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Submitted by
Carl Brell
a Cross Country Rider
from Barrington, RI, USA
Date Reviewed: October 29, 2008 | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$25.00 | | Purchased At: | Cambria | | Strengths: | (I'm reviewing the 1.8" width with aramid bead.) Fast and corners well on slightly technical rolling terrain. Versatile enough to use on harder or easier terrain. Very light; great on hardpack climbs and fire roads. | | Weaknesses: | A little fast-wearing, but less so than other, faster tires. Bounces on technical climbs and especially downhill, though it'll manage. | | Similar Products Used: | IRC Mythos 1.9, WTB Exiwolf 1.95, Hutchinson Mosquito, Continental Twister Pro. This tire is right in the middle. | | Bike Setup: | Dean TI frame, SID World Cup Fork, mostly XT components, XTR wheels. | | Bottom Line: | These tires excel at what they're designed for: slightly technical rolling terrain like fire roads. Less grip and "bouncier" than the Mythos 1.9 or Exiwolf 1.9, but definitely faster than either. Slower than the Mosquito and Twister Pro, but more grip and definitely longer wearing. I'm 140 lbs and a good technical rider but not so strong. This tire enables me to keep up with stronger riders but still outperform them on technical stuff. I use a second set of wheels for sand, mud, rocks, etc. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
David Baltazar
a Cross Country Rider
from DAVID BALTAZAR
Date Reviewed: August 15, 2008 | | Favorite Trail: | MONTEBELLO, CUPERTINO, CA | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$30.00 | | Purchased At: | PERFORMANCE | | Strengths: | LIGHTWEIGHT, GOOD TRACTION | | Weaknesses: | HARD TO FIND. NOT READILY AVAILABLE. | | Similar Products Used: | RICHTEY WCS | | Bike Setup: | Schwinn Moab, XTR Rapid Rise rear derailer, XTR index shifter & remote bar-end shifters, XT front derailer, Cane Creek Cronos wheels, Race Face cranks, Richtey clipless pedals, Rock Shox T2 fork with Englund Air dampers, Schwinn Stingray MTB saddle with TI rails, Kore stem, Panaracer Fire XC Pro 2.1 & 1.8 tires. | | Bottom Line: | I personally like the Panaracer Fire XC Pro 1.8 tire because of the light weight and good traction. The 1.8's are nearly 100 grams lighter than the 2.1's. I ride mostly dry, single tracks & fire-roads with moderate, technichal trails. My bike is set up with the Panacer Fire XC Pro 1.8's on the back (for lower rolling resistance) and Panaracer Fire XC Pro 2.1's on the front (for better traction on the steep decents). | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bill Palermo
a Cross Country Rider
from Willowbrook, IL
Date Reviewed: September 26, 2006 | | Favorite Trail: | Palos Forests | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$30.00 | | Purchased At: | City Cyclery | | Strengths: | Good fire road tire. Fast roller. | | Weaknesses: | Deflects off of everything! Washes out on anything slightly loose. | | Similar Products Used: | Bontragers, Kendas, etc. | | Bike Setup: | Fuel 70, SID Race fork, fire xc pro 1.8s | | Bottom Line: | Bought these tires for a 40 mile xc race. Some grass, mostly fire roads and snowmobile trails and a little sand. Tire was fast and handled all but the sand pretty well. Got home and rode them on local trails and they flip me off the bike regularly by deflecting off rocks, roots and anything else on the trail. If you dont square up to roots the back wheel will slip out and take you down. Caught a tiny little rut maybe 2 inches deep in a turn and the back tire just would not climb out and again I was down. Washes out easily in sand or loose gravel. These are real confidence killers. I'm taking them off immediately. I will save them for the right kind of conditions. I accidentally posted this review on the 2.1 board so you can ignore that one. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
RVM
a Cross Country Rider
from Los Angeles, CA
Date Reviewed: July 19, 2004 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$25.00 | | Strengths: | Light, fast rolling, and grippy | | Weaknesses: | Wears out rather quick. | | Similar Products Used: | Fire XC Pro 2.1 | | Bike Setup: | steel hardtail | | Bottom Line: | This tire rolls quick and compared to the 2.1 Fire, the 1.8 cuts through sand like nothing. With the 2.1 on the rear, I'd float and squirm around searching for traction on sandy patches.
