continental tyres

robinta

Been looking at getting a pair of 2.2 Mountain Kings Protections. I cant find info on the compound but the cheaper `standard` tyres in Evans looked and felt very plasticky. Anyone know the compound figures & are the Protection versions different ?

I would have thought at 20 quid to 32 quid that they must be ??

Anonymous

I was told by my LBS that the cheaper versions are a different compound, but as I've only ridden these cheaper ones, I can't tell you specifically, WHAT that difference is.

i believe the "protection" versions have reinforced sidewalls to help prevent pinch punctures.

The Spiderman

This is from a recent artcile in Singletrack:

Anyway, don't be put off Black Chilli MTB tyres assuming they'll be sketch-tastic grip-wise because the name is used in roadie tyres that have ultra-low rolling resistance. Through the magic of Black Chilli, Continental claim to be able to make tyres that are both fast AND grippy.

Basically (hah!) Black Chilli works at a microscopic level (Continental are wisely retiscent to call it "nanontechnology" as that term gets bandied about and misused all over the place). So although the tyres don't feel "soft" when you poke them, if you try and drag your finger over the rubber you can feel it grip. Adhesion is achieved on a small scale but over a large area - so a small knobble can have the grip of a big chunky one but without the rolling resistance or drag. The rubber is also much more durable than tradtional "sticky" rubber compounds. With Black Chilli Continental claim to be able to make one tyre that can exhibit lots of different attributes - no need to make one tread pattern in a million different compounds (dry, wet, slow rebound etc etc). Black Chilli tyres should perform consistently from day one right up until they go bald because the compound is used for the entire tread rubber - so there won't be any sudden onset on sketchiness

The Spiderman

BTW I believe the Protection version also uses the black chilli compound,as per the suspersonic.May also be differences in the carcass too.

Chaka Ping

They're very grippy tyres, don't worry.

There's probably full info on compounds on the Continental website.

zero303

The black chilli compound grips alright. In the dry on smooth rocks you can actually hear it squeek like a gym shoe on polished wood floor occasionally!

However, if you go Supersonic, you end up running higher pressures (40 - 45psi) for fear of flats and then on wet roots (aplenty in Bristol) they're useless...

I run Supersonic Mountain King 2.4s but they'll be coming off for the winter.