So posting a follow up on my Conti Race King Protection experience.
To briefly recap, I put on a Race King Protection 2.2 rear a couple of months back in anticipation of using it at Wilmington Whiteface and Leadville this season. I had a lot of longish 50 - 100 mile weekend gravel rides planned as well as mixing in some single track, so it was a good chance to try it on the rear of my Supercaliber mounted on an ENVE M5 rim. I kept a 2 year old 2.25 Schwalbe Racing Ray on the front.
The Race King felt great on the gravel and was surprisingly competent on the trail. Traction was a step up from a Thunder Burt on the trail, especially if damp. From a handling and speed perspective I was 100% pleased.
But there were some negatives. The tire didn’t hold air well. Compared to the Schwalbe in the front I was losing air throughout the week and often the tire would be flat by the following weekend if not pumped up during the weekm. Initially I thought it was a leaky valve, so replaced it, but same result. Then I retaped tire, but still result. I was using fresh Stan’s Race Sealant and swapped it out, added extra, etc, all to no avail. Last week I noticed sealant leaking through the tire. This made me really nervous with a race coming up so I took the Race King off and put on a lightly used Thunder Burt. I pumped it up and it held air perfectly, so definitely the tire was leaking, not the wheel.
So it looks like I’m going to abandon the Race King experiment. Two months of weekend riding leading to a leaky tire is not exactly confidence inspiring. Back to Schwalbes front and rear.
Here is a shot of some the leaking spots. They were scattered all around the tire.
