seeing as my new bike is far to big a gift to ask of anyone for christmas, Im settling for upgrades...

this set me to thinking of what kind of tires i want for XC racing, of my two friends who race one swears by using 1.8(or even 1.7) with minimal center tread, the other jsut uses the same tires that he would for recreational riding

I am thinking that thinner tires(no smaller than 1.8) with light tread in teh center but heavy tread on the sides(for better cornering) would be ideal for XC racing, but then again, I have no real expierience besides expirence with 2.0's and some basic physics...any advice?

It primarily depends upon the terrain where you ride. See if your friends will let you ride their bikes to see if you can tell a difference between the tires they are using. My guess is that it won't really make *that* much of a difference for the average rider (which most of us are).

2.0 is a good size for xc riding.

He probably figured it out by now, never know though. This post was from three years ago though. ;)

Hey! But that reminds me I need to go pick up my new tires! Thanks for bringing this up.

I (very recently) bought a bike from my LBS and they gave me 20% off a pair of mud/offroad tire.Michelin mountain x-trem. WOW they retailed for 200 AUD a set. i think theyre tubeless.