Panaracer Extreme Evo2

Price Paid:  $33.00 at universalcycles.com

Favorite Ride:
Vintage Steel

Bike Setup:
Various - Fuji Olympic, Bridgestone RB-1, Miyata 1000, Peugeot PX-10

Summary:
These are one of the first tires I'll recommend to my friends if they ask my advice.

In order to understand my review you'll have to understand the type of riding that I do. I'm primarily a fair-weather commuter with fantasies of being a racer (I do longer, faster rides on the weekends), but I have owned several pairs of tires and these are some of my favorites.

As far as performance goes - the grip is phenomenal and the tires have a nice roundish shape that's conductive to achieving a good balance for the bike.

Installation wise, it was some of the easiest tires I've installed.

Durability, they actually lasted significantly longer than the horrible Panaracer Duros (the Duros chunked apart extremely easily and wear was very un-uniform and were unusable in 300 miles). So far I have put on about a 700 miles on these Extreme EVO2 tires, including a century ride and there is still plenty of thread. Also, I'm not sure if I'm extremely lucky, but other than a pinch flat (my fault), I haven't received a single flat. And I rode almost everyday though the glass-riddled streets of Washington DC too! I think the higher tire pressure makes the tire a lot harder and less prone to flats, but that's just me speculating.

Comfort-wise they're much much better than anything that's made of Kevlar, even when the Kevlar tires are wider. Given that I commuted with these tires, I guess I would say the ride quality is firm (I ride at 90~100 PSI), but comfortable in a sporty car kind of way.

Price-wise they seem affordable at about $30 a tire compared to other racing tires (especially tubulars!).

Strengths:
Great handling
Easy installation
Durable
Reasonably comfortable
Affordable (not cheap though)

Weaknesses:
They don't come in wider sizes - 700C X 23 is all you can get.

Similar Products Used:
Continental Gatorskins (so-so), Panaracer Extreme Duro (terrible), Panaracer RuffyTuffys (pretty good), Michelin Carbons (also really good), Continental GP2 tubulars.