The first performance tire I ever purchased for my mountain bike in the 90’s was a Panaracer Fire XC Pro. A lot has changed since then, but the Fire Pro tread refuses to go away, which is probably a good thing since many people still run and love that tread pattern. To stay current with the times, Panaracer has a new tubeless compatible Fire 29er Pro, and Fire 650b Pro to carry on the legacy, both in a 2.35″ width. There is also the new Comet Hard Pack tire for 27.5″ bikes in multiple sizes with tightly spaced lugs that looks like a cross between an Ikon and a Small Block 8. Panaracer has shown that for the future they are committed to 27.5″, 29, touring, gravel, and fatbikes?
Sitting on display at their booth with no information, Panaracer seems to have decided to enter the fatbike market with a 26 x 4.0 tire of their own. Built with what we would consider a medium, all purpose tread pattern, the tire illustrates that most tire manufacturers feel they can’t stay out of the fat bike market for long. Which is good news for fat bike fans, more competition should mean lower prices for one of the most expensive fat bike specific components. No more details other than it was there (most of the time, it seemed to disappear every so often). Look for more details on this in the future.
Known for their touring tires, Panaracer is getting into the gravel/street market for 27.5″ with their new Pacenti designed Pari-Moto. Offered in a 66 TPI or 126 TPI gravel tire, the 27.5 x 1.5″ Pari-Moto looks similar to the company’s Gravel King and uses the same anti-flat casing. Claimed weight is somewhere around 280-300g.
