Continental recently revamped their cyclocross tires, taking design cues from some of the company’s most successful mountain bike treads.
After a successful start on the mountain bike, Continental’s versatile X-King is now available in a cyclocross version.
The tread not only looks and acts aggressive, but rolls quickly, making the Cyclo X-King a sure bet in a variety of course conditions. Rounded symmetrical knobs provide ample traction when braking and climbing in loose conditions, and protruding shoulder lugs grip like super glue on the corners without slowing you down on the straightaways or hardpack.
The Cyclo X-King Wire Bead Version features a three ply casing for a total of 84 TPI. 700c x 35mm (35-622 ISO). Recommended inflation: 58 PSI. Max inflation: 85 PSI. 450g. Made in Germany.
the us$55 / £44. 95 cyclox-king shares the exact knob layout just like the x-king mountain bike tire. like its off-road predecessor, the cyclox-king has 2 offset rows of tightly spaced center knobs, and intermediate and facet knobs which can be found taller, with additional area between them.
the tread pattern performs well over a large choice of conditions, that will be the reason this tread was chosen as being 1st of continental’s new tubular cyclocross tires. continental’s black chili compound will a very good job of balancing grip, rolling resistance and durability, and therefore the 160tpi casing provides a relatively supple ride. the particular weight for our particular 700x32mm check tire was 330g.
the cyclox-king rolls well on hardpack and asphalt, though not as fast currently being a file tread. when courses are loose, grassy or damp, the varied knobs give lots of bite, so we were impressed with how well the cyclox-king would hold a line on grassy, off-camber sections.
the consistent tread pattern and spherical profile build to produce a tire thats straightforward to firmly lean into corners, with no sense of vagueness transitioning from one set of knobs to firmly following when carving through turns.
Continental Cyclo X-King tire
the cyclox-king will a very good job of filling the role in an intermediate condition tire, though there may be faster treads for grass crits, and higher choices for muddy courses.
additional area connecting knobs would improve the crossx-king’s ability to firmly shed crud, albeit for the expense of increasing rolling resistance. in any case, continental has another tire for truly heinous courses : the mountain king cx.
Specs Continental :
| Application: Cyclocross | |
| Tire Type: Clincher-Wire | |
| ISO (ETRTO) Size: 35-622 ISO | |
| Rec Pressure: 58 PSI | |
| Max Pressure: 85 PSI | |
| Threads Per Inch: 3 Plies/84 Total |
Source = bikeradar
