**** shit.

Slightly longer version

Continental MK 27.5×2.6.

Good volume on a 30mm id rim. Light weight for size and volume. Good traction in uk conditions. Good rolling resistance.

Now the bad. Sidewalls made out of old rizla papers. First tyre lasted a total of 53 miles before a hole in the tread and a split in the sidewall. Thinking it was bad luck I got another one. This lasted a grand total of 5 miles. Another tare in the sidewall.

Previously ran a 2.35 ardent race on the rear with no issues on the same terrain.

Total waste of £90

Yeah I’ve heard bad things also but yeeeesh!

Was close to getting some new ones for my 29er but have since opted for Maxxis Forekasters

Was it the Apex sidewall Protection? I’ve used them before at Trail centres in Ireland, Scotland and Wales and they never gave any trouble.

https://www.bike-components.de/en/Continental/Mountain-King-2-6-ProTection-Apex-27-5-Folding-Tyre-p60619/

This tyre

Maybe I’ve just been lucky?

Pretty good*

*depending on variant.

Their road tyres, Sprinter tubs and Gatorskins, are very good.

Wouldn’t go near their MTB tyres, thrown away a good few with loads of tread left and trashed sidewalls.

.

Two words? Flimsy sidewalls.

Great tyre.

At least in a 29 x 2.3 size and Balck Chilli protection. Been a fantastic tyre on my hardtail over the past 4 years.

53 miles seems pretty good, mine lasted about 15

Did 106 miles on my extremely well used pair last weekend. They’ve done the South Downs way twice as well, and a few hundred other miles around and about.

Light, and went up tubeless ok. Coped ok in mud too since I’m an inveterate tyre-non-swapper! No tread left in the rear now, so going gracefully into retirement.

I’ve got a small stock of rubber queen/ trail king in 26″ ust. They were a great tyre in black chili.

However, when I switched to 650b, I got some protection apex trail kings as I loved the old 26″ one so much. What a complete bag of **** they were. Split 3 sidewalls in under 6 months.

Not touched any if their tyres since.

No issues with 650b 2.4 TKs here despite rocky riding in Spain, La Palma, Ard Rock. What sort of pressures do you run?

Continental tyres (vert pro) were the only tyres I’ve ever given up on.

They were terrrble. I’ve never bothered with Continental since.

I really liked the Rubber Queen UST – the carcass was tough yet flexible, similar to the mid-weight Maxxis Exo nowadays (like the DHF 2.3). The Trail King Protection that replaced it was stiffer but more easily damaged – very strange.

Have yet to find a compound that beats the old Baron 2.3 black chili version – a miracle of grip and speed and wear rate. But as the black chili compounds are all different and Continental don’t like to share how they compare it’s easier to buy Maxxis tyres which have decent rubber and more reliable casings.

Ah bums! I’ve just fitted a MK 29×2.4 on the rear (tubed). Felt quite nice and fitted well compared to the XCs I had. They were nice and light, but all the puncture protection of a hedge-found Jonny and ended up warping quite a lot.

One word….

BANG!

A 2.6 tyre that only weighs 815g, i’d be dubious as to it’s strength and longevity.

all conti bicycle tyres fit that two word review

Not in my experience. Had no issues with the side walls of the 2.3 baron, 2.4 projekt baron, mountain king mk2 protection and trail king 2.4 protection.

Use mountain king II protection, 29 x 2,2 on my XC hardtail – as rear tyre.

Fast rolling, grip not great, very little wear and never had a puncture with it yet…- and the sidewalls are pretty tough as well and braking is good. For this bike – and as rear tyre – I would use them again.

I run them Tubeless on my Ebike with no issues.

Found the 26″ just to weak had more flats with them in 4 months than any other tyre in 5 years or more lucky though I was given them I can see why I was

I’ve now had 4 Conti tyres fail spectacularly when the bead has blown off the sidewall. All replaced under warranty with reassurances it was a “dodgy batch” but I won’t be using them again. I wondered if the same thing happened to Cathro when I saw a vid of his tyre failure in that SDA race (Ae?). It’s a shame, as I loved the performance otherwise (der Baron and Kaiser Projekt 2.4).

Sounds a bit like Continental has problems with the “new” tyres and “wider” tyres.

My 29 x 2,2 MKII “protection” rear tyre on my XC bike is a tough piece of rubber – but problems start with 2.4 and 2.6 inch rubber?

On my all mountain bike I use 2.6 inch Magic Mary front and rear and was thinking of trying a Continental as rear tyre at some point. Will stay away from this idea now…

Really they have still not got these tyres sorted.

