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Following on from my thread about the Continental der Baron Project 29er tyre and being actually really impressed after buying one I've been having more of a look at Conti offerings as they seem to be available at good prices compared to Maxxis/Schwalbe at the moment of you shop around.
To me from the online pics the Kaiser looks really like a Maxxis HR2? Or am I mad?
Anyone using them? Any good?
Nope you're not mad, the Der kaisser is similar to HR/HR2 which is itself a copy!
It all started in the late 90's with Michelin producing the Comp 16 and every manufacturer has 'invented' a copy since.
... oh and yes they are great tyres, been running them on my DH bike since they came out and love them.
Der kaisser and the mud king are really good tyres that roll well and grip well. Tread lasts a long time. Side walls are stiff - some people like this so can run lower pressures / some don't not very compliant.
Yeah I'll take strong sidewalls all day long. Are they any good in the winter slop?
Knobs on Der Kaiser are a bit closer together and deeper than an HR2. IMO it's a more aggressive tyre and has better grip all round, at the expense of rolling speed. I'd say it's a dryish weather tyre as it's fairly prone to clogging in thick mud. I prefer Der Baron in the mud as it clears better.
I originally bought a set of Conti's for the Apex sidewalls, as my Maxxis sidewalls kept tearing on rockier trails (no availability of doubledown in 29er at the time), but I've been so impressed I've been running only Conti's for a while now. Black Chili rubber is awesome. If only Conti owned the DHR2 design and made a semi-slick...
I thought I'd found my perfect tyre with conti Apex tyres, but the bead rubber wears through and starts on the threads and the sidewall above the Apex broke down until latex started coming through.
So near, yet so far.
Dr Kaiser not great in winter slop, its a dry hard pack tyre. A Mud King is good for mud - its a proper mud spike. Der Baron is a good intermediate tyre. I run a Der Baron up front for 8 months then swap over to a Mud King. Bit like going from a DHR11 => shorty.
Just a quick update on these. Short spin today and while riding a turn fast, but not pushing hugely hard, I hear a deafening "bang" as my rear tyre literally explodes. On inspection the tyre bead and sidewall have completely separated. It was a smooth trail so highly unlikely it was a normal puncture. Just complete tyre failure. Trying to decide if I can be bothered to send them from NZ to Germany in hopes of a warranty replacement...
That is a problem with the continental "hand made in Germany" tyres. Still quite rare and you are unlucky to have it happen to you, but it happens frequent enough to be a known problem.
They would probably end up with more highly reliable tyres if they made their black chilli tyres in their far east automated production facility instead of having too much human involvement in Germany. Hand made sounds great and gives the perception of quality, but for tyres I don't think that is the case.
Personally I still prefer continental tyres anyway, but I am aware of that potential problem. I think they seem to fail quite quickly, rather than after a month or so. So I wouldn't want to fit a new set of tyres before say going for a holiday in the alps.
I stopped using Conti after a few let downs.
During a race, I hit a corner and the bike was all over the shop. Thought I had punctured....but no - the tyre just developed an egg out of nowhere. Limped around the last lap.
Also seem to dry up sealant a lot quicker than other tyres.
Schwalbe for me as of then.