Tyres - Conti Mountain King Companion

ralph_ie

My Scott Scale came with Schwalbe Rocket Ron's which I persisted with for the dry summer which I know will be awful in the winter having found their grip a bit wanting even in the dry.

Having sliced a massive hole in the side wall of the rear tyre at Whinlatter whilst on holiday last week I was forced into a replacement. I now have a Conti Mountain King fitted on the front, as the best 650B tyre I could get from Cyclewise, and have put the other Rocket Ron on the rear.

But now I'm just going to replace the other too. Can anyone recommend a good rear tyre to compliment the Conti MK? Usually I'm riding XC around Oxfordshire so a good ability in mud for 9 months of the year is pretty essential!

iwilldoit

I've been using the Conti Trail king and find they very good in all conditions, for a like for like on the Mountain king the TK is a bigger tyre, the MK for a 2.2 is more like a 2.0/2.1 and the TK is more like what it says on the sidewall.

felix.london

I'd put a Trail King on the front and move the MK to the back. I have this setup (albeit with the older Rubber Queen) on my hardtail. Make sure the the TK is the Black Chili version.

I don't normally do much riding in the wet but we haven't had the greatest summer so far over here and the Trail Kings on the full-suss have been fine on damp rock and root. Not much experience in mud with them but have stumbled across the odd patch and never had any problems

poah

I run a mountain king 2.2 protection on the rear and a 2.35 bontrager XR4 on the front for most situations other than dry dusty hard pack. I got the bonti from evans as they price matched me so I was able to click and collect for £30. alternatively have a look on bike-discount.de

alternative to the XR4 would be a trail king. best to get the protection models

felix.london

If you ride in rocks or flint, beware the XR4's have paper thin sidewalls. Found that out the hard way...on stage 1 of an 8 stage enduro race

poah

I wouldn't describe them as paper thin but they certainly arn't as robust as conti's protection sidewalls

felix.london

POAH wrote:

I wouldn't describe them as paper thin but they certainly arn't as robust as conti's protection sidewalls

Not as robust as Conti's non-Protection sidewalls either

poah

felix.london wrote:

POAH wrote:

I wouldn't describe them as paper thin but they certainly arn't as robust as conti's protection sidewalls

Not as robust as Conti's non-Protection sidewalls either

you think, couldn't really tell the difference between the non-protection and the XR4's. I was surprised though given the weight of the tyre. must be a heavy tread

iwilldoit

felix.london wrote:

I'd put a Trail King on the front and move the MK to the back. I have this setup (albeit with the older Rubber Queen) on my hardtail. Make sure the the TK is the Black Chili version.

I don't normally do much riding in the wet but we haven't had the greatest summer so far over here and the Trail Kings on the full-suss have been fine on damp rock and root. Not much experience in mud with them but have stumbled across the odd patch and never had any problems

Not that I'm a fantastic rider but with the TK Chillies I have on my hard tail I haven't had a moment in any wet mud as such, the pic below was from doing a loop the wrong way round going up instead of down the long wet hills


I have put a MK on the back know things are a lot drier, hopefully less rolling resistance

iwilldoit

Took the bike for a spin tonight and I do think the bike seems quicker/easier to ride with the narrower MK on the back, I took it off as it's a std Conti tyre and it was a bit s**t on the puncture front so I have tried an old endure trick and wrapped the tube with a old punctured tube, see if it works.