Home > Other Fun Stuff > Uncategorized

SOC18: Continental mountain bike tires get more supple casings, revised tread, sidewalls, more

5 Comments
Support us! Bikerumor may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn More

First announced at Eurobike last year, Continental is rolling out some big improvements for their mountain bike tires. Using the same names as the previous range, the tires see a number of improvements from the tread patterns to the labeling. But perhaps most importantly, the tires stand to get a big increase in ride quality thanks to more supple, and more durable, sidewalls.

SOC18: Continental mountain bike tires get more supple casings, revised tread, sidewalls, more

To get there, Continental changed material to a Cordura Nylon that is not only 20-30g less per tire, but also results in a more air tight tire since the material is more tightly wound. You’ll also find less of a 3D pattern to the sidewalls for more consistent rubber coverage and weights. This is all combined with their Revolution Tubeless Ready system which promises tires that are easier to mount tubeless with more consistency.

SOC18: Continental mountain bike tires get more supple casings, revised tread, sidewalls, more SOC18: Continental mountain bike tires get more supple casings, revised tread, sidewalls, more SOC18: Continental mountain bike tires get more supple casings, revised tread, sidewalls, more

One other change that more tire manufacturers should get on board with, is the recommended rim widths printed right on the tire. In this case, the 27.5 x 2.4″ Trail king is meant for 25-30mm rims.

Most of the tread patterns are very similar to the previous versions, but have small tweaks to improve them.

SOC18: Continental mountain bike tires get more supple casings, revised tread, sidewalls, more SOC18: Continental mountain bike tires get more supple casings, revised tread, sidewalls, more SOC18: Continental mountain bike tires get more supple casings, revised tread, sidewalls, more

The Mountain King is a 2.3″ tire meant for 23-27mm rims.

SOC18: Continental mountain bike tires get more supple casings, revised tread, sidewalls, more SOC18: Continental mountain bike tires get more supple casings, revised tread, sidewalls, more SOC18: Continental mountain bike tires get more supple casings, revised tread, sidewalls, more

Same for the 2.3″ Cross King.

SOC18: Continental mountain bike tires get more supple casings, revised tread, sidewalls, more SOC18: Continental mountain bike tires get more supple casings, revised tread, sidewalls, more SOC18: Continental mountain bike tires get more supple casings, revised tread, sidewalls, more

While the 2.2″ Race King is meant for more racy 21-25mm rims.

SOC18: Continental mountain bike tires get more supple casings, revised tread, sidewalls, more SOC18: Continental mountain bike tires get more supple casings, revised tread, sidewalls, more SOC18: Continental mountain bike tires get more supple casings, revised tread, sidewalls, more

And Continental’s sole “plus” tire, the 27.5 x 2.6″ Der Baron Projekt is recommended for 29 – 35mm rims.

All of the mountain tires except the Der Baron Projekt are available in 26, 27.5, and 29″ versions for $69 each, while the DBP is only available in a 27.5″ for $84.

continental-tires.com

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

5 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Benno
Benno
5 years ago

Saw two tire producers continue their 26inch top-end line. Today was a good day.

SAWTOOPH
SAWTOOPH
5 years ago

Now the real question is are they actually going to measure the size they are listed at?

David K
David K
5 years ago
Reply to  SAWTOOPH

At Sea Otter they were grabbing different rims from vendor booths to check and from what I saw they always measured dead on or like 1mm off with calipers. Cool part is they were seating them with a hand pump and no sealant….fingers crossed!

Me
Me
5 years ago

I am going to give these a genuine try. Love Conti’s of past but been on Maxxis a while.

Greg
Greg
5 years ago

Race King has more gaps in the transition knobs. That’s cool, but I wish they beefed up the side edging knobs too.

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.