Am I alone in thinking that Conti bike tyres are just not very good? Every one of their tyres I have used I have disliked, my list is:
Vertical Pro’s – no bite, didn’t corner well, just rubbish
Rubber Queens – no confidence in leaning them over, heavy draggy, crap
GP4000s – everyone seemed to rave about them, I found them vague, lacking in grip and I just had no confidence in them through the corners
Gatorskins – the newest and worst of the lot. Not puncture resistant, no grip in the corners, just horrible.

Am I just unlucky? Or do I have unrealistic expectations of them?

I use only Conti at the mo.

Rubber queen/ race king on the mountain bike. Used to only use maxxis but find these great.

Grand Prix 24mm on the road bike, had em on for nearly 3 years now, not a single puncture.

Sounds like the opposite to your experiences, horses for courses!

No, I hate them too. all types and treads, MTB and Road. just never got on with them. I hear you especially on the road front, I think Gators are the worst of the lot. and GP4000 tubs were very scary in crits.

Oh, and Der Kaiser dh tyres are insane.

The grippiest tyres I’ve ever used and the only tyre I’ve ever used and not torn a hole in the rear on my hard tail.

Gp4000 good alround road tyre for me.

Used man different mtb tyres and all were good in the intended comditions and reasonable in everything else.
That is apart from speedkings which will try and kill you if it even so much as looks like it might rain.

Have tried several Conti’s over the years. Still rate Rubber Queens as one of the best all round trail tyres (Black Chilli obviously), and reasonably impressed with the MK2’s. Their road tyres though, I don’t get what all the fuss is about, compared to Schwalbe equivalents they’re hard, lifeless and don’t grip very well.

So mostly conti aren’t very good IMO. But then as much as I rate Schwalbe road tyres, I’m completely the opposite on their MTB tyres (though I’ve yet to try the Hans Dampf)…

I currently run mountain king 2.4 up front and x king 2.2 rear on my rigid ss and I’m very pleased with this combo, comparable to nobby nic + ralph on my other bike.

Rubber Queens – no confidence in leaning them over, heavy draggy, crap

Which rubber Queens have you tried ?

I have been using BC RQ’s for ages, and love them. I have tried various tyres on and off in between, but have yet to find a better all round tyre than the RQ. 🙂

I think they’re great, but they’re expensive and usually have one obvious bad area that’s to be expected.

Verts: Great all rounder. Good in mud, reliable on everything else. Bit draggy.
Rubber Queens: Awesome, so much grip and confidence in the Lakes. Bit draggy on grass and gloop.
X-Kings: Really quick on hardpack, fire trail, road and dry rock. Lethal on wet green rocks.

Tyres are a personal preference.

gators don’t grip but don’t puncture IME. Ultimately I’m not racing but I hate punctures so I use them.

Got on well with Barons in the alps this summer, got me across snow on the passportes that other were pushing / carrying…

My opinions – I found the Vert Pro’s a bit slithery on the front but there was a narrow pressure range where they did work well.
Mountain Kings don’t convince with grip on wet rocks.
but both are light and fast rolling.
Find the Ultrasport road tyres OK though.

Prefer to use Maxxis now.

Barons – great winter tyres for all but the muddiest conditions

Xking – decent rolling with acceptable grip in the dry/slightly damp

Race king – stupidly fast rolling, slide in the wet but at least it’s a predictable slide and let’s be honest they are not for this purpose.

All of the above have been their <£15 wire ones…

Going to splash out on some BC ones for tubless set up next.

Hang on, I’ve just remembered, I do like 1 tyre. I have a RaceKing Supersonic which is very flimsy but grips well and is rapid. It is my go to summer tyre.

The Gatorskins are now being taken off the winter roadie and replaced by Schwalbe Blizzards that were dirt cheap but do actually grip.

Rubber Queen’s alright- I honestly reckon half the hype was just because it was the first good tyre conti had made for years, but maybe that’s just me. Never understood the love for GP4000s. And they’re still far too dependant on their clever rubber to make a tyre that works, which makes them expensive- wonder what a wee Conti/CST collaboration of rubber sorcery and tread science could do.

But, Conti’s Baron is a bloomin fantastic tyre, as far as I’ve found it’s without competition.

Hmm, I particularly hate punctures in the winter, so gator skins are my winter road tyre of choice. Grip’s bad but not that bad…

2.4 Black Chilli X-Kings are brilliant for crossing mountainous terrain quickly.

It’s worthy to note their Black Chilli tyres at like £40 quid plus.

