Tyre choice, conti travel contact

randomname2005

Cassiel wrote:

sorry all but a not unrelated question, how well do the conti contact sport and armadillo's handle.
I have michelin Transworld city tyres and have never had a puncture but they are the most evil handling barstards ever:mad: just come of my bike this evening taking a corner, dry tarmac, no gravel, at a well used junction. There had to be some kind of oil or diesel residue. You lean over with these tyres and if the road surface is anyway uncertain, wet etc. - and the front tyre feels like it is losing grip or actually does lose it. effing sore.
They are 26" tyres on an MTB with front suspension.

The armadillos handle well, pretty good grip, long lasting, although mine are getting a little worn after a few thousand miles. Due to a recent slip on some ice, which was not the fault of the tyre, but has left me a little nervous going around corners I am looking at changing them and getting conti travel contact as they are a little wider. If anyone has used these would you recommend them or not?
Thanks,
R

HusseinSarhan

Sometimes a thin tyre can be better at handling corners than a larger one. When you want to corner fast, don't dive into the corner and try to keep the bike vertical wit hyour body tilted toward the bend. Also don't try to stay upright while tilting the bike into the corner. This gives the tyres less grip on the road and can cause you to skid out and the bike to corner less safely. The key is to tilt both your body and the bike together. You'll only need to tilt a little. You can corner faster this way.It may feel weird but it's safest and fastest.

Cassiel

randomname2005 wrote:

The armadillos handle well, pretty good grip, long lasting, although mine are getting a little worn after a few thousand miles. Due to a recent slip on some ice, which was not the fault of the tyre, but has left me a little nervous going around corners I am looking at changing them and getting conti travel contact as they are a little wider. If anyone has used these would you recommend them or not?
Thanks,
R

Thanks for taking this up random. Think I'll take a look at a wider slick or semi-slick tyre. I was able to be fairly aggressive into corners on my old MTB with even cheapo Cheng-chung fat semislick tyres. Bigger contact patch between the road surface and tyre I guess. Those Conti'e are nice but pricey, still, might give them a lash.

randomname2005

Cassiel wrote:

Thanks for taking this up random. Think I'll take a look at a wider slick or semi-slick tyre. I was able to be fairly aggressive into corners on my old MTB with even cheapo Cheng-chung fat semislick tyres. Bigger contact patch between the road surface and tyre I guess. Those Conti'e are nice but pricey, still, might give them a lash.

Thats the main reason im not 100% sure about buying the Conti'es, replacing the armadillos i have would be nearly €20 cheaper which is a lot for a poor student!! But according to their website they come with a free tube which offsets the cost a little! It would be nice to hear from someone here who has used them. There is a review at

http://www.bikemagic.com/review/reviewProductReviews/mps/rpn/7691/prod/Continental-Travel-Contact/rcn/132/rgn/6/v/2/sp/

but id like to know why the first review wouldnt like to try them in the wet and what he means by interesting cornering!!!!
R

PS thanks for the tips HusseinSarhan

daymobrew

randomname2005 wrote:

It would be nice to hear from someone here who has used them.

I have the Sport Contact 26x1.3. Work great. Only a few punctures but they've been massive items, e.g. a large nail.
Looking at Cycle SuperStore (Tallaght), the Travel Contact and Sport Contact are the same price. The Sport Contact is narrower so would be faster. They can be pumped quite hard (max is 80psi).

I bought mine about 2 years ago in Cyclogical on Bachelors Walk. I had to 'remind' them that the tube was to be provided with the tyre.

On my bike I found the tyres very tight on the rim. Conti told me that this is intentional - they said that cheap rims are often small so the tyres are tight to ensure they fit these rims. I use metal tyre irons to get the tyre on and off. I broke a load of plastic ones first.

randomname2005

daymobrew wrote:

I have the Sport Contact 26x1.3. Work great. Only a few punctures but they've been massive items, e.g. a large nail.
Looking at

I think those look really cool, but do you find that they are ok in wet condtions? They dont look like they have enough grip to handle wet roads/leaves etc!!!

I run sun mamoth rims (im a big guy and carry lots of stuff!) im not sure if they would be wide enough and might have more problems getting them on that you had!

Just as an aside, do you have alloy rims? Is it a good idea to use metal on alloy rims, i thought that was likely to cause damage?

Thanks a mil,
R

daymobrew

randomname2005 wrote:

I think those look really cool, but do you find that they are ok in wet condtions? They dont look like they have enough grip to handle wet roads/leaves etc!!!

I run sun mamoth rims (im a big guy and carry lots of stuff!) im not sure if they would be wide enough and might have more problems getting them on that you had!

Just as an aside, do you have alloy rims? Is it a good idea to use metal on alloy rims, i thought that was likely to cause damage?

I have a 2000 Specialized Rockhopper, came with 26x1.9 IIRC. The bike is quite light but I have no idea about the rims.
To be honest, if the weather is crap I take the train and jog to work but I have been caught in the rain a few times. I don't recall any bad experiences. I adjust my style a bit in the wet e.g. take corners slower, keep upright over metal manhole covers etc.

The Conti website seems to say that they are good in the wet:

The compound we have used for the Sport Contact uses a mix of carbon and silica as the main agents. Carbon aids tread life whilst the silica boosts grip levels. The rubber used is natural, not synthetic. Natural rubber gives superior wet grip and so we feel it is imperative that this be used in our tyre compounds.

randomname2005

daymobrew wrote:

I have a 2000 Specialized Rockhopper, came with 26x1.9 IIRC. The bike is quite light but I have no idea about the rims.
To be honest, if the weather is crap I take the train and jog to work but I have been caught in the rain a few times. I don't recall any bad experiences. I adjust my style a bit in the wet e.g. take corners slower, keep upright over metal manhole covers etc.

The Conti website seems to say that they are good in the wet:

Cheers daymobrew will have a look at them the next time im in cyclesuperstore. I saw a bike today with city contacts, they look pretty nice so ill look at them too!
Thanks,
R