Continental Bicycle Tires

"Rolling On Continental Bicycle Tires..."

  ...In the bicycle world, Continental bicycle tires hold a position of respect that they have earned.  How many of us haven't seen one of their high-tech products in action, like the Grand Prix 3000, tires with brightly-colored reflective stripes?

Michelin bicycle tires are just as noticeable.  A leading tire manufacturer, Michelin makes tires for both road and mountain bicycles.  For mountain tires, they use new dual-compound technology: the outer part is made of soft rubber, while underneath is hard rubber, that reinforces knobs and prevents flats.

The most visible part of bicycle tires is the rubber, which is usually gray or black in color.  Natural rubber is tan-colored, but manufacturers add chemicals for better traction that change the rubber's color.  The tread is where the rubber comes in touch with the ground.  In most tires, the tread is thicker than the tires' sides so the tires last longer.

Bicycle tire liners, like Mr. Tuffy by AC International, give tires extra protection from puncture flats.  The liners protect the tires by crushing glass, thorns, nails, and other sharp objects. You put the liners on the inside of the tires

Spin Skins

Take Spin Skins Race tire liner, which weighs only 34g per mountain-bike-wheel and can resist up to 7.5 pounds of force from a 0.5 inch needle. Another example is Slime Tire Liners, unique because of the gel-like, "slime" material.

Slime also makes the SRT XC Tire that is tubeless and pre-installed with Slime tire sealant to help prevent flats.  This tire has tubular clinchers, so it has two edges of the tire sewn together, with no beads.

Bicycle tires with beads hold the tire to the rim using steel-wire hoops or the more-flexible Kevlar cord.  Tires with Kevlar beads are easy to fold and put away, which just one more convenience for riders.

Another part of the bicycle tire worth mentioning is the fabric.  The fabric on bicycle tires is made of threads that are usually of nylon, polyamide, or cotton.  These threads run diagonally and are in perpendicular layers.

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Threads per inch, or tpi, can help you see how well a tire performs since a higher tpi means thinner thread.  And thinner thread means flexible and lightweight tires.  But the thinness can also mean tires can suffer damage more easily than with thicker threads.

Continental's Ultra Race tires have 60tpi of casing and protection from punctures.  For riding in snow, you might try Continental's Nordic Spike, with 84tpi and120 studs of hard and strong steel.

Spike Claw

Another tire by the same manufacturer is the large Spike Claw--perfect not just in snow, but also in mud.  If you want to ride smoothly on curves and want good traction on soft roads, you can try Continental's Gravity tires.

Meanwhile, Michelin's Pro 2 Race, with 127 tpi, has excellent grip on wet roads and comes in black, gray, blue, yellow, and red colors.  This manufacturer also sells the Carbon tire, with krylion carbon that reinforces the tread.

Another option is the Michelin Dynamic 700C, a road bicycle tire with tpi, steel casing and a somewhat slippery tread.  This tire also has 80-100 psi, which is a measurement of pressure and can depend on the ground that the tire touches.

The best advice  is to buy the bicycle tire that works for you...

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Ride for Life...
Chip Clark
Famous Bike Guy

   Continental bicycle tires