I would hope a company could make a good tyre at £40 quid.

It whether they can make a good tyre at £20 quid!

It’s well known that the “cheap” versions of the Conti tyres are pretty much useless. The black chili ones on the other hand are brilliant IMO. Rubber Queens went up tubeless with a track pump on flows, are not too draggy and provide bags of grip! Just my opinion though!

Mountain Kings tried to kill me on every vaguely damp summer ride I went on (I do live in lancashire which could be deemed to be unsuitable for anything other than mud tyres all year round).
Love my Conti Grand Prix road tyres though.

I think the puncture protection in the Gatorskins is pretty good. I’ve never felt too confident with the grip on wet greasy roads though.

I don’t use them personally but lots of good riders I know swear by Rubber Queen Hot Chili’s

Hopefully mr postman has got my rubber queens today.
Useless local distributor doesn’t bring them in, so have to get them from Ireland.

my Baron is so good I’m contemplating having sex with it

Had Verticals, Explorers and now Rubber Queens IMHO they just keep getting better.

It’s all subjective with tyres, more so than any other bike part.

BC Rubber Queen (F), X-King (R) was a great combo for me (had some initial deformation issues with the X-king but Conti sorted no questions) – went up tubeless easy with a track pump and a great ‘3 season’ set up.

Only issue was weight of a UST RQ and the cost. Amy now running Spesh Purgatorys F and R for the winter (switch to The Captain on the rear in spring) – at least 95% of the grip and a bit of weight saving for about 2/3 of the cost.

The black chili Rubber Queens are really good, especially with the stronger carcasses. Although they are expensive to buy I have never known a tyre with such a grippy compound to last so well, I’d say they have well over twice the lifespan of anything comparably sticky. I’d be interested to see if any other RQ BC users have noticed the same?

The old Speed Kings were fast but fragile and sketchy in corners. The X-Kings are fast and amusingly drifty but wear weirdly fast (tearing off knobs). I have no idea about road tyres, my only road bike is a Brompton! 😛

chiefgrooveguru – Member

I’d be interested to see if any other RQ BC users have noticed the same?

Mine showed basically no wear in the time I had them… But I gather they went all deformed on the new owner. Having said that, it’s only really schwalbe and maxxis that I’ve been bothered about wear with.

Think that’s probably my only criticism of the Barons, the sidewalls are wearing fast, there’s no chance they’ll last as long as the tread does. COnsidering they’re not exactly light, that’s a bit off.

Black chilli rqs and barons are amazing. The non black chilli arent even a patch on em, had em all. If you want lean over confidence the barons are fantastic. Used in alps Wales Scotland swinley and Kent and they rock everywhere!

Oh and i have no interest in roads so can’t comment!

Another lover of BC Barons, simply an amazing winter tyre.

Also run BC Trail Kings on the 29 which are good but not as great as the baron for pure winter crap riding.

Verticals are the worst tyre I ever tried. They turn to ice skates in the wet. If you use them now please, please try proper tyres before you get hurt

Pair of Mountain Kings tried killing me, they were returned to shop and swapped for Maxxis Advantages. As for road tyres they dont deserve the reputation they have just about every time our rides are held up with punctures a Continental is involved.

I can confirm that all the tyres I have tried have been the expensive versions, which, given the price, may explain why I expected them to work better than they do.

Running MK2 up front and X-King on rear, both 2.2 ProTection (black chilli) on my hardtail. Brilliant tyres. Much better than the Rocket Ron/Racing Ralph combo they replaced.

Love the baron, cheap and grippy, verts are good in the dry and damp on the back and gatorskin folders are the only tyre i run on the road, all otgers were 3 punctures per ride (very flinty here) and are cheap for the weight

I have RQ black chilli 2.2 front and rear and think they’re pretty good. Not the best in gloop so may change the rear to something like the Baron

Always buy my rubber from ze Germans as they are a lot cheaper

Always been happy with MK2s, black chilly. Perhaps I’m not rad enough

Often IMHO it isn’t the brand of tyre, but the selection of the wrong tyre for the job, or the selection of the cheap version of the tyre with rubbish plasticy compound.

I like Continental tyres (Black Chili only), running 2.4 protection X-Kings for half the year, and onto 2.4 protection Mountain Kings for the rest.

Not a fan myself but i’ve only used RQ/MK. Found the RQ draggy and not good when leaned over. The MK was just dull.

I ran cheapo Verticals for a couple of years, I found them very predictable. They would break loose in a controlled manner, two wheel drifts no problem.