Der Barons and the BC compound seemed pretty good. The rest were shite though! Der Kaisers always seemed to be a ridiculous price, whenever I looked, so I never bought any!

I experimented with Conti – not sure they were Vert Pros, might have been Vapour – which admittedly had a light / race aspect.  Sidewalls akin to clingfilm…   at least I didn’t actually pay any cash for them..

I’ve had them in 26, 27 and 29 sizes, all 2.4 Protection.

Rode best as 29ers.

I have the new (2018) ones. They’re f***ing brilliant.

The sidewalls handle 15st of me riding my hardtail in south wales pretty well, even uplift days. I’m not easy on tyres, like many, many others I killed some hans dampf’s in no time at all.

Mine are the 2018 version. The sidewalls are condom thin and not tough enough to ride on a golf green, let alone a mountain bike trail.

Run Trail Kings (ProTection Apex) in 2.4 and there ace. Ran a 2.2 Mountain King, also ace.

Mine from a few years ago only lasted a few rides before the sidewall ripped and bead snapped (!) dumping me on my face on a very innocuous Dales descent.

The modern ones can’t be any worse, that’s for sure.

I’ve got the cheap version of Race Kings on my SS.

On the plus side they’re very cheap, big volume, lightweight, grippy and pretty fast tyre.

On the downside they won’t go tubeless as the sidewalls are far too porous.

They’re really low TPI which probably explains why I’ve not killed the sidewalls like others have with more expensive versions. Might give Schwalbe’s budget “performance” options a go next.

Continental tyres (vert pro) were the only tyres I’ve ever given up on.

They were terrrble. I’ve never bothered with Continental since.

Holding a grudge since the 90’s is a bit extreme!

I think my canyon came with Mountain/Race king combo.

The side walls looked a bit rubbish  after a while so they got swapped out fairly quickly. This was ages ago though…

Black Chilli is a great rubber compound, really grippy in all conditions.

The trouble is Continental make their sidewalls too thin, to keep the weight down and make the tyre feel more supple. So they fail much more easily than many other brands.

We’ve seriously seen so many burst GP4000s (and IIs) that there’s no point counting. We don’t stock them; if people really want them we’ll order them* but warn people that the sidewalls will fail before the tyre wears out.

*or direct people online, they’re usually on sale at 50-60% off RRP somewhere.

I had some cheap ones that came on a bike a few years ago.
Worst tyre I’ve ever ridden. Sidewalls made out of tracing paper, so pressure has to be rock hard. Compound of a Lego brick. Inevitably slit the sidewall. I was secretly glad.

I had X-King 2.4 protections on my HT. Rear lasted the whole TD and the front got a sidewall slit in Colorado, replaced with a race king.

I got a slit in a brand new fancy Ikon 1.5 miles into a 24hr race. I’m not boycotting either brand for a sod’s law incident.

I had a pair of Nobby Nics that lasted ages but suddenly starting picking up punctures on every ride. Just how it goes.

Continental seem to have their good and bad phases with sidewalls.

I had a run of them that ripped off the bead (road tyres) in the early 00’s, gave up on them, but recently came back with 2 sets of GP4000sIIs, and they’ve been great.

I gave up on the pair of vertical protection I had when I realised they weren’t that grippy, and the bead could unseat itself on my rim JRA (back in the days of running tubes, I think I might have just got a bulge rather than a bang).

Just purchased a pair of Vittoria Barzos to replace the Mountain Kings on my Boardman.
Tge MKs were fine for bimblng in my native Bedfordshire but they weren’t very confidence inspiring when I rode at Leigh Woods.
Will see how I get on with the Barzos.

For balance, I’ve got a Mountain King II 2.4 and a Trail King 2.2 (both 26″) on my bike at the minute and I think they’re smashing. I really like Conti stuff, they go up tubeless dead easy and they’re making good, new 26″ stuff. I’ve got Baron/Kaiser on my DH wheels.

I had a shit experience with a heavy/draggy (tough/grip) WTB Vigilante a couple of years ago – brand new tyre, nail in it about 12 miles in & ruined it- but it was just bad luck, not the tyre’s fault. I don’t buy WTB tyres any more because they’re too difficult to fit on the rims I’ve got.

I’ve got a Mountain King II 2.4 and a Trail King 2.2 (both 26″) on my bike at the minute and I think they’re smashing.

+1 only I’m 2.3 and 2.4 on 27.5″

Slightly numb feeling carcass, but good for me.