Panaracer Smoke question....

[captaincosmic]

I used smoke / smoke until the darts arrived but was never convinced that they were any better on the front they used to catch and grab on any ruts
They were probably great under Californian sky though.
I preferred a Porc up front they were soft enough to give if they caught a rut and brilliant in the loose soft stuff...peat and sand.
Ultimately I switched to using a 2.1 Porc up front and a real skinny Specialised tyre with a small blocky tread on the rear
Tyre choice used to be a big deal and I remember we used to take a few alternatives to a race ,have a test ride round then decide.

 

[T'boo Ted]

I loved the smoke... ran them front and rear, found the dart useless on the front...

currently running the reissue front and rear and they are as awesome as I remember...

 

[Neil]

I'm pretty good at remembering stuff from BITD, but I think my memory may be failing me or something.
Were Panaracer Smokes originally designed to be used on the front and rear of a bike, then the Dart introduced later? I've seen plenty of bikes with the Smoke/Dart combo but I can't recall seeing Smokes both ends, as I remember them when they first came out.
I love the look of Smokes and would LOVE to get a pair but I never see any for sale. I can't stand Darts, no idea why!!

My 91 Apex came with Smokes front and rear (edit: I still have them, they're not for sale, though...)

Darts came some time later.

 

[elPedro666]

More love here, I was/am of the fat Dart up front, skinny Smoke out camp, until I discovered the IRC V-Claw Lite (anyone have one, pleeeeease?).

I still do fatter up front on rigid bikes, matching on hardtails as a rule of thumb

 

[Ductape]

2.1 Smoke front and rear first (1990) then the 1.9 Smoke lite (1991)....
The others came after.....