This will be old news to some but will be useful information to some.

I've just discovered that there are two versions of 2.1 folding
Panaracer Fire XC Pros on the market - the 'normal' one and a poor
quality OEM version. Panaracer say that the OEM version is not
intended for sale but unfortunately some retailers take advantage of
the confusion. All Terrain Cycles (www.allterraincycles.co.uk) sell
the OEM version but not the normal version and don't indicate this on
their website. Now that I know this I won't be dealing with them as I
can't be sure of the quality of their other products.

The OEM Fire XC Pro tyre weighs over 10% more than the normal 2.1
folding version and is only 60tpi instead of 127tpi and the compound
is not the same. They are made in Taiwan instead of Japan and they
are both called Panaracer Fire XC Pros - interestingly All Terrain
Cycles don't call them pros on their website but that is what's
printed on the tyre and on the packaging.

I hope this email stops a few people buying these tyres by mistake as
I daresay many people buy the tyres based on their reputation and
don't realise they're not getting the real thing. I'd like to think
that pressure from consumers would get them to provide more
information on their site but I imagine they make a lot of money in
this way.

Jeremy