Love them. Bought the standard (made in India) folding type and really like the tyre but man, do they puncture easily. No issues with side walls tearing as some on here have reported but the type of terrain I seek out is mulchy, rooty rather than rocky.
My question is, do the Protection (at £40 an end!) really show a benefit in puncture resistance.
I do like the idea of the Black Chilli too as the ones I have do tend to slip on wet roots very quickly, again is the improvement worth the premium price? Or do I go back to High Rollers (been using them for years).

Ta,

Jef

From what I’ve heard yes the protection and black chilli are worth it.

I had the same tyres as you and couldn’t believe the amount of punctures i got. Just riding through local woods any little twig would go straight through! The amount of money i spent on tubes in the month i had the tyres was crazy 😡

I did quite like the tyres otherwise but couldn’t justify the price of black chilli.

I now run a nobby nic on the front and ralph on the back. The ralph does seem to puncture fairly easily but nothing like the MK’s. The nic seems good, although the compound is a little hard (these are the cheapy ones).

I use a protection 2.4 on the rear, and the non protection on the front in 2.4. I find if the front is not pumped up to 1,000,000 psi then it punctures far too easily. Once I can justify the cost i will definately be buying the protection version. Great tyres though.

The amount of money i spent on tubes in the month i had the tyres was crazy

Tubes can be fixed, unless you are splitting them (overinflation / thin tubes / large snakebites from underinflation).

they puncture easily

What kind of punctures are you getting? Sure it isn’t snakebites?

I do like the idea of the Black Chilli too as the ones I have do tend to slip on wet roots very quickly, again is the improvement worth the premium price?

Seriously, wet roots are slimy as all heck, no rubber compound will be much better than any other rubber compound on them. They need to be ridden over carefully, avoiding braking and angles, and making sure to unweight the front wheel when going over them.

Hi Nikk,

No pinch punctures, flint splinters and thorns. 4 punctures in the last 5 rides is a real pain in the back side especially when riding time is precious (wife is a nurse working shifts and we have 18 month old bubby) so I would rather take in another trail section rather than fixing tubes in the woods.
I am with you regarding wet roots. It always makes me smile when I see a bit of manufacturers blurb saying their tyres stick to wet tree roots. I don’t believe there is a tyre out there that would. I am comparing experiences with previous tyres. You expect a bit lively action but these MK’s really took me by surprise as to quite how slippy they were.

Protections are worth the extra – Black Chilli rolls really quickly and grips like hell. The tyre life is short though as it’s very soft.

Avoid the Supersonic though – comes up really narrow. I have wider 2.1″ tyres…

Thanks all,

fizzicist, I had the Race King Supersonics for commuting on my hardtail a few years ago (like to divert from Tarmac to occasional trail if I can) and the side walls let go on both within 50 miles just on tarmac!! I changed these to Protection and they are great, but no good in the woods, ever.

Hmmm, pay day today, I may just blow this months parts allowance on these then. I will report back with some back to back experience if I don’t die.

I would rather take in another trail section rather than fixing tubes in the woods.

Cool, but you fix em at home, right?

It always makes me smile when I see a bit of manufacturers blurb saying their tyres stick to wet tree roots. I don’t believe there is a tyre out there that would. I am comparing experiences with previous tyres. You expect a bit lively action but these MK’s really took me by surprise as to quite how slippy they were.

I can’t think of any examples of that type of advertising, what have I been missing 🙂

It always makes me smile when I read of MTBers expecting to bash through wet roots and not fall off 😉

Ok, some tyre compounds will be slightly better than others, but things like tread pattern, wear, tyre pressure, riding style, skill, what was ridden through just prior, and the exact natyre and angle of the root itself ALL have more of a bearing on slipping or not on roots than the bloomin tyre compound.

Black Chilli rolls really quickly and grips like hell. The tyre life is short though as it’s very soft.

I haven’t found that hey wear that fast. My old Mountain Kinds Mk1 got a bit soft on the edges fairly fast, but the tread lasted well IMHO, 3 years worth of a lot of use.

I had the Race King Supersonics for commuting on my hardtail a few years ago (like to divert from Tarmac to occasional trail if I can) and the side walls let go on both within 50 miles just on tarmac!

What the heck are you doing to your poor tyres man!

I changed these to Protection and they are great, but no good in the woods, ever.

???

I used to run a standard Mountain King 2, 2.4 at the front. I also had a lot of punctures. Since swapping to a High Roller 2, I’ve had no punctures at all.

I have a couple of friends who run MK2 Protections, and they managed to rip the sidewalls at Afan, but that might just be poor line choice.

Only ever had one puncture (a thorn through sidewall) since I started MTBing again in late 2011.
I always use tyre liners.

I’ve been running MKII 2.4 Protections for a couple of months now, holding up well. Ridden all over scotland, and in the Alps. I can see places where I’ve scratched the sidewalls, but they’re holding up very well.

Black Chili is a great compound.

Seriously, wet roots are slimy as all heck, no rubber compound will be much better than any other rubber compound on them

Hans Dampf were a revelation for me in on wet roots. Who would have thought you could find grip here? I’m not saying they work any voodoo magic but they definitely inspire a good deal more confidence.

RE: Conti MKII Protections, I have a pair of these. Probably my rear tyre of choice, but I’m not able to get on with it on the front. Sidewalls look worn out in no time at all but it doesn’t seem to affect performance.

Winch – what don’t you like about it on the front?