating:1

Submitted by Wenyao Ho a Weekend Warrior from Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Date Reviewed: March 16, 2002
Duration Product Used:Less than 1 month
Strengths:none
Weaknesses:plenty! high rolling resistance, does not grip well, does not inspire confidence..
Similar Products Used:WTB velociraptor, Continental Traction, Continental Avenue (slicks)
Bike Setup:KHS Alite 1000
Bottom Line:These tyres are horrible! The rolling resistance is so bad that I could have pushed the bike faster than I could pedal uphill. Noisy as hell on the sidewalk as well. On the trail, it does not grip the trail well and tends to slip, but performs ok for muddy conditions. It is only fair for offroad-use, and poor for road use.
Value Rating:2Overall Rating:1

Submitted by Tom Lory a Weekend Warrior from Mountain View, CA
Date Reviewed: January 13, 2002
Duration Product Used:More than 3 years
Price Paid: $10.00
Strengths:Tacky soil and mud, heavy casing may be help prevent pinch flats
Weaknesses:Rolling resistance
Similar Products Used:Panaracer Dart/Smoke 2.1, Fire XC Pro 2.1, IRC Mythos 1.9
Bike Setup:Santa Cruz Heckler, Z1CR, Rhyno Lite XL, Hayes
Bottom Line:Heavy, slow-rolling tires with limited traction in hard, dry, gravelly, rocky, sandy, loose, wet rocks, roots, asphalt, concrete; they suck almost everywhere.

I mounted them for one ride almost three years ago and removed them instantly thinking that I'd give them to a homeless person.

Not too many shopping karts with 26" wheels so I ended up waiting for conditions that would make me use them. It rained for 4 or 5 days of rain before my last ride, making me think that my Panaracer XC Pros would be far from ideal, passed over the Dart/Smoke combo and, feeling like I was gambling, mounted the Duster IIs. Hooked up all day climbing, cornering and braking on damp and muddy from sandy to clay and didn't pinch flat at 25 mph through a rocky creekbed.

Very good tires when the conditions are right, unacceptable for most of my use.

I bought 'em on sale for maybe $10 and possibly would again knowing that they work well in specific conditions, so 5 little vegatables for value.

Their performance is 0-5 depending on where you use them and where they excel they could probably be better with a different casing and maybe even compound so a 4 for where they're good averaged with a zero for almost everywhere else I guess gives a 2.5 but not worthy of 3 so 2 it is...
Value Rating:5Overall Rating:2

Submitted by Will a Racer from CO
Date Reviewed: October 12, 2000
Duration Product Used:Less than 1 month
Price Paid: $6.00
Purchased At:Performance
Strengths:Not bad in mud.
Weaknesses:These tires blow! They are very heavy, not supple at all. Very hard compound slips on rocks, roots, pavement. Rollind resistance is horrendous. Wide spaced knobs offer very little stability and grip in corners.
Similar Products Used:Pretty much every tire in existence.0
Bike Setup:I used 'em on my old Stumpjumper M2
Bottom Line:Pure crap. I bought mine at Performance when I worked there and the price was right. If you ride slowly in the mud and like wire bead tires that don't do well in corners (and work part time for $5 an hour) these are the tires for you!
Value Rating:2Overall Rating:1

Submitted by mark m a Cross Country Rider from st. augustine, florida
Date Reviewed: September 14, 2000
Favorite Trail:razprback
Duration Product Used:1 Year
Price Paid: $10.00
Purchased At:mail order
Strengths:very durable
Weaknesses:poor rolling resistance, bumpy ride due to stiff but wide spaced knobs
Similar Products Used:specialized ground controls, panaracer smokes, darts, revolt st's
Bike Setup:specialized groundcontrol
Bottom Line:slow moving tires that produce a very stiff bumpy ride. This review is for the front tire only. I would not buy another one, it is just not up to par with the compitition.
Value Rating:2Overall Rating:2

Submitted by Rod Angler a Cross Country Rider from New Orleans
Date Reviewed: September 7, 2000
Favorite Trail:Hooper & Kentwood
Duration Product Used:1 Year
Strengths:Sheds mud. Reasonably durable.
Weaknesses:Sand, roots, mildly-off-camber hard pack.
Similar Products Used:Specialized Dirt Control/Master
Bike Setup:K2 Proflex 4000 w/ Noleen Crosslink ELT, LX cranks/front, XT rear and levers, LX brakes, Grip Shifters, Race Face stem, etc... first MTB, so not real knowledgeable when I bought 2 years ago. Few things I'd do differently for sure.
Bottom Line:Tires came stock on my 1998 K2 Proflex 4000.

I'm a new rider, but learned a particular 3 mile trail very well, and got to bombing the whole thing pretty hard and fast.

This tire occasionally would dump me on my ass, hard and at speed, unexpectedly, on what seemed like reasonably tacky hardpack. Tested out my helmet very well, once.

Poor in sand... front washes out AND rear offers little traction. I'd bog down and my buddy would power on by me. Sheesh.

Ok in mud, shed well enough, as knobs are reasonably widely spaced.

Rolling resistance somewhat high, pretty noisy on pavement compared to say the Dirt Control/Master. Durable however, no problems with wear or sidewalls.

I'm sure there are worse, I just haven't paid for them yet. Overall, 2 flaming mexican ... turd burritos, based on mud performance only.
Value Rating:2Overall Rating:2

Submitted by Gold Barbz a Weekend Warrior from Shoreline, WA
Date Reviewed: May 14, 2000
Duration Product Used:2 Years
Strengths:Great on loose dirt trails and any kind of mud, even the wet, deepest mud puddles!
Weaknesses:The slowest tire on pavement, and I mean SLOW!
Rolling resistence and the 4WD "buzz" sound is way too much.
Feels heavy.
Similar Products Used:mostly short knobbies.
Bike Setup:Trek OCLV, XTR to LX mix.
Bottom Line:Not so good for me since I ride on dry pavement most of my time. I always feel like a slug and roadies always pass by like lightning. I feel very ashamed that I could maintain at faster than 16 mph because of these high rolling resistent tires. And on uphill climb...forget about it, I was moving at 4 mph.
Value Rating:4Overall Rating:2

Submitted by Papewayo a Weekend Warrior from Brooklyn, NY
Date Reviewed: October 6, 1999
Favorite Trail:
Various
Duration Product Used:
less than 1 month
Strengths:
Loose stuff, gravel. Dirt Trails
Weaknesses:
Water. Wet asphalt, wet metal, wet rocks.. Anything hard and wet.
Similar Products Used:
Ritchey Megabite ZMAX WCS, Bontrager Jones, Tioga Farmers Nephew
Bike Setup:
Specialized S-Works FSR. Proflex Animal
Bottom Line:The treads on this tire are like bricks. They are so hard that they prove difficult even to squeeze with your fingers. Almost lost control of the bike on a three mile concrete/asphalt ride which was necessary to ride home in the rain. The tread on this tire lends itself to surfaces where it can dig those stout knobbies into but forget it if the terrain is hard and wet. Absolutely no traction whatsoever. One flaming chili for this puppy.
Overall Rating:1

Submitted by Ozzie a Weekend Warrior from Toronto, Ontario Canada
Date Reviewed: September 15, 1999
Duration Product Used:
less than 1 month
Strengths:
Cheap
Weaknesses:
No traction.
Unpredictable.
Not enough knobs.
Similar Products Used:
Panaracer Dart 26x2.25
Panaracer Spike 26x1.9
Panaracer Mach SK 26x1.95
Bike Setup:
'99 Norco Charger, LX/XT Group, X-ray shifters, Avid 10 brakes, Spinergy Rev-X-Roks Wheelset.
Bottom Line:Panaracer should be ashamed for making this tire. I was better off using the Spike. Note: Only rating the Duster II Front 26x1.95
Overall Rating:1

Submitted by Jay a Cross-Country Rider from State College, PA
Date Reviewed: August 16, 1999
Favorite Trail:
all
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Strengths:
Back tire durable with a good tread that works well in all conditions.
Weaknesses:
Front tire is garbage.
No hold in the turns.
Similar Products Used:
Onza, IRC Mythos
Bike Setup:
hard tail
Bottom Line:I liked the back all right.
The front tire inspires absolutely no confidence through the turns.
Slides out continuously.I give it the 1 chili because the front is so bad.
Overall Rating:1

Submitted by Julius negashi a Weekend Warrior from Siongapore
Date Reviewed: July 30, 1999
Favorite Trail:
bt timah
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Strengths:
good value for money....slick...and suitable for all terrains....
Weaknesses:
not as good as the fire dx or dh...tires slips when wet....
Similar Products Used:
Fire Dh and DX
Bike Setup:
DBR with a RST mozo pro front fork
Bottom Line:it's one of the long lasting off road tires out there....
thus it's not onli value for money....
you need change tires now and then for diff terrains
5 chills for this rubber boy
Overall Rating:5

Submitted by Alacritas a cross-country rider from Alabama
Date Reviewed: March 3, 1999
Bottom Line:

This is a very condition-specific tire. It's quite good in mud/soft conditions. The edge knobs are stout, yet thin enough to poke through some of the leaves on the ground. It's reasonably predictable on the edge knobs, though not as predictable as IRC Mythos. In soft conditions, the stout edge knobs give more all-out grip than some of the more more moto-type tires (more than Mythos and Jones). The tires are also fast rolling due to the shape of the central knobs. It also sheds mud and clay quite easily. The problem with these tires is that they are very disconcerting on anything hard or especially dry. They don't seem to have any transitional grip whatsoever. So if you try to use these tires as an all-around cross-country tire, then you'll probably eat dirt at some time. I'm healing from a serious crash right now because these very tires washed out faster than you can say ouch on a loose/dry spot on an unfamiliar trail. As much as I would like to swear off these tires, I cannot deny that they work better on my hometown forest trail better than anything else. My local trail doesn't have many opportunites to use transition knobs--just spin and lay the bike over hard; the trail is soft enough to make up for the lack of transition knobs. Like I said, just be aware of what this tire does. I'm giving it three turds because it's so fast in my local forest, but Panaracer doesn't tell you upfront about what this does on different types of surfaces.
Overall Rating:3

Submitted by Steven Seeley a weekend warrior from College Station, TX
Date Reviewed: February 15, 1999
Bottom Line:

I think this tire handles great. I'm new to this sport, so I'm not pushing any edges. However, I'm not so great on balance, so tire slips would be more probable with me. I ride with the Duster II (1.95) on the front, and it corners unbelievably. It's fast too. I recommend this tire to anyone. . . especially since I got the tire for $5.99 on closeout. If you can still manage to get one, then do so.
Overall Rating:5






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