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Continental Race King Protection? Thinking that out back and X King upfront.
My other option is Racing Ray and Ralph Addix compound.
Or Maxxis Ikon.
Currently on XR2 compe wire bead jobs but will be going tubeless and they aren’t tubeless compatible.
Most of my riding is what you’d do on a Gravel bike but instead I’m on a 29er Hardtail.
Continental aren't really tubeless compatible either, in my experience. I'd go Maxxis or Schwalbe.
I have run contis ( rubber queens) tubeless with no issues. the conti protection is very good against punctures. I regularly pull chunks of glass out of my conti travel contact protection tyres but no punctures
I've had a couple of pairs of 26" Race King Protections that I used to use on my MTB for more gravel type riding.
The side walls always seemed to split and tear quite quickly. I'm talking open fire roads and tarmac rides rather than rock gardens.
Nice fast tyres, they make your bike sound like a Tie Fighter when you get up to speed but I didn't get value for money at all.
I've run Race King 2.2s (non protection version) on the rear of my XC bike for a few years - super fast and have stood up well to everything I used them for. Only recently took it off to try a Terenno (which, so far, is brilliant in the current dry conditions)
Of the 2 I've had one went up tubeless no bother, the other would be flat in about 48 hours. Very frustrating.
Not sounding convincing had mk race sport and xk protection on my previous bike. The mk front no problems. The xk was losing Air every other ride no matter how much sealant I pumped into it.
Might just go Schwalbe but put off by the Ray and Ralph combo as it was puncture prone, but that was with tubes. I’m assuming they will be fine tubeless on gravel?
If so performance or full Addix stripe compound?
I used to run 26" UST Rubber Queens and they were fantastic.
When I switched to 650b, the UST wasn't offered so I fitted the Protection version. They were nothing but trouble. On a holiday with Bike Verbier, the group must have had all the tyre brands covered and Conti proved to be the least reliable.
Maybe it was the fact that this also coincided with a change in rim width and the sidewalls were more exposed. Either way, I've had far more success with other brands of tyre.
I ran race kings on a trail bike once.. more as a prep for race day rubber.. this was back in the "run em hard" for race days. Not much grip for me once off anything hard packed. Could also have been trying to use them as a Squamish XC race tire, which basically runs like an Enduro race course wise. But for gravel miles.. perfect imo
Anyhow, my DJ (lets call it a pump track bike) has them now, Race King 2.2 Protection, tubeless with an anoconda insert out back. Super for that purpose and zero set up or maintenance issues with revosealant.
The only failure I've had from race kings was getting driven into the back of at traffic lights by an Evoque, and snapped a bead.. but the bike rack bike wheels, rear hatch and rear glass were also a write off.
Across the range, the only tubless failure I've has with Conti is the original 26" Barons that weren't suggested to be tubeless ready. These leaked sealant out the sidewalls like a sieve.
Everything else has been bomber.
Riding 150mm bikes on MK2's and Crosskings with some questionable line choices and lower pressures has seem some tread and bead cuts. Never failed to fix with bacon strips trail side though and I just swapped out a MK2 thats been on for a year with a tread and bead anchovy repair as I webt back to a Trail King out back.
Be aware that the x-king has been replaced by the crossking.. subtle changes but the crossking is the newer generation. There's also more volume in the Crossking than the raceking if that matters.