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Home | Product Reviews | Tire | Continental Diesel | ||||
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Submitted by
John Thompson
a Cross Country Rider
from Plymouth UK
Date Reviewed: 4/18/2008 11:58:47 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 6 months |
| Price Paid: | $20 |
| Purchased At: | Jenson USA |
| Strengths: | Big volume, astonishingly fast roller for the size, plenty of grip. |
| Weaknesses: | Not the sensible choice for mud. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Contis (vertical / vapor), wtb (motoraptor velociraptor), specialized adrenalin, maxxis swampthing, panaracer smoke / dart. |
| Bike Setup: | Works stumpy |
| Bottom Line: | Simply the best all round tyre for mixed rocky (Dartmoor) conditions I have ever used. Lovely big volume (more like 2.4 than 2.5 - only just fits a stumpy rear end) means you can run em with tubes at 30 psi with no pinch flat problems. I am amazed at the grip - taller and wider spaced knobs than on the vapor / gravity make all the difference. How a tyre this big and grippy rolls so well I have no idea, but it really does make epic rides with big rubber possible. These tyres (plus a 75mm stem) turn my 120mm stumpy into a genuine all mountain machine for a fraction of the cost of a new bike! Go out and get them! |
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Submitted by
Chris
a Weekend Warrior
from Pittsburgh, PA
Date Reviewed: 1/19/2008 3:53:00 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Price Paid: | $4500 |
| Purchased At: | Jenson USA |
| Strengths: | Wicked tranction and a nice fat footprint |
| Weaknesses: | Heavy. I got the steel bead. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Tioga Blue Dragon, Kenda Nevegal |
| Bike Setup: | Santa Cruz Nomad with DHX 5.0 rear shock and a Fox 36 Van RC2 up front. Hayes Disks, SRAM drivetrain with RaceFace Ride cranks |
| Bottom Line: | IF you are looking for traction out the pooper, and don't mind dragging around some extra weight, these tires are for you. With the exception of deep muck, these tires haven't had traction issues at all. That includes slick roots and wet rocks. |
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Submitted by
Randy
a Weekend Warrior
from Calgary, AB, Canada
Date Reviewed: 6/26/2007 10:23:17 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 2 Years |
| Price Paid: | $10 |
| Strengths: | great traction. pretty sticky |
| Weaknesses: | kinda sticky. Rolls slower than I would like but that is what I get running a 2.5 |
| Similar Products Tried: | Tioga, Maxxis...hell, too many tires to mention |
| Bike Setup: | Banshee Chaparral, Mavic 729 on hadley hubs, Fox DHX and Sherman DC, |
| Bottom Line: | A greatly underrated tire. Bought more for $10 in a clearance bin at a local shop. Great traction and haven't had any issues with them. |
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Submitted by
Konstantin Kühn
a Downhiller
from mallorca, spain
Date Reviewed: 5/21/2007 11:19:16 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | everywhere thats downhill |
| Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month |
| Price Paid: | $40 |
| Purchased At: | forgot the name of the store |
| Strengths: | this tire has great grip on hardpacked soil. good cornering. gives a real good safe feeling going at a good speed. |
| Weaknesses: | The tire seems to always deflate a little. dont kno if its just me. but cant really think anything. didnt have the tire long enough to really see the weaknesses. |
| Similar Products Tried: | continental edge, wtb timberwolf, Prowler MX |
| Bike Setup: | rock shox domain, lapierre x-160 frame, fox rp23 |
| Bottom Line: | this tire is great! i recommend it to anyone i got it on both front and rear and it is great. cant really say anything bad about this tire. although it seems a little slow. it is very large. there is lots of riding comfort when i ride. love these tires. it seems like i can do anything. really like this tire. i recommend it! |
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Submitted by
Igor
a Weekend Warrior
from Banska Bystrica, Slovakia
Date Reviewed: 4/18/2007 5:54:06 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Price Paid: | $20 |
| Strengths: | Good traction, looks great, good value for money. |
| Weaknesses: | Bad traction on rainy road. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Michelin |
| Bike Setup: | Giant box one |
| Bottom Line: | If you look for fat tire with good traction buy it. It's quite comfortable as well but expect that your bike's weight will increased. I recommend it as front tire. |
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Submitted by
Chris R
a Cross Country Rider
from Ohio, USA
Date Reviewed: 2/6/2007 3:05:45 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Vulture's Knob |
| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Price Paid: | $20 |
| Purchased At: | Nashbar |
