this is how the prototype tire looks after a week of riding on. as mentioned in a previous post I made, I’d describe the continental supersport, 700x25c, as a sluggishly comfortable tire that skids consistently through, somewhat like a soma everwear. the rubber compound is gummy and glides across the pavement, which might be fun if you like laying down fatty rubber marks, but a bit sketchy if you’re trying to slow down quickly. and because the compound is rather soft, if you do lay down a fat skid, you’ll find yourself with a noticeable hop in the tire as it goes around. there is a LOT of rubber on this tire, but all of it is soft. I noticed no difference in consistency when reaching the anti-puncture layer of the tire. 2 days later, after only 100 miles, threads started to appear, and I snapped this shot.
in a previous entry, I mentioned how the tire began to square off. it’s significantly more noticeable with a thick 25c tire like this because of how wide it is. so when it does square off, it’s rather extreme. the contact patch when the tire is perpendicular to the ground is massive, and I noticed a significant amount of “drag”. out of the saddle climbing, when the rim was rocked from left to right, the tire tended to “thud” as it reached a perpendicular state. but again, a downside to having a thick compound 25c tire.
I had zero problems cornering this tire, however, I’d like to mention that once the tire wore down and became a bit square, the contact patch it made with the ground was significantly less. essentially, I was rolling on the corner of the tire, potentially a sketchy situation if the pavement was wet, or if I weighed more.
I’d recommend this tire if you’re running it in the city, keeping in mind that the compound is soft and it’ll take longer for you to slow down. the 25c was quite comfortable and the sidewalls are thick. I hopped off numerous curbs and was greeted with a gummy rubber thud. and the fact it didn’t perform particularly well in the wet is another factor to keep in mind. a potential solution to this would be lowering the psi and skidding “straight” – NOT outwards, when the tire would skate on a wet surface causing you to fall. I’m also assuming the anti-puncture layer, in yellow, did it’s job quite well, considering I didn’t get a rear flat at all. then again, I could’ve just been lucky, who knows?
I wouldn’t recommend this tire if you tend to do a lot of mileage and require a tire that has lower rolling resistance as well as a lower weight. it’s quite a hefty donut, and I noticed the weight immediately. accelerations were a bit more laggy, and the rear wheel seemed less responsive. the biggest downfall of this tire, to me, is the fact you can’t just DIG it into the ground for a few short seconds in quick, alternating skid to slow you down. it doesn’t work. the compound is soft and I found myself timing lights and corners farther ahead than I normally would’ve with a stickier tire. the fact it squared off a bit also threw me off, since the majority of riding that I tend to do with the bike is quick pace cornering, where having a consistent contact patch is necessary. and I couldn’t stand the thud it made when climbing out of the saddle.
that’s all I’m going to say about that. big thanks to freewheel for tossing me this tire to test out. I had a blast tearing it up!
