Continental

Race King Tire - 26in

The Supersonic line is for no-holds-barred race-only rubber. The Continental Race King Supersonic tire is thus the most-perfectly speed-optimized version of the Race King tires for people racing cross-country, enduros, and marathons. To this end, Continental saves weight by eliminating the "breaker belt" that is often found under the tread to reduce the likelihood of cuts through the casing under the tread. The tread rubber is slightly thinned-out for more weight savings. Black Chili compound rubber is used for great grip. And finally, the tire is hand made in Germany for the ultimate in quality control. Like a shooting star, the tire is fast, but not long-lived.

The tire debuted on the World Cup circuit in 2008. Irina Kalentieva won the Cup and the Worlds on a first-generation prototype. Continental knew they were onto something special. It did what she asked of the tire, feedback that was music to the tire designers' ears. They imagined that a light, large-ish casing, with finely-gritted tread bars in Black Chili would be a tire that could take on just about any fast, technical course.

The Continental Race King Supersonic Tire has a three-ply wrap of 60 thread per inch casing material for a 180tpi casing. There are two sizes, 26 x 2.0" and 26 x 2.2". The tread rubber is Black Chili compound, and the bead foldable. The recommended tire pressure is 50psi with a max of 65psi. The ETRTO size is 50-559 for the 2.0", 55-559 for the 2.2". The tread and casing is black. 430g (2.0), 460g (2.2).