Review of Panaracer Fire FR Tire 26 x 2.40 Aramid Black / Black

Panaracer Fire FR Tire 26 x 2.40 Aramid Black / Black
By: panaracer Average Rating: 5.0 Total Reviews: 1
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Didn't fit the rear triangle of my Trek 8000 hardtail.

On: 2008-03-07

I tried finding out on the internet if these tires would fit my bike, but in the end just had to order them and find out--which was totally worth it, though the tires were too big. In ended up returning them, but regretfully.

Ive been riding Panaracer (and Hutchinson, but mostly Panaracer) for at least a decade now, particularly the Trailblaster. Panaracer makes awesome tires that really increase your confidence to be a bit more aggressive and/or challenge more difficult terrain.

With the recent purchase of a road bike, my mountain bike no longer needed to be the least bit roadworthy, so I wanted the fattest tires I could possibly fit onto my Trek 8000 frame. I was sooooooo disappointed when I mounted the rear tire first just to see if they would fit and found that the knobs rubbed lower tubes of the rear triangle (therefore the sides)--though they fit the rest of the frame just fine. It was just a tiny bit too big, but just enough that it made using the tire impossible without altering it.

Taking a dremel tool to the knobs that rubbed was tempting, but I decided to return these tires and get the Panaracer Cinders (26" x 2.25") instead of making another attempt with a slightly smaller 2.35" wide tire.

I did not try mounting the second tire on the front to see if it would fit my Duke XC fork, but since I took off the v-brakes and replaced with disc brakes I really have no doubt the tire would fit and perform just fine on the front.

No worries about fitting these tires on my narrow (presta) rims--they mount just fine on a thin rim.

My guess is, unless your frame is made to take up to 3" wide tires, these couldnt possibly fit as a rear tire even on an FS bike.

By the way: These are kevlar tires, a bit over 800 grams each (with tires these phat, weight is an afterthought), folding bead, recommended psi is up to 55psi, and they can be used front or rear.

As with most Panaracer tires, these get mounted one way as a front tire, and the opposite way as a rear tire--which is great when you switch (rotate) them after the rear tire has shown a good bit of wear prior to replacing the set many rides later. My general experience is that an avid rider (3000km/year) can get a year out of a set of Panaracers if you rotate them. Given that these are Freeride tires, youre likely to go shorter distances and theyll probably last you at least two years even with riding pavement--so theyre good Urban Assault tires.

Niagra Cycle Works (who sells via this page at the time of my writing this review) also gets a five star rating from me as my experience is that they have reasonable prices and ship things out that are ordered through Amazon within one business day, and provide e-mail showing tracking number and order status with likewise expedience.