I have had several rides in varying conditions on the Continental Mountain Kings so far and now it is time to bring you my first ride impressions. The Mountain Kings are marked as a 2.4 inch wide tire, but in typical Continental fashion, they are not quite as large as marked. This wasn’t a big surprise for me as Continental, for whatever reason, seems to be a company that makes its tires on the narrow side of claimed width. That said, these are not a smallish tire. I’d call them a healthy 2.25 inches wide, at least that’s what my digital calipers is telling me. I had these tires mounted to some wheels with DT Swiss TK 7.1 disc rims and now on a set of Stan’s Flow rims, as in the photo above. Much like the Schwalbe Racing Ralph’s we are testing, the Mountain King likes a wider rim. It performs better and is wider on the wider rim. I would highly recommend using a 28mm wide rim or larger for these tires. It would get you the most out of what the Mountain King has on offer.
My first rides were on some wet snowy roads with icy patches thrown in. The Mountain Kings did great with my super low pressure settings of 17psi front and rear. Great grip and predictable break away on super slick roads. But then again, most of you are looking forwards to getting out of the snow, so I took these tires to the desert.
The trails of the El Paso Texas area are riddled with rocks. Broken off shards, baby heads, loose gravel, bed rock, and every sort of rock imaginable is here. Top that off with plenty of spiny vegetation and cactus and you have a very tire unfriendly environment.
The Mountain Kings did great here. I ran them at 20 psi front and rear with great results. Gobs of climbing traction was at hand. The front showed great grip as well with the possible exception of the loose gravel, which was pretty deep in spots. The Mountain Kings had a tendency to sink into the gravely bits, causing my front end to feel a bit vague at times. Otherwise it was clear sailing. The really sharp rocks seemed to not bother the tread blocks or sidewalls. I checked over the tires afterwards to see if any damage could be discerned and found none. I will say that the wear on the tires is noticeable making me think these are a grippy compound and not a harder, longer lasting compound like the Geax Saguaro tires we tested last year. Grip comes at a price, or so it would seem.
That’s not to say that the tread wear is unacceptable, no- not at all. It is just that I can see wear at this point in the test. To be truthful, some of the miles have been pavement miles, so do not be alarmed at the wear I saw. It was minimal, but I thought I should mention it.
Overall I am thrilled at the performance of the Mountain Kings in rocky, dry, and rough terrain. I couldn’t have asked for much more than what the Mountain King offered me for the bike I had them on. Now it is time to test them on some muddier sections of dirt back in the Mid-West to see how they fare in that sort of situation.
Thanks for the report. How would you rate this tire against the Saguaro?
I have a set mounted up to Flow rims, but we are still under 2ft of snow here.
I’m concerned about the tire’s soft feeling compound, do you think it will be prone to shedding it’s knobs?
vaitus: The Saguaro is a harder compound tire and has a tendency to roll on rocks that are loose like they are marbles. I like the Saguaro better on tacky to dry buff trails. This Mountain King is better at gravel, as long as it isn’t deep gravel, which to be honest, not too many tires are good at anyway. If The Conditions are loose rock, loose over hardpack, or gravel, I’d definitely opt for the Mountain King.
The Monkey: Hey, you know how big I am and I was folding over and popping knobs all over this trail on climbs. No obvious tread damage at all. Beware though, these knobs are spaced far enough apart that when a rock gets lodged between them and gets launched, it is a big enough rock to do some serious harm! Best tell your buddies to follow at a safe distance.
Guitar Ted- how do the Kings compare to the Fire XC?
What are the weights for these?
Bill: http://twentynineinches.com/2008/03/06/continental-mountain-king-24-out-of-the-box/
Desert9r: Never have ridden the Fire XC’s, but from what I hear about them, they sound similar.
A buddy of mine mounted up a Mountain King up front on a rigid 29er and complained heavily about the squirminess of the knobs. He was riding similar trails up in Las Cruces….rocky. I felt the side knobs and thought they were way too soft. With 20 psi and a bit slower rate of speed, I could see them working well for you. But at pro-racer speed I think they may be too soft and not track as well through turns that may consist of varying terrain….ie. rock slabs into dirt or gravel or vice-versa. 20 psi at a faster pace may also cause the tire to grip so well that it may burp through turns and off camber rocks. There’s always the trade-offs.
I just picked up a pair of these for my RIP 9. The tire weights really surprised me. The first tire weighed 740 grams. The second weight 710 grams. Not only are they lighter than expected, but there’s a 30 gram weight difference! I don’t know whether to be happy or scared.
I just picked up a pair of these for my RIP 9. The weight of the first tire was 740 grams. The weight of the second was 710 grams! Not only are they lighter than expected, but there’s a 30 gram weight difference. Should I be happy or scared?
Sorry for the double post. It didn’t appear the first time I hit “submit”.
this guy is a nut riding such low pressures. the tires roll over and the knobs are loose at under 34psi. i run this baby at 38psi with a stans set up.
This tire RIPS.
the 2.4 in the front is the 2nd best tire for traction i have ever run compared to a 2.3 WTB Weirwolf but, 200 grams lighter. 200 grams lighter makes it superior.
dude, pump up your tires!!!! how can you possibly rail with ‘em that low????
I ride 24 hour singletrack rides and teach handling skills. i have been ripping trail for 20 years.