Continental X-King Protection 2.2 Tire - Early Review

Continental has a history of measuring their tires wrong. For years they have had a reputation for exaggerating the size of their tires. The X-King is no exception. They call it a 2.2 but it just measures a 2.1 on my caliper. This happens to be okay for me this time since I put them on one of my racier bikes that I use for speedier rides, but it's still annoying to not know what size you will actually get. I wish manufacturers would start measuring the bead to bead distance as the tire was pressed flat- once we got used to those numbers it would be simple to know what you were getting.

The tire is pretty awesome though. It's very fast, has great grip, and comes in at about 560gms which is pretty damn good. It is not a tubeless tire but does have a proper tubeless bead and I have been running it as such with no problems. In fact, the "Protection" feature of Continental tires includes an extra layer for durability (hence the "Protection" moniker) and are tubeless ready, but they are doing a poor job of informing the public about that. The casing is one of the thinner ones Ive tried (tubeless at least) and even though it has I am not sure how long it will last before suffering a puncture or rip.  A UST version is available if you want one, but I wouldn't bother in this case. I will let you know if it suffers a puncture or similar meltdown. Regardless, It has already lasted long enough to justify it for racing, or even some endurance events, considering it's low weight, and speedy nature.

In other news, We are all talking about which races we are going to do this year and I want to encourage everyone to register for the 24 Hours in the Enchanted Forest. I'm going to be there and it's a great event. If you can't make that, then check out some of their other events around NM which are all awesome: http://www.ziarides.com/

Below is a photo from the Enchanted Forest Race last summer.

Charlie S.