Endless Edge tread design with five-sided lugs oriented to ensure predictable steering and responsive braking under a full range of conditions
Extremely low weight
Rounded profile for consistent traction on roots, rocks and off-camber terrain.
Available in three 2.1 versions including: Kevlar® beaded folding, ProTection with DuraSkin sidewall reinforcement, and tubeless certified for the Mavic UST system
Patterned after the Pro tire, the Explorer is an economic version for the recreational rider
Explorer Supersonic: ultra-light version, recommended for racing with main requirements on acceleration and high speed
Explorer: 3 carcass plies; 84 tpi
ExplorerPro, ExplorerPro UST, ExplorerPro Tection, Exploer Supersonic: 3 carcass plies, 170 tpi
Kevlar® is a registeres trademark by Dupont.
Submitted by
spencerfrater1
a Cross Country Rider
from UK
Date Reviewed: June 7, 2009
Strengths: Ability to air-up in a ghetto tubeless set-up without tubeless rims. Grippiness in the dry and semi-dry.
Weaknesses: Cuts easily, especially on the rear. Once cut, the cut opens up unless you stitch and glue it. Gathers clay-type mud without shedding well.
Bottom Line:
I have only used the UST version of the Conti Explorer 2.1". I like these tyres mainly because they air-up so easily with only a track pump on my non-tubeless rims (Crossrides and XC717) in a ghetto tubeless set-up. Other tyres (like S-Works The Captain 2-bliss) have taken me days of frustrating effort to try to air-up, often without success.
Apart from airing up, my front tyre hardly looks worn after 900 miles, but my rear tyre is badly cut (same distance), punctured with screws twice, and well worn. I have just patched the inside of this tyre yet again, and sewed up the cuts from the screws using some puncture repair glue in the cuts. Now I am swapping these tyres around, back to front and vice-versa. I would expect to get another 500 miles or so out of them which I will consider good value for money (tempting fate...).
Riding style is aggresive, fast cross country, rough singletrack with drop-offs/jumps up to 30 inches.
Similar Products Used: Panaracers, Schwalbes, Specialized The Captains, S-Works Captains, plus others
Bike Setup: Reynolds 853 steel frame hardtail - XT Groupset - Mavic XC717 and CrossRide rims (non-tubeless, using ghetto and Stans milk) - Rockshox Reba Team
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Submitted by
Garrett
a Cross Country Rider
from Hanson, MA
Date Reviewed: September 27, 2007
Strengths: Great traction! No leaks yet. Good cornering traction.
Weaknesses: Nothing yet.
Bottom Line:
I love these tires! With the tubeless I feel they give me more traction than the Nevagals with tubes. I run these tires around 32psi where I used to the run my tubed tires between 25-30psi (I weigh 140) and yet the new Continentals give me better traction.
I ride on rocky New England trails, mostly in Wompatuck Park, MA. I have yet to loosen the bead or spring a leak of any kind even when getting the tire jammed between rocks. I used to get leaks almost every trip with the tubed tires. I love them!
Similar Products Used: Kenda Nevagals, Specialized Fast Traks
Bike Setup: Specialized Epic Expert, Mavic Crossmax Enduro wheels.
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Submitted by
font ninea
a Cross Country Rider
from austin, tx
Date Reviewed: June 16, 2007
Strengths: none. Ok, lightweight. prone to punctures. Sidewalls are destroyed after less than 300 miles.
Weaknesses: bead seats poorly on a mavic 819. totally unpredictable in corners and techincal climbing. width is a totally made up number. My 2.1s are little 1.75 pizza cutters. I think some Conti engineer got his units wrong on his CAD program before sending to manufacturing.
Bottom Line:
these tires are the worst I have ridden in all my years of mountain biking. They drift. They're skinny for the advertised width. They wear fast. Traction is totally unpredictable.
these tires are unnacceptable and dangerous.
0 chilis for value 0 chilis for performance
-- PLEASE NOTE I rated the Verticals previously and got them confused with the Explorers. Totally different tires and totally different review. I recommend the UST Verticals.
