Double the price, double the grip? Tyres in the price check

Costs 32.90 euros Continental's brand new Mountain King tyre in the low-cost Performance version. 62.90 euros must be paid for the top model with Black chilli almost twice as much! At first glance, the two MTB tyres are identical. Both foldable, both fully tubeless compatible, identical tread. What is the difference and, above all, is the investment really worth it?

Whether they are expensive or cheap is largely determined by production costs and material costs. Let's stay with the example of Continental: The top models, called Protection, are manufactured in Germany, including appropriate wages and working conditions. The cheaper models come from the Far East, as do almost all standard mountain bike tyres. At Continental, part of the money therefore also flows into the label "Made in Germany".

It continues with the raw materials, for example the rubber compounds. Most tyre treads consist of a mixture of natural rubber and man-made rubber, and the price differences between the raw materials are enormous. While inexpensive tyres are covered with a standard compound, most manufacturers use customised rubber for their expensive models. In concrete terms, this means that there is no difference between a tyre for cross-country or enduro use in the case of inexpensive tyres. With expensive bike tyres, the rubber compound for CC tyres is trimmed for rolling resistance, while grip and damping are optimised for enduro MTB tyres. This increases production costs. But what effect does this have on the riding characteristics of an MTB tyre?

Let's first take a look at the laboratory values. The Continental Mountain King Performance weighs 770 grams, the expensive protection version of the Mountain King around 715 grams. This is a significant difference for those who love grams, especially as the weight on the tyre counts double when accelerating. The next test relativises the advantage somewhat. The guillotine, which tests the puncture protection of the tyres, causes the expensive Conti to run out of air a little earlier than its cheaper counterpart. More weight brings more puncture protection - even high-quality materials cannot break this credo.

And what effect do the expensive rubber compounds have on the grip and traction of the tyres?

You can read the detailed test of ten tyre pairs from the touring/trail and cross country sector (e.g. Schwalbe Rocket Ron, Maxxis Ikon or Onza Canis) with all laboratory values and riding impressions here in BIKE 5/2018 - on newsstands from 3 April.