Continental Mountain King 2.4″ Tire: Final Review
June 22nd, 2008 by Guitar TedAfter several months and having ridden the Continental Mountain King in various conditions and on all types of terrain, I am ready to lay down my final verdict on this 29″er fatty.
As I have mentioned in the past, the Mountain King showed a mysterious capability to “grow” slightly through our testing period. I didn’t notice that this had any negative effects on the casing, nor did it impact the performance of this tread, but it was there and measurable.
In recent testing, I searched out hard, dry surfaces to ride on. The Mountain King had not seen hard dry surfaces since my El Paso trip which was a rocky loose sort of affair. This time I found some dry hardpack and even a bit of sand.
I thought that the Mountain King was nearly flawless in these sort of conditions. Leaning the bike over showed me that there was no drama here. I could hear the knobs scrub a bit, but really, I couldn’t feel it in the handling. Climbing was great. I could go up as long as I had leg and lung to do so. On some really loose, rocky, shale-like conditions, the Mountain King clawed through and got me up top with nary a spin of its triangular knobs noticeable.
I had heard from other Mountain King users that this tire wasn’t their favorite for hardpack, but I can’t concur with that analysis. For a trail tire, (read not a race-”go fast” tire) the Mountain King is hard to beat. It has reasonably good rolling resistance, great grip, and works well in just about anything but severe mud, where I found that it packed up a bit more than I would have liked. In hard pack, I thought it worked really well, albeit it may not be the fastest tread for these conditions. The wee bit of sand I got into was promising, as I felt that the Mountain King wanted to float over it and not cut down into the sand, as other 29″er tires I have tried sometimes do.
My experiences with the Mountain King have all been positive with very little negative to say about this tire. I ran my samples tubeless for the entire test period at pressures mostly in the sub-30 psi range. (The last ride I had them set at 30psi rear/27 psi front) The tire was flawless set up tubeless on Stan’s Flow rims with no burping and very little leak down noticed over several days time. I used Stan’s No tubes sealant in these tires. The wear over the testing period was normal. I also used these tires on commutes including pavement, so the wear I noticed did include that. Pretty good news for those of you who ride to your trail heads on pavement.
My final take on the Continental Mountain King is that it makes a great trail tire for all around use. It gives up nothing to most tires on the market with the exception of “specialty tires” designed explicitly for hardpack, racing, or other specific use. Even then, the Mountain King holds its own and isn’t a liability. If you could only own one set of 29″er tires, you could do a whole lot worse than the Mountain Kings. They are cleared for tubeless use with sealant by the manufacturer, (a giant plus) and are reasonably light. The roundish casing is really comfortable and conforms to terrain well. The grip is outstanding. The cornering is stable and predictable. I highly recommend these as a great choice for trail bikes and full suspension 29″ers that will see epic, all day duty.
This concludes the test/review on the Continental Mountain King 2.4 inch tires. Thanks to Continental Tires and Highway 2 distributors for making this possible for us to do.
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What do you mean by “good” rolling resistance? Did you mean “low?”
Heckuva job, der. Great review!
James Slemboksi: Well, I suppose I didn’t make myself clear there, huh?
So, “good” rolling resistance = “low” and “bad” rolling resistance = “high”. Fair enough?
Great Tire!
GT and other- How would yous compare MKings to Maxxis Ardent 2,25″ 29er or Rampage?
Davidcopperfield: I have not ridden Ardents, but if Green Light Go’s review on mtbr.com is any indication, I’d say the tires are not much alike. I would submit that a Geax Saguaro would be a better tire to compare the Ardent to, at least that’s my opinion.
I have a Rampage, but I don’t seem motivated to mount it on anything right now. I probably should try that.
Nice review. I actually like this tire in the mud, more so than the Michelin XC. Have not noticed any packing up, but that might just be due to the type of mud I ride in. Better mud tire than the Rampage, anyway.
GT, what about the 2.2 version? Does it expand to a 2.3?
Jared: We don’t know as we only have the 2.4″ to go by, but my guess would be yes.
GT – I’m 172 lb and run Nevegals at 30 psi with tubes on my 26er. I’m building up an MCR now and have some 29″ Nev 2.2s for it. I would like to try something a bit lighter and prefer a higher volume tire. Do you think the MK 2.4 is too wide for an MCR frame, given that it expands a bit and especially if it packs mud?
Cliff: Niner has some great clearances on their frames, so I think you will be all right there. You don’t say what rim you will be using, but if it is 28mm or less, no worries, definitely. If you are going with a Kris Holm, or a Salsa Gordo, the mud clearances will be minimal.
Also, you might want to look into a Shimano SLX front derailluer if you are using a double or triple crank up front. That derailluer will clear the rear tire better in the inner ring selection.
Do you think the 2.4 would work on the Salsa Mamasita? Looking for a replacement tire for the Maxxis Ignitor since their sidewalls have gone to crap recently and don’t seem to be holding up for a lot of my riding buddies that have been using them. I’ve got an older set that is still good, but they are on their last leg.
Dr. Dover: Yes, it should fit just fine if you are using a 28mm or narrower rim.
Guitar Ted: Do you think the 2.4 MK would fit a C’dale caffeine 29er with wtb laserdisc wheels?
I have always thought C’dales to be a bit narrow in the stays.
yancy: Probably would fit a ‘08 or ‘09 model. And also, as my response to Dr.Dover indicates, a narrower rim will help in this regard.
had 2.4 mountain kings on differerent rims, like flows better than crossmax ran 30psi[ on back and 28psi in front. tubed and tubeless been in thick mud, loose rocks, hard ,slickrock, these tires rock! great for big riders.
I’ve been riding MK 2.4’s on my Mamasita since February now. Love’em! Great all around tire. I’ve been running them with Stan’s sealant on a DT Swiss TK front rim and Stan’s flow rear. 25 psi seems to be the magic number for great performance and perfect shock absorption. Not great in wet clay conditions, but nothing is. Hard pack, loose rock, roots, etc. they grab.
Overall great tire if you don’t have the cash to be switching out tires for different terrain types.
Anyone use this with a RK 29×2.2 out back in the midwest? Namely MN or WI.
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