I find it amusing how Panaracer has a picture of the 2.1 and the 1.8 side by side on their website. On that picture, both the 1.8 and 2.1 look almost the same except for the fact that the 1.8 has less knobs. Well, the 1.8 is a lot smaller than the 2.1 in terms of width and volume (sidewall height). The 1.8 makes the 2.1 look like a 2.4 tire.
I'd recommend this tire if you're looking for something light, fast rolling and grippy on the rear. If you seek something more durable and plush, I'd suggest the 2.1. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
spike
a Racer
from Rome
Date Reviewed: August 26, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$29.00 | | Strengths: | weight,traction | | Weaknesses: | Knobbies tore off | | Similar Products Used: | irc, ritchey | | Bike Setup: | DBR ZETEC team | | Bottom Line: | Dont buy this tire, Knobbies tore off , 3 knobbies tore off,after second trail 4 5 knobbies tore off. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Adam
a Racer
from Toronto
Date Reviewed: August 10, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | Don Valley | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Purchased At: | 40 | | Strengths: | Light weight, low rolling resistance, hardpack traction and cornering. | | Weaknesses: | Not the best in mud. | | Similar Products Used: | Bontrager Revolt SS front (good semi-slick for dry and long distance events), Panaracer TrailBlaster (crappy), Michelin Sprint (good semi-slick like above), Conti Explorer (really good) | | Bike Setup: | currently Conti Explorer up front, Panaracer Fire XC 1.8 on the rear | | Bottom Line: | I just realized today that if you want a good mud tire or slightly muddy condition tire you need a tread with spikes to dig into the mud. The fire XC 1.8 only has kind of pointy spikes on the sides, and the only thing the square knobs in the centre of this tread design do is increase forward traction and braking.
What made me realize this is that I'm using a Conti Explorer on the front and most of it's knobs are like spikes and I'm getting better traction in all directions with this tire, even in the mud.
So what I'm saying is the Conti Explorer is an all round better tire, and I'm going to replace my Fire XC with an Explorer.
The Fire XCs are still a good tire, but there are better and more versatile tires out there. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Adam B
a Cross Country Rider
from Toronto
Date Reviewed: June 21, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | Don Valley (west side) | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Purchased At: | 30 | | Strengths: | Weight, low rolling resistance, traction. | | Weaknesses: | none that I can tell so far... | | Similar Products Used: | IRC Mythos (crap), Conti Explorer (really good), Panaracer TrailBlaster (crap) | | Bike Setup: | Gary Fisher Big Sur with lots of upgrades.
Conti Explorer up front the Panaracer Fire XC 1.8 on the back. | | Bottom Line: | This tire is a really good back tire, it can be considered as a really agressive semi slick. It's centre knobs are big enough to give you climbing and braking traction but they are not so big that they slow you down too much. The huge side knobs definitely give you a lot of confidence when you're going through corners. This is a good front tire but I personally prefer a bigger more extreme tire on the front.
I find that mud isn't a problem with this tire, and I think that's mainly due to how widely spaced the knobs are. These tires a little expensive here in Canada at $40 dollars but I haven't had any problems yet with it so I give it 5 flaming trail rodents. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
bird
a Racer
from nc
Date Reviewed: June 9, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | many | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$18.00 | | Purchased At: | ? | | Strengths: | light and fast,hooks up in mud surprisingly well,handles wet roots better than anything ive tried. | | Weaknesses: | none found so far. | | Bike Setup: | fuel,with several toys attached. | | Bottom Line: | great tire,and its cheap,raced it this weekend in the monsoon sh!tfest this state has become.rocked.nothing should have worked in this kind of slop but this tire did the job well.not showing any signs of wear as yet. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
buck rogers
a Cross Country Rider
from Wisconsin
Date Reviewed: June 9, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | Devils Head | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$23.00 | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | Decent cornering. Ok mud clearing. | | Weaknesses: | Terrible rear traction on muddy uphill. | | Similar Products Used: | Bonty Revolt's | | Bike Setup: | Trek Fuel 98. Stock everything except the tires. | | Bottom Line: | I was looking to replace my Bonty Revolts with something that would clear mud better. My Bonty's seemed to really hold on to the mud; therefore rotating weight increased tremendously. I got a pair of the XC Pro 1.8's in hopes of better mudding. I did a WORS race (Devil's Head) where the mud was terrible; thick goopy mud all through the course. These tires seemed to clear mud alright, but on even slight climbs in the mud I was loosing traction, and when it got steeper I had to dismount. And on these steeper climbs other people were riding. I know it's not my abilities, because in other races with similiar conditions using the Bonty's I was able to climb things others were not able to (I just had 6 pounds of mud attached to each tire!). They seemed to corner well and did ok on wet rocks & roots. I may keep the front tire on, but will have to try something different in the back for traction on muddy climbs...any suggestions? | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Zuke
a Cross Country Rider
from Los Osos, CA
Date Reviewed: April 13, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | Montana de Oro - Ridge Trail | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$18.00 | | Purchased At: | nashbar.com | | Strengths: | Very fast, very light rollers. The red sidewalls look great.
