Got these tires to put on my Vitus Gravel bike to ride on a road bike event in CDMX. It was a 110 KM round trip from the WTC to the pyramids in Teotihuacan and back. Here's the link in case you are curious.
I also bought the 500s but opted for using the Terras. Filled them up to 70 psi ( max is 73) Gotta say they were beautiful. The ride had a mix of clean road, broken/ pot hole ridden streets, loose gravel on asphalt... rocks..... I felt a good grip through out even on some steep curves. I did not feel any tangible speed penalty vs. other riders on 700c road tires ( at least I can't blame the tires when they passed me :) ). In fact on downhills, think the terras gave me an advantage as I had good grip and felt comfortable letting it go.... hit speeds of 36mph+ with no issue. I saw more than a few of traditional road tired bikes that had punctures and needed help from the van. Would recommend these hands down. Only caveat if you are a nube to tubeless like I was when I bought these, so your research on best practices to install them. Definitely a learning curve....Recommend using CO2 cartridges to inflate and set them. Some say it's best to then deflate and refill with normal air once they are properly set.... Also add a bit of the filler liquid to the lip of the tires to help them slide onto the groove easier.
Anyway, once properly set, they feel fast, grippy and able to handle urban jungle well. Good luck.
This is my second set of these Continental gravel tires. My first set gave me over 6,000 miles of gravel with only one flat. I will be racing Gravel World's and USAC Nationals on these tires!
I am using them tubeless on some Mavic CrossRide wheels. I had a bit of trouble at the beginning with them holding air but according to the bike shop it turned out to be not enough sealant and the valve was not tight enough. Now they hold 30psi for a week at least.
They are comfortable and smooth but they do not have MTB tire edge grip, I almost went down cornering hard over some loose gravel on top of hard pack dirt.
Easy to mount up onto the rim, just a bit harder than a typical MTB tire but not as hard as a road tire. And you can pretty easily get them to seat and pop into the bead lock with a floor pump or even with my single action mini pump so no need to carry a co2 cartridge.
I have about 300 miles on them so far with no issues. I have high expectations for Continental tires and these have met expectations.
These are now my goto tire for winter riding, they are pretty quick, inexpensive when on sale and grip is better than a non-knobbed tire but still rides like a slick. they don't last too long in my experience but i'm ok with the trade off since they do roll pretty nicely.
I love the feel, the handling of these tires, though I was too impatient to wait to comment on durability -- I just started using them. I agree completely with the reviewer who appreciated how easy these mount on a rim. Pure joy when I heard the "POP!" sound when inflating with my humble floor pump -- so many tires I've tried have failed this simple test. Good job, Conti!
Fast tires used both on and off road. Great traction the 40 is not as plush as the 49 I had on previously but much faster and still great traction.
Just put 350 miles on these on GAP and C&O trail ride with 30# of pannier bags on the rear. Smooth rolling and fast on pavement (with a bit of noise) and excellent grip and handling on hard packed gravel, dirt and mud holes. They shed mud well and don't seem to spray wet stuff up on the rider very much. Running tubeless.
So far very happy with these tires. Excellent ride and handling on loose gravel and shallow sand. Not wide enough for deep sand or gravel.
Purchased these to down size for more road use...capable on hardpack too! Not for loose or sandy dirt. Ok with me because they are perfect for my use.
Bicycle is being used primarily on pavement with occasional use on dirt trails.
