Continental Touring Plus...Impressions
 

After a year, the Kenda Kwests on my Charge Plug wore out, and I bought Continental Touring Plus tires. Here are my impressions.

Tough to mount (really tough!). They seem to run small. They are 700x32 but are more like 700x30 or even 700x28 compared to the Kwests and the Kenda Small Block Eights. I base this judgement on how they fill (or don't fill) the fenders.

They are not supple, but they are not much stiffer than the Kwests were when new. The Kwests had softened up over the miles. The Small Block Eights had very supple sidewalls from the get go. I did not like the micro knobbies for pavement, they were slightly noisy, and while supple, were not sticky or grippy.

As I did with the previous two tires I am running Mr. Tuffy tire liners, although from what I read, I shouldn't need them with these Continental Touring Plus tires. as they have a protective layer built in. I may get bold and remove them at some point.

While they are stiffish, the Touring Pluses are sticky, which is good for handling and cornering. I also like the tread pattern, which looked less smooth than the Kwests, but has proven to feel as smooth and quiet.

A big plus, is that they don't seem to collect small pebbles and thorns as did the sipes in the Kwests, and the dimpled micro-knobbies of the Small Block Eights.

After running 700x23s on my old Nishiki road bike for a few years I went to 700x32 for more comfort. I mention this because the narrower dimensions of these Continental Touring Plus tires make them feel more like the old 700x23s I had with regard to "self centering" responsiveness and quick attitude changing while cornering, but at the recommended 70psi they don't feel anywhere as harsh as the old 100psi 23s. I inflated the previous two tires on my Charge Plug commuter and the nishiki roadbike tires to 85psi. I also noticed the new Conti's "narrowness" when I steered onto a loose-dirt shoulder I sometimes defer to on one stretch of my commute. Nothing dangerous or unpredictable, just a less secure feeling.

So after two commutes and some round the block adjustment rides last weekend, I am pleased with these tires, and my only complaints would be the difficulty in mounting, and the relative narrowness.

My overall time and speed were no different than usual, and my overall comfort is on par with the Kwests when they were new.

And, the reflective white stripe works well at night, and looks good on my bike. I just wonder how long it will stay clean.

That's it.

Just wanted to share.

I have these same tires on my hybrid (700x32). I have had two flats after about 1000 miles with no liners. One was a metal shard stuck in the tire which had to be repaired and the other is a mystery, but it was super slow and only pumped the tire to get home (~5 miles). The bike will not get as much use now as I have replaced it as my commuter and have no plans to move them over to my new bike.

However, for the same reasons mentioned above, I will not buy again due to the difficulty in mounting. Getting a flat then struggling to get the tire back on is not fun, plus there are many other tire options out there.

I'd be curious to hear your impressions of how they ride without the liners. It's worth a try, and mounting them the second time should be easier. If you don't have a Kool Stop Tire Jack, you should. It makes mounting any tire easy.

I just recent got the Continental Contact II's on my bike. I was actually considering the Touring Plus, but they did not come in size I wanted (35 or 37 mm). The Contacts are a slightly lighter than your Touring Plus, but perhaps a bit less puncture protection. They roll really well...but then again anything rolls better than the studs I'd been riding for the past two months.:lol: