best tires for east coast

[guitarsark]

I'm looking at the michelin wildgripper hot s and the panaracer fire xc pro. opinions? suggestions? any others i should be looking at?? want to kick butt on technical rocky terrain.

[Prefect]

I just put a set of Hutchinson Alligator 2.0's on my bike and I'm blown away by how well they stick to rock - even wet rock. I've heard some complaints about sidewalls getting torn on them, but so far no problems of that nature for me.

They clash a little with my silver and blue bike (the tires have yellow 'skunk stripes' on them), but otherwise I'm quite happy with them.

[EVIL BOTA]

I have the panaracers and I am not to happy with them. Go with the mich's. I have alot of problems with the front tire sliding out. Could be the rider,but I didn't have this problem before I put on the panaracers.:)

FC -

I've had good luck with the following:

Front - WTB Mutanoraptor 2.24
Rear - Tioga Factory DH 2.1

Not the lightest but works well the rocky stuff and hits.

I just ordered some Continental Vertical Pro 2.3's for my other bike. Reinforced sidewall. I hear good things.

NOO

[MMcG]

I'm running a Conti Survival Pro 2.3 in the rear and a Conti Vertical Pro 2.3 in the front and so far I've been very pleased with the performance.

They aren't the widest 2.3s that I've seen, but they are working well for me and my Belair so far.

I've heard that Panaracer has or will have some 2.3 Fire XCs available. I suspect that those would work really well too.

Good luck in your search for the right tires!

Mark

[Mr_Cheeze]

Currently using the Michelins myself. Best tires I've ever had for technical, rocky terrain. Highly recommended. I read somewhere that black tires grip better than color, so you might want to take that into consideration.

[puff_daddi]

I ran Michelin's for a short time - not because of the way they rode, but due to the short life time of these tires - I blew out three sidewalls in less than one season - the east coast trails tend to destroy the sidewalls (the rocks are like sand paper as you already know).

I have had good experiences with Maxxis (the most durable tires I've owned), IRC Serac XC, and the Panaracer Fire XC.

[sizlinseagulsoup]

I like NOO's choice of the WTB Mutono Raptor in the front, however get the 2.4" Race model. It's insanely light for the size (like 540 grams) and it is faster then any XC tire on the market. You can bomb downhills and run them at low presure (I have 28-30PSI) without worrying about a pinch (due to the increased size). Because of the low preasure and the awesome tread design, they will hook up on any corner, at any speed.

[AdeptComp]

The Panaracers didn't work well for me, despite their reputation as a great all-around XC tire.

I use Bontrager Revolt Super-Xs, a tire with a much lower tread profile than the Panaracers, and they hook up and break loose much better!

The Hutchinson Python Air Lites are very similar to the Bontragers, and have a great reputation for a tire that doesn't look like it should work well, but does.

I've also heard a lot of good things about the WTBs.