| | Weaknesses: | Narrow width is disconcerting to look at and tends to wash out in thicker gravel or sand. Not as much bite going uphill. Rim pinches!
| | Similar Products Used: | Hutchinson Alligators, WTB Velociraptors. (hmm, I just noticed the animal name theme...) | | Bike Setup: | Jamis Dakar Expert: XT shifters, XTR/LX derailleurs, Hayes hydraulic discs, Manitou X-Vert front shock, Fox Vanilla-R coil-over.
| | Bottom Line: | I was really hoping this tire would work out for me, as I've heard great reviews about the FireXC Pros and it's a great looking tire on my blue/red Jamis to boot. Unfortunately, I think the lower traction is unavoidable given the tire's narrow width. I also suffered quite a few more pinch flats when slamming over rocky shale sections, etc, even though Panaracer makes a big deal over their Anti-Snake Bite (ASB) feature. A positive word though, is that they were noticeably faster rollers compared to my Hutchinsons. Better suited to road riding or less technical trail riding.
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Warren Steele
a Cross Country Rider
from Durban South africa
Date Reviewed: March 25, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$30.00 | | Purchased At: | Evans London | | Strengths: | Light weight
Fast roller
Cornering traction | | Weaknesses: | Directional stability in soft sand
Traction on steep climbs | | Similar Products Used: | Specialized Rockster Pro 1.9
Specialized Endure 2.2
Specialized Roll X 2.0 | | Bike Setup: | Tyres mounted on Mavic X221 on 2002 Specialized FSR | | Bottom Line: | When one gets used to the thin looks the true character of this tyre can be appreciated. It is light and rolls exceptionally well. To achieve this the tyre has moderate sized centre knobs which lose traction on steep slippery climbs especially if body weight is badly distributed. However, reduced climb performance is an acceptable pay off. Cornering ability is good and predictable with the rigid side knobs. Being a narrow tyre the ride is hard in rocky terrain and rim protection is reduced. However, the tyre enables the rider to handle rough sections confidently. In soft sand the tyre is directionally unstable due to the narrow width but sheds mud well and offers loads of clearance. The compound is hard but only time will reveal the wear characteristics. Overall the tyre is a huge improvement over other products I have tried and its narrow width is no indication of its true character. Looks good too. No tyre has it all but as an initial assessment this seems to come close. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bill Liu
a Weekend Warrior
from Hongkong
Date Reviewed: March 22, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | Kam Ma Luen trail | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$78.00 | | Purchased At: | Hung wan bike store | | Strengths: | Light, beautiful, easily to install, grip up to almost all terrance. It is also fast, low resistence and quiet too. | | Weaknesses: | Seems no sign of weakness up to present. | | Similar Products Used: | IRC Mythos, Huchinson wild grip ss, Brontraga revolt ss etc. | | Bike Setup: | Trek 8000 | | Bottom Line: | All five of my bikes are using IRC Mythos now. Once I thought they are cheap and high performance not until I try the Pannaracer 1.8 fire XC tires. This tire is really good in all respects. It work out pretty good even on ice surface although not recommanded by the manufacturer. Durability is the only thing uncertain. Only time will tell. I highly recommand them. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Eug
a
from Australia
Date Reviewed: March 1, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$35.00 | | Strengths: | Nice, Fast rolling, Great Traction | | Weaknesses: | First ride today on them and two pinch flats in 10 minutes (they were pumped hard too, will after the first flat anyway) | | Bottom Line: | Nice tire, very fast, lots of traction, look great but has anyone else been getting pinch flats on them even when they have that A.S.B Chafer??? thingo. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Joe
a Cross Country Rider
from California
Date Reviewed: August 7, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Purchased At: | Pricepoint | | Strengths: | Light, low rolling resistance, great traction. | | Weaknesses: | none | | Similar Products Used: | Specialized ground control (you guys even remember these?), Bontrager Jones | | Bike Setup: | K2 Zed Team frame, zoke z3 bomber, rhyno lites, xt/xtr 8spd biopace. | | Bottom Line: | Great set of tires! Excellent off-camber grip. Very good climb performance. Acceptable deep sand performance. Considering the very light weight and low rolling resistance, I doubt I'll ever go back to 2.1+ tires. An excellent all around performer. Highly recommended, although not the most cost effective tire out there. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Shane Gouldthread
