Continental Mountain King II - Pressure advice

Hello.

I've recently mounted up some Conti MK2's tubeless (Protection, Black Chilli 2.4). I've read a lot about these tires. Most of it good.

Maybe I'm missing something, but wet/damp weather traction is severely lacking. I've been thinking that perhaps my pressures are off.

My question would be: What pressures are you guys running with your tubeless setup? (Or even with tubes for that matter)

My last set of tires I was running at around 28-32 for most conditions, but maybe the sidewall was flimsier. Bontrager XR4 (first gen) for reference.

I don't want to go burping this tire around every corner just so I can ride when it's damp.

Hello.

I've recently mounted up some Conti MK2's tubeless (Protection, Black Chilli 2.4). I've read a lot about these tires. Most of it good.

Maybe I'm missing something, but wet/damp weather traction is severely lacking. I've been thinking that perhaps my pressures are off.

Seriously? Your pressures are off? :lol:

Everthing I read on the inter-webz has totally panned that tyre.

I'z glad I kept my recipth receept recipe.. ah fuck it, you know, the piece 'o paper the cash register spits out when youm buy sumpin'?

'cause I bought a Hans Damp in its place and you should too!

Fuckin' ay! eh?

Thank me now or thank me later, whatever……….

Save 'em for the summer when you can get away with using a wider range of tires. 28-32 is what I use, sometimes more. If you have good tread and good rubber you can get away with higher pressure. Those tires just suck is all.

Everthing I read on the inter-webz has totally panned that tyre.

I've read a lot about them, and a number of folks were saying they couldn't be happier. Even some of those UK guys who apparently ride in slop all year round were praising them.

Obviously Hans Dampfs are at the top of my list for a replacement. The question is: how do they wear?

Perhaps the aforementioned solution of saving them for summer is the way to go.

I was going to recommend zero psi as that is ~ the best pressure for removing tires from your bike… but, that sounds almost as awful as those tires.

28/32 wow that is high. Ar you tubless and on what rims?
I run 23/26 tubless here on the shore. I would have trailkings over mountain kings myself. However I run the new maxxis 3c TR 2.3 drh/dhf and love them..Super tight bead never a burp ever ( im on wtb Team frequency i23 rims.UST compatible rims.

Hello.

I've recently mounted up some Conti MK2's tubeless (Protection, Black Chilli 2.4). I've read a lot about these tires. Most of it good.

Maybe I'm missing something, but wet/damp weather traction is severely lacking. I've been thinking that perhaps my pressures are off.

My question would be: What pressures are you guys running with your tubeless setup? (Or even with tubes for that matter)

My last set of tires I was running at around 28-32 for most conditions, but maybe the sidewall was flimsier. Bontrager XR4 (first gen) for reference.

I don't want to go burping this tire around every corner just so I can ride when it's damp.

Firstly asking a question about the pressures should include what bike you ride and what you weigh. Also where you ride ie trails would be useful too.

I ride all trails in Whistler and these are my 'go to' tyre for all round riding and have been for the past three years. The key to them is a: run them tubeless and b: get there tyre pressures right for the conditions.

I rode them on my Blur TRc (125mm ) and now on my Nomad 3 (160 mm) and I weigh 102 kg with my riding gear on.

Summer (when you are generally travelling faster): front: 24-26 psi, rear: 25-27 psi depending on how rocky the terrain is, ie slightly higher pressures when it is rockier.

Winter (when you are more likely to be travelling more slowly): front: 20-22 psi, rear: 22-24 psi depending on how rocky and how wet the trails are.

Basically the faster I think I will be travelling on chundery/ rocky trails, I stick to the higher end of those pressures. More loam, wetter, less speed, wetter roots I drop to the lower end of the pressures.

I start my rides at the higher end as it takes less time to burp tyres than inflate them on the trail.

These are awesome tyres and 95% of the negs come from forum jockeys who have never ridden them or are the sort of rider who think that it is still 1995 and we should be riding 2.4" modern trail tyres with 30-32 psi in them.

