Continental has a tire testing/development lab that is at least as large as Schwalbe’s, but for whatever reason they do not feature it as part of their marketing or corporate profile in the same manner.
I took the discussion as more how the company helps their sponsored riders determine what tire/casing/compound to choose for their events and not what the company does to develop tires.
I wonder how they would do at Leadville. 14 watts savings over many of the other tire choices people are using. Maybe ride them with inserts even to boost their durability.
Unbound xl is a much tougher tire test than Leadville (in my opinion). There are some clunky spots at Leadville, but not that much sharp stuff like the flint at unbound.
Fair enough. I’m working on getting a Cervelo ZHT drop bar project together, and I’m sure will continue using these big Schwalbes out of pure curiosity.
Yeah, agree on the front. Even though there isn’t much technical corning at leadville, there are enough “pucker” turns on those fire roads (and bottom segment of powerline) at high speed that a little grip up front is nice.
FYI this tire is neck-and-neck with a 28c Pirelli road tire for the final spot in BRR voting this month. It falls off the list if it doesn’t win, so if you want to see it drum-tested you should stick your vote in before the end of tomorrow.
(sort of seems irrelevant at this point since we’ve got so much more info from 2025’s gravel tire hero @jkarrasch, but still might be of interest to some?)
I got a race series this winter that is basically 50/50 gravel and road. Wondering if going for something big will be a negative. I was thinking 2.2 terreno xc front and 48 tufo thundero rear
I don’t think there’s a good argument for the 2.2 Terreno XC in front, it’s too slow even accounting for suspension losses. I also think the tread design is pretty bad for pavement/hardpack. The center to side-knob transition is hard and feels like a wall when getting into even mild lean angle.
Thundero 48 front/rear would seemingly be a better choice. Or Thunder Burt/Race King -level tires in the front/Thundero rear.
I’ve been running a 50 rx pro front and 45 in the rear for about two months or so now. I can’t imagine going back to my trusty Pathfinder Pros or honestly anything else. They roll very well and are pretty grippy when ripping down chunky or loose gravel/dirt. They are fast and corner well.