Submitted by
Chris
a Weekend Warrior
from Piedmont, NC USA
Date Reviewed: April 22, 2006
Strengths: Lightweight, fast rolling
Weaknesses: Sidewall strength suspect
Bottom Line:
A blowout on a rocky descent that could have been plenty bad (if the landing had been on a rock) has given me second thoughts about selecting this tire over my new Specialized Roll X tubeless tires. The Conti is fast and light, but its sidewalls may be a little suspect in rocky terrain. Otherwise, it's a pretty good tire.
Similar Products Used: Specialized Roll X tubeless
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Submitted by
Rauol
a Cross Country Rider
from Connecticut
Date Reviewed: November 9, 2005
Strengths: Good all around performance, reasonably light for UST, pretty durable
Weaknesses: Knobs wear quickly; a little pricey
Bottom Line:
I switched to the Contis after having problems with sidewall wear on Michelin USTs. Not as light and fast as the Michelins, but pretty close. Works reasonable well in New England conditions; roots, rocks, wet, dry. I run them at 35-40 psi ( I weigh in at 200 lbs). I ride cross-country and do the occasional race.
I have been very happy with these tires over the past two seasons. They have been very dependable (and I am pretty hard on tires). Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find them for under the list price.
Strengths: Light weight. Rolls reasonable well and climbs better than one would think given the paucity of center knobs. Excellent all around performance except as noted below.
Weaknesses: Short knobs wear quickly; late, straight line braking into a turn on loose over cement-like hardpack this tire will break loose until it gets over onto the sidewall knobs. The center knobs are few and too far apart. However, once you get the bike over (and apply some opposite lock steering to catch the bike as the rear breaks away)the tire hooks up again. For this reason I would NOT use this as a front tire.
Bottom Line:
I purchased this tire because it resembled the larger 2.3 Conti Vert Pro and I thought it might be a good match for it. I read the reviews here AFTER I purchased the tire and thought I would regret my purchase. I don't. I've ridden this through rock gardens, down rock faces, through sand, hardpack, gravel streams beds, loose chutes, etc. The only consistent weakness is the one noted above. I'm frankly puzzled at the number of bad reviews. Maybe there have been some quality control issues in the past or this tire is just well suited to what and how I ride in Southern California, but I would pick this tire again over the WTB Weirwolf 2.1 it just replaced. The quick wear, sparse center knobs, and the quirky behavior noted above keep it from receiving better ratings. In all other conditions its an excellent tire.
Similar Products Used: In a 2.1: Specialized Roll-X 2.0; IRC Mythos; Panaracer Smoke; WTB Weirwolf, and probably a few others.
Bike Setup: Turner 5 Spot
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Submitted by
Casey
a Cross Country Rider
from Phoenix
Date Reviewed: February 24, 2005
Strengths: Easy to find.
Weaknesses: If you ride in phoenix or other desert expect your tires to wear out quick! Unstable feel. Poor on turns as grip erodes really quick.
Bottom Line:
Took me two sets to realize it wasn't me. Be very careful of this tire if you live in rough desert. There are much better choices. For desert single track really like the Jones!
Similar Products Used: Bontrager Jones / Most Excellent!
Bike Setup: Giant VT
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Submitted by
Jeffrey Puzas
a Cross Country Rider
from Bowie, MD, USA
Date Reviewed: November 26, 2004
Strengths: Climbs well, light, very low rolling resistance
Weaknesses: Durability (many flats, blew out two beads) Does not corner well (front end washes out a lot)
Bottom Line:
Tires climb well but do not corner well at all. Front end washes out frequently. Durability is a major issue as I seem to have had a blow out every time out. Twice the bead blew out, and twice I got holes in the tires. I also had issues with the tire rolling off the bead and burping air. Don't know if this is the rim or the tire. With more than 50psi this was no longer an issue. I am 210lbs and ride hard. I went to specialized Roll-X with Stan's No Tube on the advice of a friend and this set up is working really well. Climbing not as good as the Continentals, rolling resistance is much higher, cornering is a large improvement, and no flats or blowouts. I have to keep the rear tire at 50psi or above or I will burp air at the bead. The fronts can go to 40psi with no problem.
Strengths: Spin up quickly, Very low rolling resistance
Weaknesses: Lack of grip in turns. Poor performance in sandy conditions.