If you want an even more capable tyre (with a little extra weight) for serious grip and that is less sensitive to tyre pressure set up then try the Conti Trail King. I run the 2.4" Trail Kings on my V-10.5 as well as they are a fast grippy tyre. Even for DH I only run 26 psi front and 29 psi rear(tubeless). Three flats over the past four years (riding about 200 days per year) two from faulty beads (faulty batch of Trail Kings which were replaced on warranty) and one cut side wall on a Mountain King in a very fast rocky trail.

Summer (when you are generally travelling faster): front: 24-26 psi, rear: 25-27 psi depending on how rocky the terrain is, ie slightly higher pressures when it is rockier.

Winter (when you are more likely to be travelling more slowly): front: 20-22 psi, rear: 22-24 psi depending on how rocky and how wet the trails are.

That is low! Do you not find them incredibly squirmy when cornering? I can notice when i have less than 25 instantly.

I've read a lot about them, and a number of folks were saying they couldn't be happier. Even some of those UK guys who apparently ride in slop all year round were praising them.

Obviously Hans Dampfs are at the top of my list for a replacement. The question is: how do they wear?

Perhaps the aforementioned solution of saving them for summer is the way to go.

Hans Dampf are a great tyre but last about 50% of the time compared to a Mountain King.

My wear and tear list (based on 100 days per year in the bike park) goes like this:

Conti Trail King: 40 days
Conti Kaiser Projekt: 30 days
Schwalbe Hans Dampf/ Magic Mary: 20 days
Maxxis HR II/ DHF: 12-15 days
Maxxis DHR: 10-12 days

Rear tyre always goes off about five days before the front. I have a swap rotation system so I never have a new rear tyre pushing an old front tyre.

I find that the Conti and Schwalbe are equally grippy, both are more grippy than the Maxxis. I find a similar wear rate on my trail bikes but obviously the tyres last a lot longer.

Just my two cents worth but after 7 years of full time spring/ summer and autumn biking in Whistler it is what I have found works.

Heard great things about the Specialized tyres but similar wear rates to the Schwalbe. Not really tried anything else as nothing seems to compare to the grip and wear of the Conti.

I find that the Conti and Schwalbe are equally grippy, both are more grippy than the Maxxis. I find a similar wear rate on my trail bikes but obviously the tyres last a lot longer.

You failed to mention what compound you used for the other tires as that definately has an effect on tire wear.

If you want an even more capable tyre (with a little extra weight) for serious grip and that is less sensitive to tyre pressure set up then try the Conti Trail King. I run the 2.4" Trail Kings on my V-10.5 as well as they are a fast grippy tyre.

I plan to run the same tire on the back of my V10C this summer as well!

One of the problems with those tires is the size and spacing of the knobs. Well, the shape too. The reason why they're not that good is that the knobs are too small and squirm under heavier loads. This causes them to break loose. Now if you are just puttin' along they are fine. The knobs should have a larger surface area or just made into square blocks. Lose the sipes too, you don't need those on small knobs (kinda redundant). If you have smallish knobs like that, they need to be supported, and good way to do that is by closing up the empty space with extra intermediate knobs.

Because of those smaller knobs, if you run higher pressures, this makes the squirmy feeling of the knobs more pronounced. Simply, you will wash out in corners more easily. If you run too low pressure then the whole tires gets squirmy and the same result happens. You can get away with a tire like that moreso in soft/dry rather than hard or wet conditions.

You should be using tires that have good grip because of the knobs and rubber compound so it can allow you to use higher pressures.

the black Chili compound seems to last forever my Baron has over 300km of technical trail riding and some road riding and it still shows little wear .i still run thin xc style tube and run anywhere from 32 to 40 lbs

Obviously Hans Dampfs are at the top of my list for a replacement. The question is: how do they wear?

obviously, 'cause like the "new and improved" conti mountain king, they work great online. only, hans dampfs suck for anything but slow speed chunder. but, they're expensive. and, they wear really quickly!