Touring - Continental Town & Country Tires Suck!

OK...so I bought a Novara Safari bike just 2 months ago...it came with the Continental Town & Country Tires on it. I have had 3 flats in the past 8 weeks! I never had this problem with other tires... I'm ready to chuck them and switch to the Schwalbe Marathon XR. Anyone else having or had problems with the Town & Country tires? (BTW--I've been running them at 65 psi and mostly on the road with an occasional rail-trail with a crushed limestone surface.)

I run conti tires on my road bike and conti travel contact tires on my urban assault bike with no troubles. I am suprised to hear of the problems you are having. OTOH you may just have had a patch of bad luck and maybe the tires are okay. If you don't want to pony up for new tires try them another few weeks.

FWIW - You definitely won't have any issues with Marathon XRs.

I had Contis that I bought in Fairbanks split their sidewalls in no time. Maybe they were frozen in storage or something. But as much as they cost and as short as they lasted, I'll never buy Contis again.

First,you have a REI Bike...Good bike,but REI is famous for poor assembly and tuning(I know this personally I own a Novara Bonanza) What size tire/rim combo?? Tubes? Super thicks? What kinda flat? (Puncture/pinch) check your rims,after two months mabey the need a spoke tightning (Mine Did) Did you run some Duct tape around the inside of your tires?(Yes this sounds kinda Getto but it works very well) I ran a set of Conti T&C's in Aridzona for years and never had a problem!! Toostoned Aridzona(Tuscon az.) is FULL of thorny things and I was'nt nice to these tires at all!! And they took me everywhere,road,singletrack,rocks,glass,gravel,cacti,thorns.spikes and the infrequent Kid,Cat and Volvo!!
Plus only three flats in two months?? that has happend to me in one day while touring,there is not much one can do about nails,big pices of beer bottles,or the wire that is scatterd all over the road fron exploding semi-truck tires( Truck tire Cord wire is the bane of touring for me)

Almost every tire company makes some "high-end" tires and some "Budget" tires. I've ridden thousands and thousands of Km on Continental Top Touring 2000's, GP 4000's and GP 4-Seasons, all with out a flat.

The replacement for their Legendary TT2000 is I think called something like the "Country Contact" or maybe its "City Contact" or "Travel Contact"? It should fit a hybrid and should be available in what ever size you are running (my guess is a 32 or 35 from the pressure you stated). It has a Kevlar belt to reduce flats. If that isn't enough, try Mr. Toughy tire strips (they go inside).

One of the cheapest places to get high-end road tires is probikekit.com Free shipping!

duct tape? :rolleyes:

I had good luck with t&c's when i was on 26in a few years ago
However, because of the very stiff bead you will get pinch flats if you're not obcenely careful.

Take the tires back to REI and get a new pair!

(This is the best reason to buy anything REI-- the return policy)

I have used Conti Town and Country's as a commuting tyre for the last 10 years and have only had about a dozen flats in that whole period:) . I have also toured extensivley with them and have had very few flats when touring fully loaded on some crappy road surfaces.

You may have a bad batch :mad: What type of punctures are you getting? Pinch falts? Thorns?

Have you checked your rim tape? Spokes may be poking through?

Take the tires back to REI and get a new pair!

(This is the best reason to buy anything REI-- the return policy)

That's a good idea...didn't think about taking back just "part" of the bike...maybe I can score some free replacements. Thanks for the idea!

No pinch flats that I can see...mostly punctures, glass / metal / sharp rocks...you know, all that "stuff" you see on the side of the road. I did not check the rim tape, didn't think about that since the bike is new, but I will check it now that you mention it.

-Scott

OK...so I bought a Novara Safari bike just 2 months ago...it came with the Continental Town & Country Tires on it. I have had 3 flats in the past 8 weeks! I never had this problem with other tires... I'm ready to chuck them and switch to the Schwalbe Marathon XR. Anyone else having or had problems with the Town & Country tires? (BTW--I've been running them at 65 psi and mostly on the road with an occasional rail-trail with a crushed limestone surface.)

I've used three sets of Continental Town & Country 26x2.1 tires on three bicycles for two years while riding through the city(over glass, gravel, cobble stones, curbs and cracked sidewalks) and on the NCR Trail(crushed stone)

They have been flawless(no punctures) and seem very tough and reliable.

They could have better grip going downhill in the forest on pine needles ;)

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/6945/hashawhatassajara9753ac.jpg

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/8240/hashawhatassajara10001ru.jpg

You mean you're riding through "glass / metal / sharp rocks" and you're complaining about getting 3 flats in two months?

I used to run T&C's when I rode a converted mtb as my commuter. I never had a flat despite riding through some real garbage. Maybe i'm just lucky.

I have Top Touring 28cc on my Blue Ridge and Gatorskins on my Alpe D'Huez. I put them on new this year and with 1,900 miles, or 950 on each bike so far, I've not had any flats or issues with them. I ride mostly paved roads (some very poor shape) and gravel rail trails.

However, talking with the owner of a lbs who tuned up both bikes this spring mentioned he didn't care for Continentals. The amount of miles he does makes my 1,900 seem like a ride in the park.

+1 on the Conti Top Touring 2000's. The last set were 35's an I put over 2,000 miles on them without a flat. The new set of 28's has like 600 miles with the same story...no flats. On the ride the rockies tour I just completed, I rode past hundreds of roadies fixin' flats :) I dinged my bell and waved.

I had Conti's and had nothing but trouble. It turned out to be the super cheap tubes the shop had fitted to the bike prior to delivery. I put thorn resistant tubes in, and tour fully loaded on an MTB 26" wheel, with the pressure at 65 psi, and have never had any problems, not even a puncture.

+1 on the Conti Top Touring 2000's. The last set were 35's an I put over 2,000 miles on them without a flat. The new set of 28's has like 600 miles with the same story...no flats. On the ride the rockies tour I just completed, I rode past hundreds of roadies fixin' flats :) I dinged my bell and waved.

I have thousands of km on my TT2000 (37 x 700c) and they hardly even show any wear. I may never get to use that folding TT2000 That I bought for a spare.

Continental has discontinued the TT2000 and it is replaced by the Travel Contact.

I've used Contis for an awfully long time, and have never had the problem you described. But I did get 7 flats in one day (2 in the front, 5 in the back) while touring a few years ago, using Michelins. The next day everything was fine. Just a weird day I guess.

I have 1,000's of km on my TT2000 (37 x 700c) and they hardly even show any wear. I may never get to use that folding TT2000 That I bought for a spare.Continental has discontinued the TT2000 and it is replaced by the Travel Contact.

I've also had nothing but good luck with Conti tires. I still have a set of original Top Touring tires which have the same tread pattern as the Town and Country on a beater. They are wonderful tires.

BTW, according to the Conti website the TT2000 has been replaced by the Contact, not the Travel Contact.

http://www.conti-tyres.co.uk/conticycle/ti%20contact.shtml

I had terrible experiences with T&Cs. I'd get flats all the time riding around London. Changed to Armordillos, and the problem went away.