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Continental Mountain King tire - The Allrounder!

(June 6, 2010)

When I first viewed the Continental Mountain King 2.4 I was struck by its large volume and my concerns about rolling resistance immediately surfaced. I spend most of my time riding cross country on technical trails and I don’t want anything to slow me down, tires included.

I mounted the Mountain King up front and it rolled quite fast, thank you very much. The large volume of this tire allowed me to stuff the tire into places that I previously would have worked hard to avoid. The tire made me feel like I had an extra inch of suspension and it gripped tenaciously in hardpack and loose gravel conditions when run at 32 psi. I did have a chance to ride it through some mud and the Mountain King shed it quickly and effectively. With the Mountain King on the front, I mounted a Continental Race King 2.2 in the rear because I wanted a fast race tire in back. The combination proved fantastic in all conditions except in the gnarly technical and rocky stuff. If you tend to ride in rocky terrain, I would recommend a Mountain King front and rear.

If you are looking for even greater speed and control try the optional Black Chili compound. The Black Chili compound is the result of Continental's efforts with nano technology and they claim a 26% lower rolling resistance, a 30% increase in adhesion quality, and a 5% increase in tread life. And if your local terrain is filled with rock gardens that just rip up sidewalls, then Continental has you covered with their Protection sidewall system. The Mountain King is available in 2.0, 2.2, and the large 2.4 that I tested. At 670 grams, the MOUNTAIN KING 2.4 is a surprisingly light tire. If you are more of a racer, or just want to shave some weight from your wheels, then the Mountain King 2.2 Supersonic weighs in at only 460 grams. After testing and riding many tires over the years, I now have some new favorites. “It's good to be the “Mountain King”. But, if you can't be the king of the mountain then the next best thing is to mount these up and rule over your local trails.

List Price with Protection sidewalls: $75.00

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