Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 43 total)
  • Anyone remember Panracer Smoke and Dart tyres?- fancy the modern equivalent-
  • rockhopperbike
    Full Member

    As fred title, does anyone make a dual compound modern version?- maybe HR 2 on the back? but not sure

    JoeG
    Free Member

    WTB Velociraptor is similar, with a front/rear specific version.

    Check on Retrobike and you will probably be able to find some recent production Smoke/Darts for sale.

    amplebrew
    Full Member

    They still make them them. 8)

    DickBarton
    Full Member

    Aye but not the 2.2 Dart…which was the daddy of front tyres.

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    fancy the modern equivalent

    That’ll be whatever of the current crop of tyre that works (almost all do these days) that’s been marketed well and caught the zeitgeist?

    Northwind
    Full Member

    I’ve hardly used a single tyre in the modern era that isn’t miles better than my smoke/dart combo. (Conti OEM-spec tyres can claim that dubious honour though)

    flap_jack
    Free Member

    I use the Velociraptors ‘cos I bought a load cheap years ago and they last forever. Actually not too bad in the mud if pumped up v hard.

    amplebrew
    Full Member

    I don’t recall the Dart and Smoke being that good to be honest.

    I used to run Ground Controls which I think were very well thought of at the time.

    jimmy
    Full Member

    Dart & Smoke Magic (in Biscuit)? Stuff of legends, they were.

    Minion & High Roller 2.35s a modern equivalent I’d say.

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    How many of us really find the limits of our tyres?

    flap_jack
    Free Member

    High Roller in mud ? Doesn’t work for me. Conti Barons my current mud favourite (on the best bike, the aforementioned WTBs on the hack).

    gonetothehills
    Free Member

    That takes me back! Around the time of the white Porcupine, Spesh Ground Control and the like. Happy (fully rigid) days 🙂

    amplebrew
    Full Member

    gonetothehills – Member
    That takes me back! Around the time of the white Porcupine, Spesh Ground Control and the like. Happy (fully rigid) days

    Not to mention Farmer Johns 8)

    bigjim
    Full Member

    I think the smoke was pretty decent out back, and the big dart wasn’t bad at all. Kind of tempted to try them again!

    garage-dweller
    Full Member

    Better than a Ritchey z max though
    Also of the same era the alpha and omega bites. The only bite I remember mine had were snake bite. Similarly the panaracer trail dusters.

    Modern equivalent no idea – some slicks?

    alandavidpetrie79
    Free Member

    The memories! 🙂

    headpotdog
    Free Member

    What’s to remember? Mate of mine is still running an original Dart 2.1 on the front of his bike 8)

    chestrockwell
    Full Member

    Every one wanted Farmer John’s, then every one wanted Panaracer Smokes. Neither were as good as Ground Controls.

    amplebrew
    Full Member

    I ran around on Hardpack 1.5’s for a while after MBUK used them on a Marin Ti in a quest to build the lightest mtb possible.

    That was when everyone went weight mad and people were drilling out things just to save a few grams.

    Those were the days when your rigid mtb was your XC, downhill and enduro bike all in one. The only difference in wheel size was the tyre width.

    Life seemed so much simpler then 8)

    rockhopperbike
    Full Member

    did like the cornering on the dart front- cant believe they still make em 😀

    johnellison
    Free Member

    I used to use an Onza Porcupine 1,95 on the front and a Smoke 1,75 on the rear. Awesome combo. I refused point blank to use ground controls simply because everyone else was using them. Plus you couldn’t get them in blackwall.

    Dibbs
    Free Member

    I’ve got Darts on the front of 3 of my bikes (they work very well for me on the Quantocks) , never rated the Smoke much and I found the Velociraptor front to be a horrible slidy unpredictable thing.

    asterix
    Free Member

    Those were the days when your rigid mtb was your XC, downhill and enduro bike all in one. The only difference in wheel size was the tyre width.

    Life seemed so much simpler then 🙂

    it can still be – it is for me, just one fully rigid mtb:-) have swapped the smoke/darts for XC pros but other than that, not much has changed

    Alex
    Full Member

    Farmer John’s were pretty horrible. Ritchey Z Max were a bit more horrible but my first proper set of MTB tyres were Tioga Psychos. Never has a tyre been sol well named. The great thing about them was their consistency – hardpack, dust, loam, wet, dry, roots, rocks, useless on the lot of them.

