Continental Terra Trail Shieldwall Folding Tyre Black Skin - 700x45

I did a review after the first ride, something I rarely do. But, after a year wearing out one of the worst bike tires I've ever owned--and that's 35 years of riding mountain, road, and now gravel--the first ride was a revelation: quiet and smooth, and pretty quick, on pavement, with complete stability and grip when I shot from pavement at an angle to a dirt path. That same move would have slammed me to the ground with the previous tire, but with this one it was almost as if I'd gone from one paved surface to another.I've now ridden on big, sharp rocks (not far, that's what my mountain bike is for), on deep gravel, more dirt, a little mud, and more pavement. That first revelation continues. I love the tire.Interesting to me how as little as 1-2 psi is a huge ... MoreI did a review after the first ride, something I rarely do. But, after a year wearing out one of the worst bike tires I've ever owned--and that's 35 years of riding mountain, road, and now gravel--the first ride was a revelation: quiet and smooth, and pretty quick, on pavement, with complete stability and grip when I shot from pavement at an angle to a dirt path. That same move would have slammed me to the ground with the previous tire, but with this one it was almost as if I'd gone from one paved surface to another.I've now ridden on big, sharp rocks (not far, that's what my mountain bike is for), on deep gravel, more dirt, a little mud, and more pavement. That first revelation continues. I love the tire.Interesting to me how as little as 1-2 psi is a huge difference in ride and handling. I run about 80psi on my 700X25 tubed road tires, but on these 700X40 tires 30psi is almost like 85-90 on those road tires, but 28psi is super smooth. I've started down a rocky, rutted road at 30psi, stopped due to my arms jackhammering on the terrain, let about 2psi out of each tire and finished the ride in...well, not pillowy comfort, but still management handling and far higher comfort. Tubeless really does allow some low pressures.Wonderful tires. My last Conti mountain bike tubeless tires developed a wobble that wasn't sealant collected on one side, but, rather, the beads wouldn't fully seat into the TCS rims, tubeless or tubed. I'm looking to see if that happens here after some miles or riding or if I wear them out before they wear me out. Until then, these are really great, all around tires.

The two 650 X 42's I bought weigh 420 and 428 grams. I was not sure about which model to try - the Terra Speed or the Terra Trail. These Terra Trail roll extremely fast and are very smooth, with good cornering grip and decent straight line traction on steep, slippery surfaces. The ride quality is very good, perhaps due to the high thread count of the casing in conjunction with the Black Chili compound. I run them tubeless at 26 psi front, 28 rear (I weigh just under 150 pounds). I ride smooth gravel, pavement, rough 4wd roads, all dirt roads and the occasional bit of rocky singletrack trail. So far these have performed well under these conditions, with no flats so far. I am glad I went with the Terra Trail instead of the Terra Speed, as I prefer to have a the larger ... MoreThe two 650 X 42's I bought weigh 420 and 428 grams. I was not sure about which model to try - the Terra Speed or the Terra Trail. These Terra Trail roll extremely fast and are very smooth, with good cornering grip and decent straight line traction on steep, slippery surfaces. The ride quality is very good, perhaps due to the high thread count of the casing in conjunction with the Black Chili compound. I run them tubeless at 26 psi front, 28 rear (I weigh just under 150 pounds). I ride smooth gravel, pavement, rough 4wd roads, all dirt roads and the occasional bit of rocky singletrack trail. So far these have performed well under these conditions, with no flats so far. I am glad I went with the Terra Trail instead of the Terra Speed, as I prefer to have a the larger side knobs for better grip in the corners. I'll take the slightly higher weight of the Terra Trail for more versatility as compared to the Terra Speed. They do seem to lose more air overnight than other similar tires I have tried, but there is no noticeable loss during 1 to 5 hour rides I typically do. It would be great if Continental could add more 650 sizes, such as 42 or 47.

I have about 1300 miles on a set of these. I usually ride between 33-45 tires with high center for maximum rolling. These tires are rounded making turns feel wishy washy. The sidewalls are not inspiring in turns. Lastly, really surprised at how many small holes there are in the sidewalls and tread. Oddly, even running tubeless, confirming there’s plenty of sealant, the pinholes do not clog. I’d say at 1300 miles, these tires have about run their course. Was hoping better from Continental!