Continental Top Contact tyres?

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Anyone any experiences with these, especially off-road?

I'm looking for some wide (~45mm) 700C tyres for my Tricross, that have at least reasonable PF protection and can do tarmac plus some off-road.

Other possibilities spotted so far are Schwalbe Land Cruisers and Smart Sams, Maxxis Wormdrives are maybes too.

alfablue

I have had very poor experience with several Conti tyres - soft rubber, highly puncture prone, wear fast (they probably grip well but the cost is high). I would go for any Schwalbe or Specialized all conditions or armadillo instead.

AidanR

What do you mean by offroad? I'm a big fan of Schwalbe Marathon Supremes - light for their size (495g for 40c) but hard wearing, grippy and very puncture resistant (I've never had one in a year and a half). Roll pretty well too. They're tough enough for towpaths but don't have the grip for mud + hills.

turnerjohn

AidanR wrote:

What do you mean by offroad? I'm a big fan of Schwalbe Marathon Supremes - light for their size (495g for 40c) but hard wearing, grippy and very puncture resistant (I've never had one in a year and a half). Roll pretty well too. They're tough enough for towpaths but don't have the grip for mud + hills.

+1 any of the marathons...superb tyres !

ride_whenever

I think you need to define off-road.

I'm running Michelin CX mud2 tyres for towpath, mud and road work.

But if you're just on hardpack, and want puncture resistance then the marathon supremes are the dogs.

andrewc3142

From the Conti range for road plus a bit of off road the Travel Contact are probably more the thing. My wife has them for commuting on her MTB since she also wants to be able to ride on canal tow paths and forest tracks with the kids.

Not off road by any means but a reasonable compromise for her.

Personally, I really like the Conti range.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

I've got a pair of 25c Marathon Pluses fitted on the Felt, which will be replaced by something lighter this spring, which may well end up on the Tricross. However, I sort of fancy fitting some monster sized tyres, which I now think will be either:-

A pair of 28x1.75" Smart Sams (although I need to confirm the clearance, as this is pushing it for even a CX bike, so might end up being safe 700x40s)
A pair of 700x40 Land Cruisers
Perhaps Smart Sam up front and Land Cruiser at rear
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gb155

I have used top contact tyres and although only for around 400 miles I never once had a PF visit, I ran over lots and lots of smashed bottles too, would use them again in a flash.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

gb155 wrote:

I have used top contact tyres and although only for around 400 miles I never once had a PF visit, I ran over lots and lots of smashed bottles too, would use them again in a flash.

What is the grip like, gb155? From the pics in e-stores, it is not easy to make out how big those nobblies are on the edge of the tyre, that run parrellel to the rim. I wondered whether they would off any traction on light off-road surfaces, such as park pathways, which can be anything from tarmac/gravel/rubble/mud/ dry loose soil (depending on recent weather conditions)?

antlaff

I have had 700*37 on my focus for last year (1500miles approx) and got my first p******e 2 weeks ago - they were still within the 1 year warranty. Wiggle sent me out brand new tyre and tube, refunded my return postage and yes Haribo's as well!!