Bell 2005 Sweep XC

Advantages: Light, excellent grip, fast rolling
Disadvantages: Fairly expensive, can puncture easily

...I have had a pair of these on my XC bike for about a year now and they perform brilliantly. They are very fast rolling and they provide excellent grip on medium to dry trails and the corner knobs allow the bike to be leaned right over into fast corners without sliding out. Although the tyres are a fairly soft compound they still last a decent amount of time on the road too so there are no worries of them wearing down too quickly if commuting to trails over a long distance. Their low weight ensures that they accelerate quickly and make climbing a breeze. There are only 2 downsides I can see with these tyres. First is the cost (although if you want quality they're not a lot more than the competition). Second is that I have found they puncture fairly easily if run at lower pressures due to their thin composition, although this is only... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: good in all conditions
Disadvantages: perhaps master of none?

...As a long-time keen mountain biker I've used many different tyres but for the last couple of years I’ve decided to stick with the Tioga XC's (26’ x 1.95’) as I've been pretty pleased with the performance in all conditions. Admittedly perhaps not king of anything but nevertheless at least competent in all conditions as far as I have experienced and I've done a lot of riding in different places and weather conditions. The knobbles are just the right size teat there isn't too much rolling resistance whilst maintaining plenty of grip on all kinds of surface including lose, wet and dry. The side knobbles also insure cornering stability and if you do push too hard they are quite predictable as they slide. Relatively hard wearing so long as you get the good versions rather than the cheap grey market ones... Highly recommended for all round... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Good durability, great for all day rides
Disadvantages: None

...Although to many tyre choice on a bike tends to come down to what the local bike shop have that's cheap, there's a few things beyond that which mountain bikers look at when buying tyres. The first main thing tends to be the use that the tyre's going to get. Shove a slick tyre with no tread on a bike that's going to get used in the mud, and you're going nowhere. Put a mud tyre on and go and ride on a hard surface and you'll be puffing and panting like Ivor the Engine with the flu. The Fire XC Pros fit in somewhere in the middle of the two extremes. As the XC in the name implies, this is a cross country tyre. Cross country riders expect some grip in the mud, but not at the expense of putting so much grip on the tyre that it's hard going all the time. Panaracer seem to have managed that quite well with the Fire XC Pro, although... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful