If you ain't tryin' new tyres you ain't nuthin!

Continental Survival Protection 2.3
directional tread?
Mosquito_Cameleon
Panaracer_Fire_XC_Pro
Panaracer_Trailblaster
Specialized_Rockster
Team_Control_Pro
Team_Control_Sport
Team_Master_Pro
Team_Master_Sport

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Continental Survival Protection 2.3

Review submitted by Huey
Comments: Continental Survival Pro 2.3” aren’t as big a casing as a 2.3 would suggest.

Brilliant in mud, hardly ever slip, and have stopped me falling off in ruts due to their bizarre ability to claw into the side of the rut keeping me upright on more than one occasion?! They are also universal, so when the back gets a bit worn, you just swap them over, reverse the tread and you have nice sharp-edged blocks again.

Here’s what’s written about them on the Conti website - “…we’ve found the new Pro to be more stable, with a solid feel at the rear when powering up short climbs and good front wheel stability on gloopy off-camber….. There’s also a bit more grip when hauling on the anchors on a rooty or muddy downhill…The 5mm deep knobs grip like leeches on most wet surfaces….. in rocky and muddy terrain where traction is at a premium, the Survival Pro’s can’t be beaten…..”:

The Conti’s have a tread very similar to an old Specialized Storm Control (pic below), but are *much* more predictable on tarmac corners. I have a couple of Storm Controls ‘left in stores’ and I think one will find its way onto the back of the s/s this winter, purely ‘cos the Tioga 2.1 DH’s on there at the mo’ aren’t that great in the mud and wet (although they are a nice big casing). The Storm Control’s are a quite narrow 1.9” and are way unpredictable on the front so I’ll have to think of something else there:

I also rate the Continental Vertical Pro. It grips like its mother’s life depended on it. I thought the Survival’s were good, but these are better – but not *quite* so good in all conditions due to the closer tread spacing. Whilst they are exceptional when it starts to dry out a bit, they would wear quicker due to the smaller tread (although they are universal front or rear, so can be swapped). They could be a 3-season choice on something like the Jekyll (or Santa Cruz):

The Vertical’s are probably the only competitor to my previous favourite all-rounder, the IRC Mythos, which both Sue and I used for more years than the tread would legitimately suggest, but they grip like leeches, even in the slippy stuff, and sadly, we bought the inferior Panaracer’s as a totally unfulfilling replacement (although today didn’t seem so bad on them, they are unpredictable and give sketchy grip, losing it just when you don’t need it to – but then you’ll know all that ‘cos you ride them too!). Merlin Cycles (£24.99 per PAIR for the IRC’s as opposed to Wiggle’s £21.99 EACH) says: “The classic XC front and rear specific tyre set is still the choice of racers and weekend warriors world wide. The Kevlar version now has lower prices offering an even better performance to price ratio”:

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Panaracer Trailblaster 1.95

Price Paid: £26-00
Length of use: 6 months (April -October 2002)
Overall Score:
Comments: A grippy tyre but too lightweight for my style of riding. I get regular flats on this tyre plus the tyre wall split twice in the first month. Despite this I do like the ride the tyre gives and it is noticeably lighter than others. I upgraded my rating having patched the splits in the sidewall with a puncture repair kit to extend the use.

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Specialized Team Master Pro 1.9 (rear specific)

Price Paid: Supplied with the bike
Length of use: 12 months
Overall Score:
What they say: Lightweight multi-purpose tyre with rear-specific tread design. Wide faces on centre knobs for lower rolling resistance.
What we say: This tyre was great for all types of terrain and all year round in either claggy mud or hard-packed stuff. I only replaced it when it finally wore out

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Specialized Team Master Sport

Price Paid: £7-00
Purchased: Evans Cycles, Waterloo
Length of use: 3 months
Overall Score:
What they say: Lightweight multi-purpose tyre with rear-specific tread design. Wide faces on centre knobs for lower rolling resistance.
What we say: Not quite so lightweight as it suggests. The tread isn’t as aggressive as the pro either but the ride is okay. Good value tyre but I would recommend the pro.

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Specialized Team Control Pro 2.0 (front specific)

Price Paid: Supplied with the bike
Length of use: Continuously since April 2001
Overall Score:
What they say: Lightweight multi-purpose tyre with front-specific tread design. Angled intermediate and shoulder knobs for smoother transitions.
What we say: This tyre is great in all conditions. A reasonable weight with a very chunky tread gives me reassurance on that oh so important front end. Hardly ever lets you down when leaning into treacherous corners.

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Specialized Team Control Sport (front specific)

Price Paid: £7-00
Purchased: Evans Cycles, Waterloo
Length of use: 2 months
Overall Score:
What they say: Lightweight multi-purpose tyre with front-specific tread design. Angled intermediate and shoulder knobs for smoother transitions.
What we say: A reasonable tyre that I actually used on the rear for a couple of months when I was short on tyres. Performed okay once I had ‘reversed’ the tread.

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SpecializedRockster Sport 2.1

Price Paid: £5-00
Purchased: Evans Cycles, Waterloo
Length of use: 2 months
Overall Score:  in mud or  on dry trails
Comments: Mid-weight tyre with a central tread which is great for moving really fast across bone dry trails but as soon as you move into the rainy season the tyre will snake around all over the place.

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Panaracer Fire XC Pro 2.1

Price Paid: £40-00 for a pair of Kevlar rubbers (Chainreaction)
Length of use: continuous (since Christmas 2002)
Overall Score:
Comments: A great all round tyre. Slightly heavier than the trailblaster but
ohhh so much more grippy and hard-wearing. The 2.1 inch width gives a
noticeably enhanced ride (even with the benefit of full suspension)

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Mosquito Cameleon

Price Paid: £5-00
Purchased: Evans Cycles, Waterloo
Length of use:  day to day hacking only
Overall Score:
Comments: A reasonable weight, cheap tyre. This tyre is on my rigid bike which has only seen a few outings (including in the snow and ice) but performed well – in my stable of spares.

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Directional Tread - What's that all about?

Commonly, a tyre model will be made to be used on both front and rear wheels (e.g. Panaracer FireXCPro, Continental Vertical Pro, etc), but almost always it will work better on the front wheel one way round, and the back wheel the other way round. Direction arrows are moulded on the sidewall of the tyre if this is the case.

Only rarely, is it not important which way round a tyre is fitted, such as the Specialized Ground Control (sadly no longer available but a good example of Specialized Ground Control). This tyre could be fitted any which way, allowing you to swap the tyres round throughout their life and get fresh square edges to use. The tradeoff is slightly less grip than a specific tyre.

Sometimes a tyre can be front or rear-specific (designed for the front or the rear wheel only). These tyres will mostly have to go on the wheel a particular way round (akin to car tyres that are directional to channel the most water from the road surface, bike tyres are directional to afford the most grip on the trail). Tyres in this category include IRC Mythos (front and rear models), Panaracer Dart (although the 'rear' variant, the 'Smoke' could be used on the front [the other way round]). These too have direction arrows on the sidewall, but they are only marked 'Direction' with an arrow, not 'Front' and 'Rear' with two arrows.

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