We love the Panaracer CG Soft Condition in winter conditions but have since found that the reversed logic rubber compound undermines performance in intermediate damp conditions.
The super-simple ranked square block tread grips like a football boot on soft mire or snow. Because it wraps round the whole carcass you can heel it right over without losing grip.
Its soft-compound-under-hard skin construction gives amazing grip in the dry, and means that the knobs wear relatively well and the tyre rolls faster than we'd have expected. It drifts well in deep loam or loose rock and is fat and supple enough to plough into piles of rocks without too much worry about flats.
Unfortunately the hard outer skin can let go suddenly and completely on slick roots and rocks, creating an unpredictable dual personality. As a mud tyre the CG SC deserves a four-star rating but judged as a winter all-rounder we've had to mark it down for its performance in the wet.
This article was originally published in Mountain Biking UK magazine.
