i cant really comment on retro tyres, because we used to get 'hand me down' panaracer tyres from this bloke that used to race. so up untill 1996, i think i only paid for 1 or 2 pairs of tyres! my shed used to be full of part worn smokes and darts, untill they got skipped about 5 years ago!
currently, on my retro bike i have got a pair of irc mythos xc, as i think they look the nuts with the red side wall.
but on my modern bikes i run contis for xc, 'twist' if its really bone dry, got an old pair of 'traction pros' if its really wet but i wont usually put them on if there is going to be any road work as im scared of wearing them out! for general xc riding i have found that 'gravity', which is supposed to be a 'freeride light' tyre is really good on a narrow(ish) xc rim. its supposed to be a 2.3, but on a 717disc rim it looks more like a 2.0! very grippy, even in the wet. a very good year round tyre. even at mayhem in the fern i was riding past people that wanted to 'just go home'!
oh, and on the dh bike, i really trust michelin, had comp16's on my bike for 2 years now, only just starting to look tired(ha!), grip everywhere, dry/dusty/muddy/wet and never had a punture and i can run them as low as 12psi!
