Review of Panaracer Fire DH Pro Tire 26 x 2.30

Panaracer Fire DH Pro Tire 26 x 2.30
By: panaracer Average Rating: 5.0 Total Reviews: 1
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panaracer dh pro 26 x 2.3

On: 2007-07-27

First, I would describe myself as a intermediate rider who gets out about 2 x a week for about 2 hours at a time. I ride moderately aggressive, I do my best to charge my downhill runs on fire roads and single track with minimal breaking and I am getting ready to do my first mountain man triathlon. If youre looking for a "pro" or "expert" rider review - this ones not for you. This is more about an average riders perspective.

For me, this tire has worked fantastic - I ride in Hawaii where damp roots and rocks can cause ice-like conditions that pop up from nowhere and can cause... well... problems (Ive got the wrist surgery to prove it). Adding a set of these to my last bike - 05 specialized comp xc - made a huge difference in the slide and recovery factors from these conditions.

Heres how I ended up trying the Fire DH - After just a few rides on the comp xc- I got rid of the stock tires and picked up panaracer xc 2.1s - which proved to be too narrow for my riding preferences. So, I then picked up a panaracer 2.4 (cant remember the model) for the front, and the panaracer dh pro 2.3 for the back - which was a great combination, but the 2.4 took too much out of my climbing ability. After some more tweaking around, I ended up with the 2.3 on the front and one of my old 2.1 on the back - again, the 2.1 on the back proved to be too small.

After all of this, I have ended up buying a 07 Enduro SL - great bike, but again, not a big fan of the specialized tires. Just added the DH pro 2.3s to the front and rear tires and absolutely love the ride. No pinch flats, great for intermediate downhill and decent for trails and climbing. The tire is beefy enough to hit rocks or obstacles with solid force, but not so beefy that you loose all of your trail speed or climbing ability. For racing - Im thinking I may want a lighter and less knobby tire, but for freeriding mixed with intermediate downhill and moderate drops - these tires have really lived up to my expectations.