I’ve heard very mixed views on these tyres. I’ve a demo bike booked which is fitted with ’em (wondering whether to chuck a pair of my regular tyres in the car just in case(?)

i would also like to know. bought a set of new wheels and they offered a set of Mountain Kings for €30. still waiting on a delivery then it’ll be good to go.

Really good grip, good rolling too. Managed to slide them out only a few times, mostly on wet roots/rocks/steps.

top tyres, my favourite all rounders actually. far from perfect but a case of a jack of all trades master of non sort of thing.

Pretty impressed with mine

Fine on the back, shocking on the front. Shoulder knobs are far too weak and don’t stand up very well meaning remotely aggressive cornering will cause them to break very suddenly.

Fine for XC, rubbish for Trail/All Mountain…

Tried both 2.2 and 2.4, 2.4s were better but still very average at best.

I think it depends on your local riding conditions/area.

I have the protection ones and i really like them.

They seem to be light, fastish, grippy and fairly puncture resistant. Where I live and ride is dry and drains quickly so I think they are pretty good. If you live somewhere muddy and rooty you may not be so keen as they can be a bit dicey in those conditions.

Nah, I ride lots of mud and roots all the time, I think theyre fine for it.

they are just ok I would say and fine for xc but they don’t give you the same confidence you get from looking down at say a maxxis minnion on the front.

Ta for the feedback. The test route I have in mind for the bike has pretty much everything (er..well, for the Dark Peak anyway), rock gardens, mud, loose rocky ascents/descents, mud, roots and err…oh, did I mention mud?

My normal ‘default’ tyre choice(s) are 2.35 Nevegals or Advantages, and 2.2 Mud-X’s.

They’re great for trail centres and in the dry but not the best on natural stuff with mixed surface. I pitarculary don’t like them on loose surfaces. They come up small too so don’t be fooled by the width / weight ratio. I’d stick with Advantages.

Bloody awful in the wet.

Fast on dry hardpack, shocking over roots.

fast rolling, light and good grip. But I think they made mine out of paper, snake bits all the time.

I really didn’t like the 2.2s, they lasted 2 rides and I sold them on. Not fast enough to excuse the lack of grip- the only thing I liked about them was that when they spun out on slippy climbs (which they did all the time) they spun out in a nice controlled gradual way. But then they spun up more than any other decent tyre I’ve used, so that’s a small comfort. But some people do love them.

I didn’t get on with them. Tried them in the maritime alps last year and had no confidence on the front end – especially when things got damp.

Shocking compared to Mud X and Nevegals.

Awful in wet. Scarily awful. Especially if you have to ride roads to get to your local trails.

Had some in 2.2 folding and didn’t like them much, things seemed to get very slippy in the wet.

The Black Chili compound ones are apparently better, as are Maxxis ADvantages.

Hmm…sounds like a quick tyre change might be wise. Local trails are a bit of a mud and wet root fest at the moment – challenging enough for me even with familiar bike & tyres, so demo bike as well as possibly sketchy tyres might not be fun. Thanks again for feedback.

I switched to Mud X’s. Much much much better tyre.

not much fun in snow

Got very scared on the south downs way last weekend,
wet chalk & Mountain Kings is not a good combination
(or any other wet surface really).
Going to take them off now while I think of it.
Paul.

Compared them back to back with kenda nevs which I don’t really rate…….I I found the mountain kings horrible. Not confidence inspiring in the slightest.

After Nobby Nic’s, they’re the best tyres I’ve used in ages..

great dry tyre, makes riding in mud and wetness very interesting!

ideal on North Wales slate / silurian shales, peaty podsols and roots, however there is a world of difference between the std 2.4 folding and the black chilli protection that is more than just the prices. I find the black chilli 2.4 sticky on wet rock instant self cleaning and the large volume very forgiving on a hard core alu hardtail….

if you are riding in muddy Northhants or Leicestershire i would doubt my review is of comparible conditions

The Protection model (and I beleive the Supersonic model too) have the aforementioned Black Chili compound and are very good tyres.

Grippy, light, quite fast rolling and only really dodgy in hard and loose conditions (IME).

Like Gary above, I rate it more as a rear than front tyre – and I’ve just replaced a worn Protection for a UST model on the back of my Reign. I’m interested to see if the standard compound will be a disappointment.

Max posted as I was typing, but I’d just like to second his observation about Protection model being great on wet slate.

It’s also pretty good for southern English woodland sort of riding too.

Oh yeah, I meant to say, the 2.2s I had were the supersonics so black chili. Which makes me shudder to think what the vanilla ones must be like.

I rode on them once and changed them. Traction was just too poor (this was in wet/softish conditions)

funny how the opinions change as the thread goes on….

seeing as they are going on the GF’s bike i can’t see they are going to get used much in the wet.

Not quite a match for Nobby Nics but not far off. Roll pretty well and quite predictable. Running 2.4″ USTs FWIW.

2.4s here. Love them on rocky dark peak stuff. Seem to thorn puncture too easily on the woods though.

I like ’em! I’m riding the basic 2.4s and found the dry grip on rocky off-camber bedrock and loose stones to be pretty damn good. They loose a bit in the wet and rooty stuff but for 13 quid a tyre…?

I’ve been running 2.4 Protections (Black Chili) for a while now, ridden them all over the place. They are an excellent all-rounder. I’d sworn I’d never use another Conti tyre after switching from Vertical Protections to WTB Weirwolf and Timberwolfs with the DNA rubber. When I heard about the Black Chili compound I thought I’d give them a go as I found the Weirwolfs were brilliant in the dry and rubbish in the wet/mud and the Timberwolfs the exact opposite. The Mountain Kings seem to do everything very well, I’ve never found myself worrying about them not gripping. I suppose that’s all anyone needs?

“2.2 Mud-X’s”
Theres a 2.2″ Mud X?! If this exists (I was sure they only went upto a 2.0″) please show me where I can one.

“Awful in wet. Scarily awful”
Agree with that
They seem to lack any ‘direectionality’ to them as a front tyre. I think because the tread is a ‘random’ pattern of triangles and the side tread pretty small it lacks any surface to steer with perhaps?
Horrible in mud anyway, just loses it when you least expect it.

Nevegals, advantages, high rollers, mudXs are all better ime

I have just built a bike and got into to XC after only really having ridden downhill and road in the past, I run them at 40-50psi (which is probably not considered right nowadays) and have only ridden the Quantocks on it but on my hardtail with those pressures they seem to keep traction on climbs and feel wicked going down I feel confident on them but do feel the bike drifting a bit under me sometimes but never feels out of control.

Had the 2.2s on for three or four rides, but found them so poor in mud – (I’d agree with the scary comments above! The front was gone straight from under me on several occasions, with no warning)even day to day stuff, that I ditched them for ADvantages, which have been awesome so far.

I imagine they’d be a good dry condition and trail-centre tyre – they roll pretty well and climb decently in dry / loose stuff, but there’s too much mud year round in the forests where I mainly ride, for them to be of much use to me.

I have heard Nobby Nics mentioned above. I was trying to decide between the conti mountain kings and the Nobby’s, are the Nobbys much better all rounders?

I don’t rate them all that much in the dry compared to the Michelin Dry I had previously