| Strengths: | - TRACTION!!!! This is the only knobby I have ever ridden that approaches the level of traction on dirt that slicks get on pavement, and I have ridden some good ones. This blows everything else I have tried away. - Corners phenomenally, I lean WAY harder with these on my bike. They have never let me down. - Rolling resistance is way better than I expected, probably better than my Fire XC 2.1's. - Good in most mud. - Side knobs are well-supported so they don't flex and dump you over. - They look much studlier on your bike than the pictures of them online do. |
| Weaknesses: | Not really a 2.5, more like 2.35. However, I use them for trail riding, and they are the perfect size for that. If you are a downhiller, you might not like them as well. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Panaracer Fire XC Pro (way over rated), Conti Vertical Pro (good lightweight XC trekker), Michelin I forget the name of, Hutchinson Spider (do NOT buy). |
| Bike Setup: | '06 Stumpy FSR decked out, Avid Juicy's, Sram XO, Minute :04 fork. |
| Bottom Line: | The best tires I have ever owned. I have ridden them on loose over hardpack, damp soil, some mud, and grass and they grip like and 800 pound gorilla. If you are a trail rider looking for a cusy ride and improved bike handling, get them while you can. |
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Submitted by
Mikey O
from PA
Date Reviewed: 1/17/2007 10:20:06 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Merli |
| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Price Paid: | $19 |
| Purchased At: | Nashbar |
| Strengths: | Big footprint, great traction, can run much lower air pressure than usual, works well in wet & mud, smooth rollover transition when leaning into turns, not real heavy, tough sidewalls |
| Weaknesses: | Not really a 2.5, maybe more like 2.3, bouncy at higher air pressures, round profile will not dig in as hard on leaned turns (but I like it as compared to the abrupt transition caused by giant side knobs) |
| Similar Products Tried: | Panaracer Fire Panaracer Fire FR 2.5, Maxxis Mobster, WTB Velociraptors 2.3 |
| Bike Setup: | Giant AC-Air, Sun Rynolites, LX/XT, Zokes Z-1 fr-sl, flask holder |
| Bottom Line: | After riding "skinny" XC tires all my life, I thought I would try some big-uns to see what that rode like (and they were on sale). I found these tires to be a little heavy compared to smaller tires (duh) but the traction, especially at lower air pressure, is phenomenal. I can run 25 psi and it sticks like an ugly rumor even on wet and muddy rocks, plowing over the most heinous terrain with little deflection. Pinch flats are a rare and unusual occurance anymore and the sidewalls seem really tough too. |
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Submitted by
Jorgex
a Weekend Warrior
from Almada, Portugal
Date Reviewed: 9/13/2006 8:59:16 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Price Paid: | $35 |
| Purchased At: | LBS |
| Strengths: | -light tire for 2.5 (772 g) -great on sand -normal wear resistence even under mono m4 braking |
| Weaknesses: | -it's not 2.5, more like 2.3 (62-559) -total disaster on thick mud and dog dropings(it's hard to avoid them with diesel) |
| Similar Products Tried: | Continentals, Huchinsons, Maxxis, Michelins, Nokians, Panaracers, Ritcheys... |
| Bike Setup: | Giant escaper'92 (hardtail), Manitou Axel 100mm(oem),Hope M4 disc brake, Mavic XM 321(f) and Ritchey rock WCS(r) |
| Bottom Line: | This review is for Diesel Protection. -Diesel, front: This one excels gravity in everything. Light(for a 2.5) and extremely confortable. Cuts throu corners and gives a great brake control. Good price and it fits on small forks like Manitou Axel. Side walls seems to be solid enouth although puncture resistence appears to be weak agains stings and snake bites @2.5BAR. I see no protection in this "Protection" version. -Diesel, rear: Never tried and i think it does not fit in the frame. In the end: You may have to buy a new rim because every time i used Diesel on not so wide Ritchey's Rock WCS(23mm) this tire starts to spin around the rim causing the tube to tear off the valve. I bought mavic 321(28mm) just for Diesel. Diesel is equal to Maxxis HighRoller 2.3 dual-ply 60a except it's bigger and it's half the weight. Good for endurance and unknown trails. |
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Submitted by
Drew
a Weekend Warrior
from Canada
Date Reviewed: 8/25/2006 10:33:38 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month |
| Price Paid: | $40 |
| Purchased At: | Cambriabike.com |
| Strengths: | Good traction, light, appear strong. |
| Weaknesses: | The bead seeems TINY... if I land off axis it actually pops out, and some air escapes :S... anyone have any tips for this? the tire literally comes OFF the rim, but it pops back on just as fast, and actually seals fine :/ |
| Similar Products Tried: | This is my first UST tire, I have them front and back. |
| Bike Setup: | 05 Gary Fisher Ged, Mavic 823 rear, 819 front, laced w/ DT Comps. |
| Bottom Line: | Beautiful tire... I got them for a good bit under the MSRP and they are amazing tire; if I can solve my bead problems I could give these tires a dozen flaming chilis! If you weren't planning on doing alot of 180s or landing off axis, you would never see a flaw in this tire. If you are an I wouldn't want to recommend these tires for FR for said reasons, but XC, AM, or even maybe some DH guys could take advantage of these. |
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