    I lusted after a smoke and dart combo but this was in the days when you wore your tyres out before changing them. Don’t think the tioga’s every wore out. Last saw ’em on a tractor 😉

    bigjim
    Full Member

    tractor

    I ran a ground control more extreme for quite a while, pretty serious pedalling traction but absolutely nothing for cornering, with about an inch gap between sidewall knobs.

    rockhopperbike
    Full Member

    ah, remember the GC Extreme – cartoon tyre.

    also had memories of Spesh storm control – sort of a point at a muddy hill and ride up it – brill as long as you avoided roots

    molgrips
    Free Member

    I used to like them, but that was only compared to other tyres at the time. And that was when we used to ride up to the top of the woods to take in a really long fire-road descent with hairpins. Nowadays fire-road descents are what you do if you’ve broken a limb or something and need to get back to the car!

    RustySpanner
    Full Member

    The benefits of any tyres back then were negated by the fact that if you ran less than 40psi you’d bend the rims every ride rather than every other one.

    I loved my Porcs though, they looked so trick as I lay winded next to the bike, yet again.

    Fires were sooo good when they came out. Ran nowt else for years.

    BigJohn
    Full Member

    I’ve got an old Ridgeback with Tioga Psycho IIs on it.

    kimbers
    Full Member

    i loved my kona Scratch and Snifs came on my 97 hahhanna

    heebyjeeby
    Full Member

    Used to be quite fond of the IRC Mythos myself (not sure why though, looking back)….

    johnnystorm
    Full Member

    johnellison
    I used to use an Onza Porcupine 1,95 on the front and a Smoke 1,75 on the rear. Awesome combo. I refused point blank to use ground controls simply because everyone else was using them. Plus you couldn’t get them in blackwall.

    Say what? I had these bad boys….

    Ground Control Black Max

    chakaping
    Free Member

    maybe HR 2 on the back?

    High Roller 2?

    Draggier than Danny la Rue in a drag race, don’t do it!

    amplebrew
    Full Member

    asterix – Member
    Those were the days when your rigid mtb was your XC, downhill and enduro bike all in one. The only difference in wheel size was the tyre width.
    Life seemed so much simpler then

    it can still be – it is for me, just one fully rigid mtb:-) have swapped the smoke/darts for XC pros but other than that, not much has changed

    My Jones and Dekerf are fully rigid, but I see very few rigid bikes out and about these days. Everyone seems to either have a suspension fork or full suspension bike.

    garage-dweller
    Full Member

    I am riding rigid again. Adds some challenge to the smoother non trail centre stuff in the south. My only concession is odd sized wheels – no middle ground for me either a big one and a little one.

    amplebrew
    Full Member

    I am cheating slightly with the Jones though as it’s got a Knard fitted to the front.

    I have just borrowed a Scott Spark though for a couple of days and was really suprised how easy it made the rocky climbs. The last full suss I rode was a Proflex back in 98.

    angryratio
    Free Member

    Am i alone in just fitting a tyre front and back and riding round the slight flaws in that paticular design
    I used to spend fortunes on stuff that was ‘fast rolling’ or ‘light’ but now 10 quid an end and contain air is about all i’m bothered about.

    P20
    Full Member

    Aye but not the 2.2 Dart…which was the daddy of front tyres.

    Completely agree. Pair it with a 2.35 Z-Max.

    However….
    Porcupines look great, but are complete rubbish
    IRC Mythos, which I used to love are completely lacking in grip, but damn fast.
    I’ll stick with modern tyres actually….

    schnor
    Free Member

    I bought some dart and smokes from america (Jenson?) about 2 years ago. I didn’t think the dart was very good (was poor off-camber and fairly thin), but the smoke on the back was pretty good TBH, thin sidewalls though and didn’t last long 🙁 very similar in feel to the S-works purgatory before the recent redesign

    jameso
    Full Member

    I found 2 Conti XC 1.9s, skinwalls, under the tyre pile last week. It’s been a while since I rummaged that far..

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 43 total)

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