I like Fire XC pros.

i’ve run 2.1 and now 1.8’s and they are brilliant tyres for my all year all condition requirements.

A bike I bought second-hand came with Fire XC pros. They were fairly worn admittidly but offered no grip at all in the mud. I swapped them for a Rubber Queen up front, 2.2 as they come up massive, and a Maxxis Advantage at the back. Really happy with that combo, maybe a bit slow but feels super stable and gives you lots of confidence. I’ve got Rocket Rons on the HT – I really like them too, reasonably grippy and super fast.

they perform very well in dry sandy pine forest conditions. IMO 8)

I like my Fire XC pros – goodish all rounder and not so stupidly expensive that I would cry if I knackered one.

I like them enough to have them on two bikes. i’ve found them to be good all year, all round tyres.

If you get on with Fire XC’s you will hate HR’s and Advantages because of the grip dead spot

Interesting remark. I have used all these and like them all. But I agree that HR in particular feel like they slide over onto their edge knobs and then grip like velcro.

Used to like them for their all-rounder skillz but have drifted through tyres nomadically for a while now. Went back to some old IRC Trailbears I found in the garage and even they were okay (well, predictable anyway) on wet and mossy rocks, roots etc.

fire xc pro are decent tyres but they have been around for ages and things have moved on

I went from these to conti verts (f and r)

then high roller F and conti vert R

now high roller on front and advantage on back

each step has resulted in significant preformance improvements

[like brian lopes states in ‘his’ book, when u are railing a corner, you won’t notice the difference between $20 bars and $50 bars, but u will between a 420 tyre and a $50 tyre.]

jhw – Member
I hadn’t heard of the “grip dead spot” concept before.

So if I interpret your post correctly, Panaracers are best when upright or on the edge (not that it matters how a tyre grips when you’re upright…except for climbing I suppose), whereas Maxxis HRs are better when you’re somewhere between full slide and not edging at all?

Also – this may be me showing my ignorance – isn’t a Minion a mud tyre?

No, no. It’s exactly the opposite way round. The Panaracers have pretty consistent grip however much they are leant. With HR’s and Advantages you get the dead spot.

And no, the Minion is definitely not a mud tyre. IMO it’s a reasonably fast rolling all rounder for Scottish conditions where it’s often wet and rocky.

thanks for that clarification

I might try Minions when I have the cash.

With HR’s and Advantages you get the dead spot.

I think it’s because there is larger space between the lines of central blocks and the lines of edge blocks. A lot of other tyres have a line of transition blocks in this space.

Aye, and for some reason I don’t mind that at all with my 2.35 HRs, in fact I rather like throwing them over, great tyres. With the 2.1, which is exactly the same just scaled down slightly, I often find myself on the deck wondering what happened. Weird.