a Racer
from Weedville,PA,USA
Date Reviewed: July 9, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | fawnskin,claundite,resivor | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$25.00 | | Purchased At: | nashbar.com | | Strengths: | nice tread pattern, roll fast, move good on paved roads | | Weaknesses: | lil heavy( im kinda a weight freak), dont do to good goin down ski slopes when wet or big tec. hills. | | Similar Products Used: | all the other | | Bike Setup: | trek with manitou. all XT. good racing bike | | Bottom Line: | i bought the for my old GT 2 yrs ago. but now i put um on my trek for the summer time. im goin to get a new pair of slicks or nobbys soon for racin. but they work great on dirt roads n packed in trails or paths. work good for climbing when dry, when wet just hope u can put an other pedal in fast when u spinout cuz they tend to for me. they dont grab good on wet roots. but i liked um for as long as had them som draw backs but hey nuthins perfect get use to it.
lata | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Nick Schuyler
a Cross Country Rider
from Columbus, Ohio
Date Reviewed: September 24, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Downtown Columbus/Alum Creek | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$75.00 | | Purchased At: | Baer Wheels | | Strengths: | Light, low rolling resistance, good knob. | | Weaknesses: | Can't always handle gravel on hardpack. The rubber isnt soft enough, but it wears well, so it's the usual trade-off. | | Similar Products Used: | Geax, Hutchinson Mosquito, Panaracer Fire XC Pro 2.1 | | Bike Setup: | Raleigh M-50, CrossRide, Fire XC Pro 1.8, Manitou Mars, Easton Cockpit, Chris King Hub, LX Drive, XTR Rear, Veloce 11-23 cassette (yes, thats what I said), Easton Cockpit. | | Bottom Line: | FIRE TRAIL/SINGLE TRACK, 4.5 STARS: Great all around tire. I prefer the 1.8 due to gram counting. I bike more on city roads or open trails than hard backwoods. I also think the 2.1 is overkill, but I also think 80 mm is overkill for fr shocks.
LOOSE GRAVEL, 2.5 STARS: These tires have lost their grip more than once when hitting loose gravel. They don't inspire confidence on city streets at all times, but they roll well on trails and when I do take them over tree roots, they sit comfortably and don't roll over the roots, even when wet.
MUD OR RAIN, 4.5 STARS: I took them mudding once at Alum Creek (basic forest trails) and they were great at shedding mud and rolling through.
I only had to take a finger to them once on a three hour trek with LOTS of mud. I ended up doiong more damage to everything else due to obscene amounts of mud. More than I'd want to put my bike through again. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Chris
a Weekend Warrior
from Edmonds, WA
Date Reviewed: May 2, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$24.00 | | Purchased At: | Cambria | | Strengths: | Gotta love that red sidewall! Lightweight. Low rolling resistance. | | Weaknesses: | Not a good mud tire. Alittle schetchy on high speed decents. | | Similar Products Used: | A bunch | | Bottom Line: | These are pretty good tires for someone who is looking for an alternative to a semi-slick racing tire. The low profile, dense tread pattern allows the tire to hook-up well in most dry conditions. It's actually a better mud tire than the 2.1 version for the same reasons. The lower profile tread clears mud better than it's big brother, and being narrower it puts more weight on the groud for better traction. It's also fast. I wouldn't use these for general cross country riding, but for a specific ride in the right conditions they are a great choice. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Morgan
a Racer
from Fresno CA
Date Reviewed: September 12, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Squaws Leap | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$21.00 | | Purchased At: | Jenson USA | | Strengths: | Great grip and looks
Lightweight (500g for 1.8) | | Weaknesses: | Will some time wash out in soft stuff if your not careful | | Similar Products Used: | Bonty Super X
Hutchinson Mosquitos | | Bike Setup: | I have them on a Superlight which train on and a Breezer Jet Stream which I race cross country. | | Bottom Line: | I have tried other tires under race conditions, but I can find none better than the fire XC Pro's. I no longer feel the need to switch to different tires to meet weather or soil conditions. I have them installed on both my mountain bikes and have become a life time customer. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
TD
a Weekend Warrior
from Rem, VA
