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Panaracer Sneaks New 29er Mountain Bike Tires into Lineup

2012 Panaracer Comet 29er lightweight mountain bike tire
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2012 Panaracer Comet 29er lightweight mountain bike tirePanaracer’s got a nice little trio of new 29er treads available on their website, and they’re looking pretty good for the weight weenie XC crowd. Maybe.

Looking at the weights, they’re coming in awfully light even at 2.2 widths with some decent knobs (again, XC) if these numbers hold true. We’re thinking maybe, just maybe, the website needs some updating, but we wanted to just go ahead and get these in front of your peepers. Come Monday, we’re hoping for some verification from Panaracer on the weights. Until then, we’re just happy to see the extra 3″ on the roster.

UPDATED 2/6 – Corrected weights added for Comet. Others are supposedly correct.

At left is the Comet, a dry/hardpack only tire that’s available in a 29×2.1 (600g to 730g) and 29×2.25 (680g to 760g). It’s available with either aramid (60tpi) or steel (30tpi) beads, hence the two weights listed. These are listing the same weights for both sizes, and actually list lighter than the same width 26″, which is why we’re double checking with them first of the workweek.

2012 Panaracer Driver 29er lightweight XC mountain bike tire

The XC/Marathon-oriented Driver’s got me pretty excited. Given the overall performance of the Syncros FLavor I’ve been rockin‘, the extra side knob height on these is intriguing. Claimed weight is 590g for a 66tpi 29×2.2, MSRP should be $55.95.

2012 Panaracer Soar 29er lightweight All-Mountain bike tire

The Soar is their all-condition tread pattern designed for loose and hardpack. The center knob section looks fairly well connected to reduce rolling resistance. Claimed weight for the 29×2.2 is 560g for aramid bead and 690g for steel (non-folding).

UPDATED: Pricing added for Driver above. Soar and Comet will be $24.95 for steel bead and $34.99 for folding kevlar bead, which is pretty cheap. Official word from Panaracer is that they are standard tires but they’ve run them with Stan’s sealant with no problems.

Updates as we get them. Thanks to Dan for the heads up!

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Fixie Dave
12 years ago

http://cellarrat.blogspot.com/2012/01/panaracer-driver-pro-29×22.html

ive got a over a month on the driver and i thinks a pretty awesome XC tire, endurance tire.

Jeff
12 years ago

Hi Guys,

The information on line currently is not 100% correct. I’m geting some of the specifications on the new Comet, Soar, and Swoop. I’ll let you know as soon as the information is updated or you can contact me on Monday. But this is true: Driver29Pro is at distributors now. And Comet, Swoop, and Soar will be at distributors in April/May.

tom
tom
12 years ago

Both of these look pretty good, and at weights that are close to the Racing Ralph which has been my go-to tire for the last couple years. The second one kind of reminds me of a WTB ExiWolf without being being like 800g. Looking forward to seeing how these hold up in tubeless setups.

King County
King County
12 years ago

That first one looks like a Kenda Small Block 8, except ithas 7 knobs. The others remind me of tires I’ve seen before, too.

xcgeek.com
12 years ago

one could say that all of these tires resemble other brands tire treads… but not. everyone has their own little twist. personally, i would love to get a hold of a driver. it looks like a superb and fast xc rear tire.

Sevo
Sevo
12 years ago

If I recall correctly, these are all (except the driver) available in 26″ too.

80
80
12 years ago

going through that list, i was amazing the Fire was still made – then i saw SMOKE & DART!

i think the ’91 Kona Explosif i scored last summer needs a set of those.

Jeff
12 years ago

@Sevo: The Driver will also be available in 26 laster this year. June/July.

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