Tires that inspired.......

Hutchinson on the rocks, used to use them all the time. Where are they now??

none. i do like ones that don't puncture at the sight of a stone.

For me BITD it was always a 2.1 smoke on the rear and a 2.1 porc on the front. I lived with this setup exclusively between 90 and 93. Always black walls.
I used to change the porcs when they were half worn and hang the used ones on the garage wall as spares. (I never did use them) when my dad sold that house in 2002 he threw out about 5 original porcs and 2 smokes

Specialized Hard Packs. 1.5 of course.

Very hard wearing - could be pumped up to 80PSI for tarmac etc and gripped pretty well too. Descended Jacob's Ladder umpteen times with them.... without letting the air out first. My Dave Yates broke at the head tube for the second time so I stopped doing that eventually.

1. Smokes 1.9 folding
2. Kona Mr Dirt & The Cleaner
3. Fire XC Pro 2.1 folding
4. Psycho II
5. Mega Bite

hutchison on the rocks, that was them, and on the rocks II i think...

also forgot the tioga factory xc combo, loved those too, running the semi slick in the dry as well...

velomaniac":166bctnp said:

WTB Velociraptors

Favourite tyre, always feel confident on them

Click to expand...

+1. They're beyond versatile. I run them exclusively BITD, I used them for just about anything and everything, ranging from the morning commute to light downhilling. Excellent tyres, they work well with most any terrain/weather conditions. I honed (and continue to hone) my skills (or the lack of) on these . I've grown up with them and are accustomed to their handling but despite my obvious bias I couldn't recommend 'em enough.

Ive no luck at all with tyres.I seem to favour the worst ever made

The first tyres I remember choosing rather than just riding what came fitted to the bike were some 1.7" Ritchey Z-max. I was an impressionable youth and all the magazines were raving about them and about how light they were. I saved up and bought a black one for the rear, and a red soft compound for the front. Unfortunately as I used one bike for everything and I was a budding Martyn Ashton they pinch-punctured all the time.

After this disaster I looked for the widest tyre I could find which at the time was a pair of IRC Yeti FRO tyres. These proved to be a great all round tyre, and I'd love another set now but they've probably all been hoarded by the yeti-philes. Then it was a natural move to the IRC Missile and later the IRC Kujo.

Footnote - I've just bought another set of 1.7" Ritcheys...

The Grey Umma-Gumma Specialized tyres, think it might have been Ground Controls?
I thought they were the best thing since sliced bread (and after the Smoke/Dart combo).