Continental Top Contact
#1
Continental Top Contact
Hey folks, I'm normally found talking crap in the mtb forum, but seeing as I just picked up a set of these tyres (and I'm on the road more than the trail these days) I figured you guys'd be interested in a mini-review.
Anyways, immediate strengths - grip(lovely), speed, comfort, smoothness and low noise.
Puncture protection is supposed to be excellent.. when you see the tough german women on the label, you'll believe it.
I just came from fatboys and they were scary on wet corners plus they made you ride like a roadie coz rims get dinged easily. I've got the dents to prove it.
The speed difference between these 1.9's and the 1.25 fatboys is minimal and the comfort/safety advantages easily outweigh any speed increase. On crappy potted roads, these are waay faster/smoother.
With these, your bike still looks like a mountain bike and you can arse around on curbs and stuff.
The continentals are expensive, but worth it.
Let you know more when it rains. It's England, won't take long.
Anyways, immediate strengths - grip(lovely), speed, comfort, smoothness and low noise.
Puncture protection is supposed to be excellent.. when you see the tough german women on the label, you'll believe it.
I just came from fatboys and they were scary on wet corners plus they made you ride like a roadie coz rims get dinged easily. I've got the dents to prove it.
The speed difference between these 1.9's and the 1.25 fatboys is minimal and the comfort/safety advantages easily outweigh any speed increase. On crappy potted roads, these are waay faster/smoother.
With these, your bike still looks like a mountain bike and you can arse around on curbs and stuff.
The continentals are expensive, but worth it.
Let you know more when it rains. It's England, won't take long.
#4
Hey all, just stumbled on this while browsing through some old threads and figured you'd be absolutely fascinated by an update.
Anyways, 9 months of daily riding later and still no punctures. I've pulled bits (and chunks) of glass out of these things and they're still sweet as. Once I even ran over a bottle by accident and.. Nothing.
Wear and tear? Next to nada. I'd be surprised if they didn't last another year or two (or three).
The only incident I've had was a complete front washout a few days after I fitted them, but everyone knows brand new tyres need to be broken in to get to their best. Besides, I was being stupid and taking waaay too low a cornering angle at speed and probably would've come off anyway.
Only negatives are price and maybe weight.
Worth every penny in my book.
EDIT: Oh, wet weather performance is up there too. Ooh, and I forgot to mention they have a lovely reflective strip on the sidewall if you care. And you probably do.
Anyways, 9 months of daily riding later and still no punctures. I've pulled bits (and chunks) of glass out of these things and they're still sweet as. Once I even ran over a bottle by accident and.. Nothing.
Wear and tear? Next to nada. I'd be surprised if they didn't last another year or two (or three).
The only incident I've had was a complete front washout a few days after I fitted them, but everyone knows brand new tyres need to be broken in to get to their best. Besides, I was being stupid and taking waaay too low a cornering angle at speed and probably would've come off anyway.
Only negatives are price and maybe weight.
Worth every penny in my book.
EDIT: Oh, wet weather performance is up there too. Ooh, and I forgot to mention they have a lovely reflective strip on the sidewall if you care. And you probably do.
Last edited by DickyJ; 08-06-08 at 06:37 AM.
#5
totally louche
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 18,023
Likes: 12
From: A land that time forgot
Bikes: the ever shifting stable loaded with comfortable road bikes and city and winter bikes
continental has a SERIOUS supply chain problem in North America, unfortunately.
over 80 percent of our conti orders are currently going unfilled and we had many K of backorders waiting for months to be filled by hiway2, the NA distributor.
Contis are nice tires but if you can't buy the tires its difficult to ride them!
over 80 percent of our conti orders are currently going unfilled and we had many K of backorders waiting for months to be filled by hiway2, the NA distributor.
Contis are nice tires but if you can't buy the tires its difficult to ride them!
#7
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 403
Likes: 0
From: Bellingham, WA
Bikes: Rivendell Atlantis, Kogswell P58, 1988 Pinarello, Rivendell Wilbury (my wife's bike)
I love my Conti Top Touring 2000 (the forerunner of the Top Contact) 700x37 tires. I should probably replace them with new Top Contacts seeing as they have thousands of miles on them (never a flat tire) and have seen years of use and abuse. The rear tire is looking a bit worn, but the front still looks great, so maybe I'll replace just one.
I ride them on my Rivendell Atlantis just about everywhere... including occasional single-track. They are comfortable and reasonably fast.
I ride them on my Rivendell Atlantis just about everywhere... including occasional single-track. They are comfortable and reasonably fast.
#9
Continential's are good when the side walls don't rot on you which most of them will after two/three years. I read somewhere that a police department somewhere got rid of their conti's after they found out that all their tires dry rotted after only two years. The Top touring 2000 didn't have this problem since the side walls were also rubber, but the majority of continential tires had side walls made of a fiber that would dry out on you without any sort of lubrication.
I only ride specialized armadillos, the regular ones ride like crap, but the light, not to mention super expensive ones ride better.
I only ride specialized armadillos, the regular ones ride like crap, but the light, not to mention super expensive ones ride better.




