Pros: fast rolling, light, XC, hardpack.

Cons: no grip when wet, poor on fallen pine needles and leves, wet roots, 2.1, very poor on loose surfaces.

Recommendation: these are the tires that came with my giant talon and they ar horrible for where i ride which is all of the con areas haha. Although i do like how easily the roll, i cant exchange speed for controol on tight singletrack.

Pros: Great of HARD PACK ONLY. Caem OEM on my Spark 20

Cons: Useless on any thing other than hard pack. Leaves you sliding in loose as there's limited bite.

Recommendation: Best used for a rec rider on a mellow trail. I rode them twice and immediately chucked them.

Model/Year: 29x2.1

Pros: Rolls super fast, grip well on dry hard pack

Cons: This is specific tire for specific conditions

Recommendation: I like how fast these tires roll and grip on dry singletrack. Cornering is smooth. Braking and acceleration also good. But once trail gets wet, these are useless. Pack with mud in seconds and have next to no grip.
There're many other fast tires that still will provide better mud shedding and wet/loose conditions traction.

Model/Year: Small Block Eight 2.1 UST

Pros: - Fast rolling
- Great on dry terrain
- Light
- Wear slowly

Cons: - Terrible grip in wet or muddy conditions
- Tire tread does not wick mud
- Price

Recommendation: Small Blocks are fantastic tires if you ride them in the conditions (dry and hard) that they were made for. However once you take them out of this environment and introduce gravel and water things will start going downhill quickly.
I have had a pair on my DJ and street bikes for a couple of years and they are as smooth as a baby's bottom. They roll fast and have very little resistance.

Definitely not a do-it-all tire, but as long as you use them in the conditions that they were designed for these things rip!

Model/Year: Small Block 8

Pros: -Low rolling resistance

Cons: -Traction is only good in very specific conditions.

Recommendation: These tires suck unless you ONLY ride on super hard packed blue groove or asphalt. Once the trail gets loose or wet, these things slide all over the place. I run them on my DJ bike that only goes to the skate park and board walk.

Model/Year: 2011

Pros: Fast!
Good grip on dry
You can set them up tubeless

Cons: They can slip out on wet
Doesn't tolerate very low pressures

Recommendation: Great tire! Very grippy and fast rolling. The best compliment I can give this tire is that I never have to think about it.

Pros: When the trail gives you hard pack, these tires excel. Great grip and excellent stability.

Cons: Very little grip on moist or damp trails, roots, rocks, and other loose surfaces. Even sitting on the seat doesn't transfer enough weight to keep things from spinning. May work better as a tubeless option on lower pressures to allow a greater contact patch.

Recommendation: Mine are the 2.1" version and while it can be a tubeless tire, the rear wheel is not set up that way at the moment. However, with the Slant 6 up front providing plenty of grip, the SB8 allows me to back-it-in on some corners, which has saved my butt a few times already. But, if you consistently ride loose, smooth roots, lots of well worn rocks, or other surfaces with a low coefficient of friction, you may want to look for another tire for the rear wheel. Again, using this as a tubeless tire MAY BE an option, as the lower pressures may allow better grip. I haven't tried this, yet, so I'm not tanking this tire quite yet.

Model/Year: 2011

Pros: Excellent on hardpack, very fast and good grip. Ran a race this weekend with very wet conditions, was worried about the reviews stating otherwise, but they performed very well. Didn't do any major climbing out of the saddle.

Cons: Had a couple wipeouts on curves with loose gravely trail but likely due to the new 29er and not so much the tire.

Recommendation: Great tire

Pros: Super fast on the trail. Good bite in the corners. Not as bad as some reviews stated in the wet stuff.

Cons: None

Recommendation: Best when dry but they are still a good tire when you cant change them on the fly.

Pros: Sticky. Little rolling resistance.

Cons: Not great when wet, but not as bad as I first feared considering other reviews.

Recommendation: Great tire for the dry season!

Pros: Fast rolling, wears slowly, great on dry and packed singletrack

Cons: thin sidewalls, and terrible in anything damp or wet

Recommendation: If you ride dry singletrack then buy these tires. Use it during the summer.

Pros: like the grip. very little rolling resistance. not too heavy

Cons: none

Recommendation: great rear tire run mine at 32 no problems at all.works good with slant 6 up front

Model/Year: 2011 DTC

Pros: grip, fast, great in most conditions, perfection!

Recommendation: I really love this for my rear tire. at 35psi it uses all the grip for climbing. I enjoy riding this tire everywhere. its perfect for hard pack but truly is the best fast rolling tire in sand and loose rock. pop a nevegal up front and SB8 in rear, you will be happy!

Pros: These tires really grip well in the right conditions. Almost the opposite of some reviews. I like this tire on the back in my riding area. rolls reall smooth

Cons: dry season only
not good in soft dirt

Recommendation: This is a greate rear tire imo for my area of riding.
makes hardpack feel like cement not bad in light loose/sand over hard pack, good over rocks. probably best for a racer or experienced rider - not me tracks well and grips very well in the right conditions.

Pros: fast rolling, yet good traction on hardpack

Cons: 2.1 is too small for my tastes and no good in sand and not so good in the mud.

Recommendation: If you have hard packed trails, its a great tire

Pros: Great fast summer tire. Get it in the DTC (dual tread compound) version for durable rubber in the middle and sticky grippy rubber on the sides for fast and lasting tires.

Recommendation: Great tire for the summer months.

Pros: Fast rolling. Good traction. Lightweight. Dual compound provides more durable rubber in the middle plus sticky side knobs for cornering traction.

Cons: None so far.

Recommendation: I have them on my DJ bike and like them sor far. Never lost traction on the pumptrack or dirtjumps.

Pros: love the low rolling resistance, as mention great for hard pack or pavement,like the folding bead which allows for easy packing of a spare for longer rides away from home.

Cons: sidewall to thin, just slashed mine couple days ago with a rock :(

Recommendation: over all great tire, sucks in mud/sand but great for maintaining speed on XC hardpack trails, definetly would recommend...

Pros: fast, low resistence, came on my Cannondale f9, good on hard pack stuff and pavement

Cons: more side wall grip, has trouble with loose pack stuff like sand

Recommendation: all around good tire lookin to upgrade to some thin with a lil more side grip for corners

Pros: Fast rolling
great tire for hard pack

Cons: Not great traction if the trail is wet or loose

Recommendation: Use them for hard pack XC or commuting

Pros: -Super light
-Very suptle
-Low rolling resistance
-Good grip - much better than you'd think

Cons: -Thin sidewalls
-2.1" is the largest 29er width available

Recommendation: I love these tires, been using them for about 2 years now. I use it as a rear tire year round. If it was offered in a larger width for 29ers it would be my summer front tire as well. I use the standard (non-UST) versions tubeless.

These tires roll really fast, and grip very well on hardpack. They are also a lot lighter than most other tires.

They perform best on hardpack, but do okay in the wet. Not so great in loose loamy soil.

The 120 TPI casing provides a nice subtle ride, especially when tubeless. However, the thin sidewalls can make tubeless set up a hassle. Once they're set up though, they're good to go.

Pros: Fast rolling and decent bite. Good cornering traction for a low rolling resistance tire. Available in 29" version ++

Cons: Thin sidewalls. At 120 TPI the sidewalls are supple which means they tend to roll a bit if you lean into them too hard. Fit is loose on my Easton XC Two rims.

Recommendation: I liked these tires right away but after several rides the weak sidewalls concern me a bit. Changed a flat on the trail recently and didn't need a tire iron because the tires were so loose on my rims. Hmmmm...

Pros: Excellent in Desert terrain. Will roll over Sand rather than plow better than any tire i've tried. Only tire I know that is fast in sand and gravel. Very low rolling resistence. super trustworthy on off camber hardpack.

Cons: DANGEROUS in the wet. Avoid. smooth wet concrete feels like ice to this tire

Recommendation: If you ride Dessert conditions this tire is fast and predictable. grips on any dessert terrain including sand. - IF IT IS WET DON'T USE.

Pros: These are actually a good tire and work very well on select terrain. Very fast rolling and efficient

Cons: Limited to hard pack, rock, and paved surfaces.

Recommendation: These tires work very well on the surfaces already mentioned you can however use them as well for rooted trails as well as rocky surfaces. As a rear tire you could probably even push these well through medium terrain (not muddy but a bit soft and get away with it. As a front your limited to the harder surfaces

Pros: As Suvacrew posted...Great on hardpack. These are great XC to road tires but do make great jumping tires on a pump/BMX style track.

Cons: Not for soft pack or wet trails

Recommendation: Great for XC to recreational riding. If jumping on harder pack is your thing, these tires are great.