Mountain Biking - Anyone use Panaracer's Fire XC Pro's?

This is going to be my next upgrade. Set of 2 for $34.99 is a kick ass deal. If you use em, how do they handle? I am never in wet or muddy terrain, mostly gravel and dirt. I dont the red trim so Im getting the all black ones.

Is it true that I should get a larger sized tire in front (maybe 2.5) and a smaller tire in the rear (maybe 2.1)??

I've been using them for 2 years, and they are great for fireroad/trail use. Very sticky on dirt, good traction, tough. I'm sure you'd like 'em...:beer:

i was thinking about them aswell, semi-slicks as it sounds dont work to well for dry/sandy loose conditions as far as traction goes and i have to have traction, i think its much more important then rolliing fast. the fires seam to have lots of bite to them so they should work good.

The only thing I didn't like about them was the transition to the side lugs. Felt kinda abrupt to me.. couldn't rail on them like I wanted. But my biggest gripe about them was that they LOAD UP with mud like you wouldn't believe. You might as well be riding a semi slick with those tires in the mud. It's a good dry weather tire, and rolls pretty fast... but I've found better alternatives :)

better alternatives such as...

What types of terrain are you riding?

Right now I'm running the Michelin XLS in the rear, and the Front S in the front... great combination, and works in almost ANY terrain. What I like about them best is that they're very versatile. I rarely ever change tires, so I like my tires to work in the rain, dry, sandy.. whatever. And these tires indulge my laziness :p

Originally posted by Jim311
What types of terrain are you riding?


Well, I live in the desert so... Mostly gravel and hard sand. Lots of rock too, very challenging.

So generally loose terrain? The XLS does really well in that kind of thing.. I'd really recommend it to anybody. Some say it wears quicker than other tires.. but I haven't really noticed that.

The Panaracer Fires are excellent tires, and will "go down in history" as some of the best treads ever, like the OnZa Aggro/Honch, the Panaracer Smoke, the Psycho, and the Specialized Ground Control.

They do load up with mud, and are not the tire of choice for muddy rides. For those most part, you shouldn't be riding in mud, so it's not a big loss. On loamy, dry or loose tracks, the Fires handle great. They are durable, fairly light and the 2 for $35 deal is VERY good. Get the 2.1's, orient them as marked on the sidewalls and you will be happy.

The UST tubless versions have WEAK sidewalls! I LOVE the regular ones though.

Another vote for the Michelins, though use the XL's as as opposed to the XLS's on the rear.

In response to your question about tire sizing between the front and rear: Generally, if you had a larger tire and skinnier tire, you would want to run the larger up front, the idea being that if your front tire makes it over something, the back one is just following so it will too. The extra width or plushness of the front makes it more likely to get over something in most cases. You don't need to think of the tires in terms of a car, where you would want the wider tires in the rear. If the terrain you ride does have lots of loose conditions, you will want a somewhat wide tire in the rear that you can run at lower pressures for lots of traction. If you start out with wide tires to begin with, you probably won't need to run a wider tire in the front. If I was running a 1.95 and a 2.1, the 2.1 would go in the front if I could get ok traction with the 1.95 in the rear. I wouldn't run a 1.95 in the real techincal terrain I like, but thats a good example. I tend to stick too wider, lower pressure tires for grip in extreme conditions while moving slowly up super-technical stuff.

-Moab

My XLS is 2.1 (It's actually wider than it says it is, but it's marked 2.1) and my front tire is a claimed 2.0... I haven't had any traction issues. I tend to like a high volume tire, and the wider the better. I just wish I could run a waider tire on my XC bike. I ride in so much mud.. it would help me so much.