Bottom Line:
I can't believe how poorly this tires performs! I've had more front-end-washout crashes in the past 3 months than in the previous 10 years. I have absolutely no confidence in this tire in turns or on rough rock-strewn descents.
In sand it is essentially worthless. It's supposed to be a 2.1 but seems much narrower to me. The result is the tire burrows down into the sand instead of floating like a true 2.1
Yes, it spools up quickly and rolls almost like a slick, but anything I gain on the smooth flats is lost in the way I have to baby it around turns and on descents.
Bike Setup: 2004 C'Dale Scalpel 3000. Mavic Crossmax tubelss.
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Submitted by
John Jones
a Cross Country Rider
from Kansas
Date Reviewed: June 24, 2004
Strengths: Good traction. Roll and wear well. Good all around tire for most conditions.
Weaknesses: I have had two tires in the past two weeks blow at the bead. Front on my Scalpel and rear on my SS. As a tubeless tire it is now useless. You can put a tube in it and it will be fine. Just sucks when you ruin expensive tubeless tires. My tire sealant had no affect on either puncture. I think I'm done with this tire.
Bottom Line:
Just like the previous review, my trust in these tires is gone. I'm gonna try the Kenda Kharma or Hutch Scorpion. Currently I'm really liking the Wildgrippers so I don't see a need for the Explorer considering the problems they have caused me.
Bike Setup: Scalpel 1000 and a Kona SS. Both with Crossmax tubeless wheels.
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Submitted by
Kev J
a Weekend Warrior
from Queanbeyan
Date Reviewed: June 10, 2004
Strengths: Light for a UST. Goos grip. Roll fast. Very progressive slide - no nast surprises.
Weaknesses: Puncture easily. Major problem with sidewall where it contacts the rim.
Bottom Line:
Like these tyre a lot. BUT this is my second set that ha had the same problem. The bead section immediately next to the rim wears away causing a major blowout. The tyre is not repairable. Happened to me on a bike tour...... I just can't trust this tyre. First one was replaced under warranty but I don't want to use this tyre as I have lost confidence.
Submitted by
Patrick
a Cross Country Rider
from Franklin, TN
Date Reviewed: September 9, 2003
Strengths: Climbs well, light, good traction on hard pack.
Weaknesses: As a front tire these tires give no warning before they break loose.
Bottom Line:
These tires work well when it's dry, not quite as good when things get muddy. I have had these tires for 2 weeks and I have already had a puncture, odd considering I have only ridden modest XC terrain and kept the tires inflated to 40 psi. I like the Explorers as a rear tire, but I have found the front tires break loose in an alarming manner with no warning. For the price (a bit high) I would prefer the slightly heavier Panaracer Fire XC Pro.
Strengths: Low rolling resistance and reasonable wieght for UST
Weaknesses: A little tough to mount
Bottom Line:
These tires perform well in a variety of conditions. I have used them in both wet and dry conditions on rock and root infested trails and have no issues with traction. The rear will spin just a bit earlier than the Panaracers would on a steep wet climb but on the flip side they are noticably lighter than the Panaracers. Time will tell if durability is up there but overall I am very happy with these tires.
Similar Products Used: Panaracer Fire XC UST and Huchinson Mosquito
Bike Setup: Cannondale Scalpel
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Submitted by
Philipp
a Cross Country Rider
from Hannover
Date Reviewed: June 9, 2003
Strengths: Great traction in dry conditions; very resistant against punctures; light (in view of the fact that it is an tubeless tire); slow wear and tear
Weaknesses: hard compound: slippery in muddy conditions; looses pressure faster than other tires
Bottom Line:
During the two years of riding the Explorer I never experienced any considerable problems on the trail. The hard compound makes the Explorer wear slowly (one pair per summer), at the expense of traction in muddy conditions. Another issue is that the Explorer looses air faster than other tubeless tires; spraying some silicone on the bead will solve that problem. The Explorer is very resistant against punctures or pinch flats. Riding the tire with too low pressure (<2.0 bar) may cause damage to the side wall.
The Explorer is a great XC-tire for summer or dry conditions; in wet conditions the Explorer is average, tires with softer compound will probably perform better.
I must be the 10th person to post this type of question in the last 24 hours. Has anyone used this combination? Continental ExplorerPro UST in front and TwisterPro UST in back. Read More »
