[budgetrider]

Dart's are ok on bikes with steep head angles as long as you don't touch your front brakes.
The funny thing is running a smoke up front. It works better than a dart, especially while braking. Serious rolling resistance though.

Fire XC Pros are much much better.

 

[MtnbikeMike]

Can someone tell me what TPI means.......?.....like the Maxxis xCeption series are 120 TPI......is 120 a good number or something....?

And what are some tire presuures you guys run in rocky terrain.......?

TPI= Threads per inch. It refers to the thread count in the casing. A higher number will make for a more supple(able to conform to the ground better) casing, resulting in a better tire.

 

[Darkreaper]

waves thread necro's wand

Ok, in a toss-up between Conti Verticals and Panaracer Fire XCs what would you pick? Ideally responses from those who have ridden both...

 

[blue]

Depends on the terrain. Here in Utah, where most you're generally riding on dry, dusty singletrack, clay, and higher dryer alpine terrain the Panaracers kill the Contis. They roll faster and hook up better in our conditions. The Contis are slower and didn't seem to do as well in dry stuff, but in wet stuff (Like in England) their wider spaced knobs did far better than the Panaracers, whose tightly spaced knobs packed up with mud and gunk rather quickly. It's a tossup, they're both good tires but they're good in differing conditions...how wet are the trails you normally ride?

 

[punkassean]

When I used to use pinner XC tires the Pythons and Fire 2.1's were my favorites. But these days I'll take the weight penalty for being able to ride harder into corners and through ruts etc. I like a nice stiff sidewall and grippy lugs.

I'm running the Specialized Enduro Pro 2.4" "2Bliss" front and rear. They are heavy at 980gm each but they absolutely rock at everything I've encountered from mud to dust to pavement. They are about ~$45 retail. I have also used Michelin Wildgrippers in the 2.5" size and considering how light they were they worked very well. I'd bet the 2.1" version is really nice for XC.

 

[GumbaFish]

Yeah I've been deciding between getting the conti verticals or panaracer fire xc pros as well, I am leaning towards the panaracers but I'm still undecided. Which, for those of you who have ridden them, would you say does better on rocky areas?

 

[Darkreaper]

I'm in green ol' N. Ireland, so the trails are almost never dry and rarely dusty, it's usually at least a bit wet. I'm running conti survivals at the minute which should give you an idea of what it's like...

 

[ilikebikes444]

i found that the best all round tires are the continental explorer supersonic's...

try them and you won't be disappointed..

peace

 

[blue]

Yeah, go with the Contis. The Panaracers will give you crap in the muck.

In rocks the FireXC seemed to hook up a little better than the Contis, but you still have to factor in the whole poor mud performance from the FireXCs.

 

[Darkreaper]

I'm liking the look of the Vertical ProTection - stronger sidewall reduces pinch-flats, right?

 

[Borregokid]

I kind of like the Python Lites Tubeless. I ran them though all conditions, although at one of the races they did quite a bit of slipping in some slick mud and might have cost me.

My last race I put on a set of Kenda Klimax(Climb Max). This race had 3200 feet of climbing. I also switched wheels and knocked off about 2 pounds. The guy who beat me in the last two races probably didnt see it coming-I put 11 minutes between us. I put a lot of air in the Kendas I figured they were prone to pinch flats. Might have been a risky strategy but I knew they paid off at the top of the last climb.

 

[Matjean]

Panaracer Cinder 2.25 rocks

 

[vwmtnbiker]

having tried the fire xc's, cinders, velociraptors, and now the larsen tt's i have to say that for anything xc you'll find in the DC area the tt's OWN. im running the 2.35 super-tacky's and absolutely love em. they dont bog up with mud like the fire xc/cinders do. the only item of concern is how well they will wear being a soft compound but they rail amazingly.