Date Reviewed: September 5, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Any dirt | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$29.00 | | Strengths: | Great all around traction, light weight | | Weaknesses: | At first, hard to get used to looking down and ahead at such a thin tire. | | Similar Products Used: | Most panaracer's, Specialized, Bontrager's, WTB's | | Bike Setup: | Fisher | | Bottom Line: | Great tire. Great hookup on everything I have been on, dirt, mud, sand-dirt mixture, rocks, roots, creeks, and yes, even pavement. I've no care about weight but I am still amazed at how light my bike feels with these on, with no traction loss. All my previous tires have been usually 2.0 or wider, so these 1.8 are hard to get used to. I was sketchy about them at first but these tires are great. I have had no problems with tread coming off yet and have put approximately 450 miles on them. Great all around tire, will be my next pair also. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Wayne
a Racer
from Little knowen town
Date Reviewed: August 27, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | Pail Road | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Purchased At: | Your local bike shop | | Strengths: | Im on my forth pair, tells you somehting,I like it enough to buy it four times,these buggers grip like a ape grips his banana, won't let you down,I have traction to climb any thing, Hard to get flats if you like flats.Looks nice | | Weaknesses: | Cost a bunch, like i said ive had four pairs, I have notice that my first pair were much better then my last ones. Quality has gone south here i do belive. | | Similar Products Used: | A round tire that grips well the has flashy side walls, there aren't any like this.. | | Bike Setup: | Breezer witha twister Dela Xtrs Chris kiger Headshubs 64 spokes with blue nipples | | Bottom Line: | A good tire that grips well in all instances of mountain biking Terrain. If you like to slip don't buy this tire.
SO i guess if i was going to buy a fifth pair Id have to say five but instead with my recent problems of having the knobbies terring off im being Generous with two | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
chad
a
from houston tx usa
Date Reviewed: August 1, 2000 | | Favorite Trail: | the black track , rocky hill ranch, smithville, texas | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Strengths: | Good grip in cornering not to knobby, mud dose not seem to clog them up. look sharp. decent price. good multi use tire.
i like the anti- snake bite feature | | Weaknesses: | a little difficult to chang tubes??? Anti-snake bite feature, bites back | | Similar Products Used: | bontrager, michellin wild grippers | | Bike Setup: | hoo koo w/ all 1999 shimano xtr train, breaks/(2000) panaracer fire xc pro's/ 1998 Rock Shox JUDY XL duel crown triple clamps
1999 GO FAST raised double reinforced bars | | Bottom Line: | Very good for all terrain ,rocky,sandy,muddy,etc.
good cornering. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Kman
a Cross Country Rider
from Tx
Date Reviewed: July 8, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Strengths: | Light, grip well in turns, look kinda cool | | Weaknesses: | Knobbies tore off. | | Similar Products Used: | Magic XC, psychos | | Bike Setup: | Zaskar | | Bottom Line: | I reviewed this tire earlier but now after a few months my opinion has changed so here's an update. When I first rode them I was so stoked. I could feel the difference in weight and rolling resistance big time. They also hooked up very well in high speed turns. I thought I'd found a perfect tire for XC. Then, after I rode a trail with some climbing rock gardens a few times my illusion was shattered. I ripped 5 knobbies off the back tire. I only weigh about 160lbs. This tire can only handle smooth trails. That's kinda lame considering that they are expensive MTB tires. Perhaps the 2.1's are better but I'm not going to risk finding out. I'm going to give the Continental Duster a try. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Frank
a Cross Country Rider
from LR AFB
Date Reviewed: June 20, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Strengths: | Good solid bite. Roll fast. Look Good against bike paint scheme. | | Weaknesses: | None so far | | Similar Products Used: | Specialized Dirt control/master. Moab crap | | Bike Setup: | "00" FSR XC, LX hollow-tech, Time ATAC Carbons, These tires. The rest is stock | | Bottom Line: | Even though I have been running 1.9's for awhile these tires looked thin. There performance far outways thier thin look. Roll fast and stick to just about everthing like burnt lasagna to a pan. I was also alittle bit concerned about the possability of losing some knobs, the area I ride has quite a few rock gardens. Last trip out I purposely ran through a few extra rock patches (death wish maybe) just to see if they tore. So far so good. The front is on par with the front I have been useing, spec'd dirt mster, but at rear traction is quite improved. Even in the mud, and for the last week it's been raining here, they have held the ground well enough that I havn't hit the ground from sliding out. The only way I could get them to give and break loose on me was under hard breaking around tight corners. I love these tires and would highly recomend them. The price from my lbs $24 | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Wyndon Pendergraft
a Weekend Warrior
from Fresno, CA
Date Reviewed: June 19, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Strengths: | Light, supple, fast, good looks. Nice bite for a narrow tire. Good cornering. | | Weaknesses: | Skinnier than I thought. | | Similar Products Used: | Specialized Master and Control Comp, WTB Velociraptor wires. | | Bike Setup: | '98 Specialized MRP altered FSR with XT and XTR. Mavic 517/XT wheels. Marzocchi fork. Easton Monkey Lite bar. | | Bottom Line: | Fast as all hell. Quite possibly the fastest full knob I've ever been on. The 1.8" width puts less rubber on the ground than a 2 or 2.1, but with the very high thread count, the tires manage to put more patch to the ground than I would have ever expected, even with the high pressures I run. (I weigh about 225 and run the tires at about max.) The side knobs bite very well on corners and break predictably up front. The ride is also very mellow at high pressures, almost damping out the smaller irregularities. This is probably due to the suppleness the 126 TPI give them. The 500g weight (stated on the packaging and propaganda at the Panaracer website. Anyone have a true measurement?) makes for a tire that accelerates very quickly and with the narrower width, this is an almost frighteningly fast tire. I'll see how they perform as they wear, but so far I am very suitably impressed with them. I am very curious to see how quick I'll be able to un-rim them when I have a flat. I've heard that the folding Panaracers are so easy to get off that you don't even need a lever. This will be a welcome change from my old Specialized front tire that came off only under the threat of violence. I spent much time wrestling and cursing that front tire and I am not looking forward to doing it ever again. The blue on the sidewalls also matches up with my FSR quite well. Nice tire and you can find them for good prices right now. Go for 'em. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Neal
a Cross Country Rider
from Cheshire, UK
Date Reviewed: June 12, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Strengths: | Light weight, low rolling resistance, grip | | Weaknesses: | none so far | | Similar Products Used: | Panaracer Smoke & Dart, Michelin Wildgripper | | Bike Setup: | Sunn Max 5000 with Pace RC36 Evo Forks | | Bottom Line: | I wouldn't have believed such a slim light weight tyre could offer so much grip. Their grip on wet or dry tarmac, hardpack, mud and rock is immense and confidence inspiring. I went for the kevlar bead version and the 500g weight and low rolling resistance are worth at least an extra gear over larger tyres with steel beads. I've now lost 450g (1lb)from the rotating mass of my bike for goodness sake! Hows that for a cost effective upgrade? Also the bike is now much more responsive in acceleration. Comfort is not compromised compared to larger tyres and I've had no puncture problems. One bonus is that Panaracer always seem to make their tyres so that you can change them with your bare hands without the need for tyre levers and these are no exception.
These tyres show that there is no need for XC MTB tyres to be larger than 1.8 and have tractor treads.
Five red smoking ones no problem. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Kman
a Cross-Country Rider
from Ft. Worth, TX
Date Reviewed: November 26, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Cedar Hill S.P. | | Duration Product Used: |
less than 1 month | | Strengths: |
Light. They can handle fast turns. | | Weaknesses: |
They don't climb that great. | | Similar Products Used: |
Panaracer XC Magic, Tioga Psychos | | Bike Setup: |
GT Zaskar, Judy XC | | Bottom Line: | I would have bought a new set of Magics but they don't make them anymore so I thought I'd try these skinny jobs out. I'm impressed with the way they can take a turn. They grip just as good as my fat tires did except on steep climbs. They tend to spin out if you get off the seat while going uphill. It's really not that bad though. I feel like I made a good choice. Hopefully they will last a while ($80 a pair). Also, I could feel right off the bat that they rolled with less resistance than the fat tires. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tim
a Racer
from Zimmerman
Date Reviewed: October 22, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
CAMBA Trails in NW Wisconsin | | Duration Product Used: |
less than 1 month | | Strengths: |
Weight | |
|
$ 29.00
