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Thinking of buying one of these for a front tyre to replace my 2.35 minions. I want something with a bit more volume than the minion. Want a good all rounder, theta can cope with different conditions. (sorry about another tyre thread}
Get a rubber queen, either 2.2 or 2.4 both are big. Great tyre, just make sure any conti tyre is the black chilli rubber before buying.
Is it the new one (possibly good) or the old one (not very good) you're looking at? Also, is it a black chili version? (Conti seem totally reliant on their flashy rubber these days). Old one was laughable undersized but then so is your Minion.
The Rubber Queen's good. Not as good as the hype said but then practically nothing is.
i had to ride with Mountain Kings for a while as they were on the work bikes, and consequently my guide bike.
the old MK was fine if you intended on not making any turn at anything above walking pace.
i lost several side knobs on the new MK on my first ride with them. they gripped 'ok', but weren't amazing. got back to the shop and realised that the side knobs were missing. swapped them out for Rubber Queens.
RQs are good. i'm currently running 2.4 BC/compound. my only niggle would be that the sidewall protude further than the side knobs. i ripped open the rear twice in two rides. two nice 1" long slits about 3" apart. brand new tyre! sewn up with dental floss and patched over (from the inside) with a section from the old MK that lost its sidewalls. but, that was riding in [i]very[/i] rocky terrain where there were loads of loose, sharp rocks everywhere (Gran Canaria).
so no, don't bother with MK, IMO.
I used MK's a few years ago, old style & 2.4 folders. They're rubbish but I didn't notice until I swapped them for Maxxis rubber, 2.35 HR ST - now there's a good tyre - if you corner it right... hard & snappy.
I hope you get what you need on first purchase, it can be difficult.
currently got x-king 2.4 bc/protections on my HT and love them. They have been referred too as the cheating tyres due to being fast rolling and grip really well. A little loose at high speed corners but don't drag on long climbs. I may get a rubber queen for the front to run in October to allow better mud cornering.
I used Continentals in the rain once, not a pleasent experience.
Currently I'm using RQ on the front of both my bikes and X-kings on the rears. All black chilli - The rubber queen is grippier and draggier than the x-king, and I'd not want to run the X-king on the front due to its drifty nature, but overall its a pretty good 'dry-intermediate' setup.
I've got a normal MK1 mountain king that I used for a little while and I've used conti verts - Just once.
I found the MK1 just like the verticals - light, fast in a straight line, and pretty useless cornering at any speed and liable to slip without warning on roots and limestone type 'smooth rock'. I imagine if you can get a new one with black chilli, it should be pretty good - its like a baby RQ tread.
I had being using 2.2 RQ for a while and they are a great tyre but wanted some thing new as they aren't the best alrounder and a bit draggy.
Bought a 2.4 MK2 for the front and the X King 2.4 on the back and so far its been a happy experience. Much quicker and nearly as much grip and I reckon the new MK2 will be better in mud too. I am using them on my Soul if that helps, also the 2.4 is smaller than the 2.4 RQ which is massive!
Rum X-king 2.4 front and back, have no problem ripping round corners, depends on how you handle your bike, RQ are more secure but not quite as quick and slightly taller. RQ 2.2 front with x-king 2.4 rear sounds a good combo, I like my tyres to be the same.