As above, has anyone any experience with these? I have a pair on the way as got them cheap, chose them over mountain kings as these apparently have more grip?

What’re they like for setting up tubeless also?

Cheers

Black Chilli ones are great, grip forever. I’m not sure there’d be all that much in it in the cheaper compounds. some folk think the sidewalls are a bit flimsy. They’re a bit bigger than MK’s. Tubeless – no bother*, big volume means you’ve got to pump like billy-o mind.

*the one bit of the equation that was, for me.

I’ve just got some of the cheaper compounds on the way. I’m currently running hans dampf on the rear and high roller 2 on the front. Not an awful lot of grip to be honest so hoping these will be better. Plan to run them tubeless to give a bit more traction at lower pressures.

I think there’s a new compound but the old OEM versions were utter shite, proper 90s pish. I haven’t used the improved version.

The black chili’s good. Mine were a bollocks to seal tubeless though they did mount easily. The 26er 2.4 is big (actually 2.4 wide, but tall), I didn’t rate it in mud, both cloggy and floaty, not so nice. And tbh it wasn’t massively grippy at some other times. But tons of volume, brilliant at mashing through rocks, reasonable speed for the capability. The sidewalls felt too thin but they didn’t cause me any bother so maybe I’m just paranoid

I reckon conti have the best rubber tbh. But not usually the best treads.

Depends which Trail Kings they are.

Did have 2.2 ‘Race Kings’ – not suitable for tubeless – sidewalls waay too porous, never sealed up even after a couple of months.

Now have 2.4 Protection. Is massive, very rigid sidewalls, feels like i could run it at well under 20 psi. Went up reasonably OK. They are not desperately draggy, haven’t really leant it over to test grip yet.

Good all rounders but all but the most expensive ones are shite. I’ve always managed to get them tubeless iwth a track pump without too much trouble.
They deform far too often for a premium priced tyre though. I used to swear by them, but wouldn’t buy again.
On WTB Vigilante (front) now and very happy with it.

Use the standard 2.2 non protection, non black chilli. Fine tubeless. Fine for grip. Not as good as the mountain kings but faster rolling.

Mostly ride on mud and gravel rather than hard surfaces so I doubt the black chilli will make much of a difference to me. Never thought my tyres weren’t grippy enough.

Use them as my mud tyres for CX as well where they are good but that is relative.

The super cheap ones are likely the old compound and generally tat for any kind of knowledgeable rider wanting and knowing about grip.

The new Pure Grip compound is supposed to be good.

The top line Black Chilli ones made in Germany are the best. Add in the Protection sidewalls and it’s a great tyre I find. 2.4 is nice and big for the front, run it with a 2.2 Protection Mountain King out back.

My defining moment for the old OEM leather contis, was a demo Orange Five at glentress. Crashed trying to go round a corner. A dry, tarmac corner. 😆

Am I right in thinking that “Trail Kings” are the same as “Rubber Queens” – just rebranded (I’m sure they were called Mud Queens back in the day).

If so the Black Chilli ones are great, the non-black Chilli ones are a liability – I ran one as a rear with a BC front and it was okay grib-wise, a bit wayward but okay for the rear (because I’m tight) I ripped a hole in one, bought another and ripped a hole in that one – bought some Maxxis.

Rubber Queen, is the correct answer.

Someone on here said this a long while ago but it’s very true…
Black chilli= Fantastic grip
Non BC= plastic tyres

Running Trail Kings on my Switchback; 2.2 Black Chilli, protection jobbies.

I quite like them. Ok to set up tubeless but there were a few sidewall leaks thst had to be sealed, seem happy enough on a hardtail at low pressures, roll OK and work in most conditions. Downside is they’re expensive, although they’re not too bad bought from Germany.

I tried sone cheapo Rubber Queens a while back and they were lethal. No grip whatsoever.

Hmmmmm most of the lads I know running (non dual ply) Contis seem to suffer more pinch flats than the rest of us, which has put me right off them, having said that they run low pressures and smash through rock gardens, which no doubt contributes!

Liked the look of the Baron/Der Baron, but without paying silly money you get the dog s:&t 15 quid ones (on sale everywhere). Some peeps seem to be snapping them up like there a red hot bargain, only to find they offer non of the grip of the more expensive Black Chilli ones. Some of the sly retailers don’t seem to be going out of their way to make it obvious which tyre your getting either, buyer beware!

I assume Contis tyre range has had a season refresh and things might have improved.

I’ve been trying to think of a good way to describe the non-BC Conti’s I had – you know when you fit brand new tyres and they’re a bit ‘green’ and greasy until get some wear on them – like that, all the time.

I use them and get on with them. Won’t suffer a mud fest too well though. No issues going tubeless with them.

The Conti website lists 23 different versions across the 3 wheel sizes!

http://www.conti-tyres.co.uk/conticycle/ti%20rubberqueen.shtml

Personally i’d only buy the Black Chilli version in an Protection sidewall, the Race Sport is way too thin & the Apex (2.4″ only i think) is too gnarr. Other compounds too poop.

I’ve only had the more expensive ones, both 26″ UST and 27.5 Protection, both 2.2 black chili. Great tyres, especially on the back. Curiously on the 27.5 version the side knobs are slightly more widely spaced, so they don’t set an edge as definitely as the 26 version – it’s hard to tell from photos but quite obvious side by side on my two bikes.

I used a bike with Mountain King 2 Protection 2.4 last summer and I really couldn’t understand what that tyre was for – basically the same size as a Trail King 2.2, no more grip in the corners, much worse braking/driving grip and it didn’t roll any faster except on tarmac (and even then the difference was marginal).

If you don’t ride too hard you might be fine with the lighter carcasses and the Pure Grip compound is meant to be pretty decent but the black chili rubber wears so well they work out much cheaper per mile than other sticky-ish tyres.

I really rate it as a rear tyre in the mud – I pair it with a Baron up front in the winter and run them at 20psi or less. Earlier this year it managed to propel me further than all but one of my mates up a ridiculously cloggy slippery rooty climb, beating all the bikes on mud tyres and only losing out to tractor tyres on a fat bike.

I’ve had the cheap versions of mountain kings and barons . Never had a problem . All that they don’t grip talk is rubbish . Anything will slide you push it hard enough .

I’ve used 2.4 protection bc and 2.2 bc tried 2.4 front and 2.2 rear and it’s fine. 2.5 DHF 3c front 2.4 TK rear is great especially for rocky terrain. Also like 2.3 butcher front 2.2 TK rear. My advice if you run it as a rear run it in the same direction as the front for max braking and cornering grip.

Thanks for all the info! I just went for the ones which are £23 rrp so probably the cheap ones but got them cheap through work so thought i’d give them a go. Have had the cheap baron before, was crap on roots and had a few punctures but held for a race season of downhill.

The trail kings are going on my AM bike (Commencal meta) so shouldn’t be under as much pressure/ strain, although I am quite a tough rider on parts (3 dents in my rear rim already). I plan on setting them up tubeless so might add a little more sealant to prevent more punctures

I have a pair which I can’t quite decide about, but they are on a bike used for rubbish conditions riding so I may be blaming them for all sorts of other things?

chiefgrooveguru – Member
I’ve only had the more expensive ones, both 26″ UST and 27.5 Protection, both 2.2 black chili. Great tyres, especially on the back. Curiously on the 27.5 version the side knobs are slightly more widely spaced, so they don’t set an edge as definitely as the 26 version – it’s hard to tell from photos but quite obvious side by side on my two bikes.

I used a bike with Mountain King 2 Protection 2.4 last summer and I really couldn’t understand what that tyre was for – basically the same size as a Trail King 2.2, no more grip in the corners, much worse braking/driving grip and it didn’t roll any faster except on tarmac (and even then the difference was marginal).

I take it you ran the USTs tubeless? How did you get on with mounting them?

This tyre was my first attempt at going tubeless and I was ready for a battle to get them on. I thought being UST and all they might be harder to get on the rim, but they were so loose I didn’t even need a lever.
They hold pressure okayish but they would have been impossible to setup without a compressor.

Back to the OP, I used to run one of the cheaper Rubber Queens up front and it was absolutely fine.

Been running them in at least 1 bike since 2009. Always used the UST tubeless version and recently pretty sure these are labelled Protection too. Used both 2.2 and 2.4. My first pair were not marked up as Black Chili but were really grippy, 7 pairs later of the Black Chili versions and think yes, they are more gripsome.

All but 1 tyre out of the have 11 pairs I have mounted has seated really well on a variety of rims (Flow EX, Arch EX, Roval, DT, Haven). All sealed with only a track pump and only some needed soapy water. The one that didn’t seal was returned as it was misshapen. Word of warning, my mate has had non-UST version and they leaked like a sieve, took an age to seal the sidewalls fully.

Prefer them to other trail tyres such as Specialized Purgatory or Nobby Nic.

Got 2.2 Trail King in Black Chili on the rear of my 29 HT; cracking tyre, rolls nicely, grips well, lets go predictably. I run it all year round. Mountain King in 2.2 on the front (also Black Chili) for more grip.

Tyre compound doesn’t make that much difference on dirt but it really matters on wet roots and rocks – on rocks the black chili one is great whilst on wet roots it doesn’t try to kill you, which is about as good as it gets for a tyre you can pedal uphill without dying.

alpineharry, the black chili Baron is the best trail tyre imaginable on wet roots and I’ve heard the Der Baron is almost like cheating – definitely worth seconds in a downhill race! Nightmare to get up tubeless but totally worth the annoyance.

Blueflame, the UST RQs went up fine on Flow rims – even got a new one straight up with a track pump in the car park at Antur after pinch-flatting the tyre and denting the run.

Always run the rear one in the forwards direction – rolls better and brakes better. Drives really well anyway.

The Protection carcass is 4 ply whilst the UST is 3 ply and the latter feels a lot softer and more flexible – suspect it’s just as tough, just not as stiff feeling. Protection is quite a lot stiffer than Maxxis Exo like on a Minion.

The baron I had was a none black chilli so was quite a hard compound meaning it was rubbish on roots unless I ran low pressures, which was when I got the punctures.

The trail kings I have on the way aren’t the black chilli version so hopefully might be ust resulting in them being a bit easier to inflate tubeless: I’m riding in Norway for the next 10 days (on Thursday), think a lot of their tracks are a mix between most surfaces so will be a good test for them!

My none UST protection jobbies inflated OK and popped into the bead easily enough. The sidewalks were a tad leaky but sealed quickly enough and have held air just fine. I run 25 psi on the rear and 22 psi on the front without too much issue on my hardtail (I did burp the rear at CYB on Sunday though).

The Mountain Kings that I had previously were much more leaky from the sidewalls.

I know the 2.4s are supposed to come up big but anyone got any pics of them with some widish rims, 26″ version.

I rate it as a rear tyre for dryish conditions but no chance I would run one on the front.

As with the general consensus above, I was stupid enough to buy a cheap OEM pair of trail kings and the f-ckers tried to kill me on pretty much every ride. Horrid, horrid tyres that got replaced after about 2 weeks by a pair of decent spec Barons.
Now that’s a good tyre.

I know the 2.4s are supposed to come up big but anyone got any pics of them with some widish rims, 26″ version.

What’s widish? I have some on a Flow at the front.

My defining moment for the old OEM leather contis, was a demo Orange Five at glentress. Crashed trying to go round a corner. A dry, tarmac corner.

😀 used some Vapours (once) Never ridden a tyre that was actively trying to kill me

Continental tyres are a bit weird, Mountain Kings and Trails Kings are (in the larger sizes) mostly the same tyre.

Quite a few pics here: https://thelazyrando.wordpress.com/2013/02/11/velocity-p35-rims-continental-trail-king-tires-redux/

Excellent chief just what I wanted, clearance in a lyrik. Running 35mm spank rims and tyres look similar size to my 2.75 dirt wizards