The Missile, Mythos and El Gato are pretty much the same period. The Piranha was earlier, the Notos came later. Anyhow, Cannondale was racing IRCs back then and Missy was their biggest star, besides the awesome Myles and Franck Roman or Kim Sonier, so the name came from Missy, who was also nicknamed the Missile (hence the name). This was 1997, by the way. El Gato tires were pretty much the same period, but less withspread. As far as I can remember, they were pretty popular with trialists, which was also the case for the later Kujo tires. As a fun fact, here in Romania the guy who was credited with "inventing" the pedalkick (there were no trials videos) used Kujo tires in the rear and always left these skidmarks, so the move rapidly got the name "Kujo" and it sticks to this day!
I remember the reddish brown sidewall and yellow graphics of all IRC tires back then and how desirable they were. Compared to other period tires, like the Z-Max or the Psycho, the Mythos was of a different world. I would still ride it today. The Kujo was said to be awesome and we all felt like it, but when we got our hands on some real downhill tires, it quickly slipped into oblivion and you can only find it on certain bikes of people who swear those are the best tires ever. Poor people!
Nice find! Stick to them!
I miss IRC as a company!
Mx
