Continental Trail King – Review
Tom’s had the Continental Trail Kings on his Bronson all winter so it’s time to see what he thinks of them…
Tyres are the most important part of a bike. Fact. Anything else is just window dressing, your tires are your only contact with the ground, unless they are poor, and then you get to add your elbows, knees and face as contact points. Add to that the large amount of personal preference that comes into tyre choice, multiply by the type of riding you do, divide by the enormous range of compounds and treads available to you, don’t forget to carry the never ending wheel size debate and you have quite the conundrum on your hands. With that in mind, when I find a tire I like, I tend to stick with it. Having loved the Rubber Queen (now known as the Trail King to make it easier to find without accidentally ordering a gimp) on my old 26″ trail bike, they were the obvious choice when putting together the Bronson long termer. I plumped for the top end Trail King 2.4″ with APEX Protection sidewalls and the super soft Black Chilli compound.
All of the higher end tyres in the range are tubeless ready, these fitted with just a tickle from a compressor. I used the Continental Sealant when fitting them together, and after opening them up 5 months and a lot of riding later I was delighted to discover it was still looking clean and tidy, and most importantly, liquid! Since fitting them to our Pro-Lite Antero AM rims back in November I’ve only had one puncture and a couple of minor burps early on, since then they have hung on to the rims with no issues at all, despite plenty of sharp rocks and botched lines.
On the rim they inflate pretty big, with a nice widely rounded profile. The tread is designed such that the front works one way, and the rear should be fitted the other way round – this is clearly labelled on the sidewall, and we elected to follow the instructions. There’s no big breaks in the tread profile all the way round meaning that there are no surprises as you lean the bike over. Pretty much all of the treads have small grooves cut into them to let them conform to the ground a bit more and aid grip. The side knobs aren’t overly bigger than the central ones, again giving a decent level of grip all the way over. Combined with the black chilli compound the level of grip that they offer in all conditions is really impressive.
Climbing and breaking are taken care of by wide central knobs that especially on the rear, bite into looser ground and help drive you forwards (or slow you down). The rounded profile means that for faster rolling sections the tyre carries its speed well, and pushing through a set of smooth berms feels great, rolling from one edge to the other like carving a set of skis. The softer rubber of the black chilli compound takes care of extra grip in those situations and you have to be really pushing on a bit to get them to release. The relatively uniform profile means there is no “loose” spot as you edge the bike, something I found with the sister(brother?) tyre, the Mountain King.
Get them into the loose or really wet and they keep on delivering that predictability that means you can just keep riding.Even on the freshest of sloppy lines I’ve not really felt the tire get too clogged, the tread is pretty widely spaced and sheds well. What’s been most impressive is how well they have worn, in 5 months of slate riding and abuse they have come through unscathed and still looking pretty fresh. I’ve always been impressed with how well black chilli treated rubber holds up, and these are no exception.
Tipping the scales at 990g (275, APEX, Protection, 2.4) a tyre they sit at the heavier end of trail bike tyres, but well under the weight of full on DH tyres. There are a couple of lighter options available, including some racey 2.2 widths but for me the puncture protection was more important than the weight, a compromise I was happy to make. At just shy of 50 notes a tire they don’t qualify as “cheap” tyres, but a quick price check places them well in the top end tire market. I’m lucky enough to test loads of stuff, and when I need to set a standard, these are the tyres I reach for. Would I buy them? Without a shadow of a doubt.
