The purpose of this post is to summarise my wear, puncture rates and ride experience with these with Continental Contacts as fitted to my Surly Long Haul Trucker.
The Surly Long Haul Trucker is used as both a commuter (city riding on a mix of road and dual use paths) and touring. It is ridden in all weather conditions on bitumen roads a mix of bitumen and concrete paths.
As Western Australia does not have a bottle deposit scheme there tends to be a fair bit of glass on roads and paths.
The Continental Contacts came as OEM on the Surly Long Haul Trucker and went into service on April 4, 2009.
The tyres where removed at 4,272.4 km. A puncture rate of one every 712 kilometres was just too frustrating to warrant keeping the tyres on the bike. At the time of removal they where still showing lots of tread life and would have stayed on the bike if they where more puncture resistance.
| Fitted to … | Front or Rear | Cost per km * | Punctures per km | Other Comments |
| Surly Long Haul Trucker | Front | 1,068.10 |
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| Surly Long Haul Trucker | Rear | 2,122 km |
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| Summary | $0.0104 | 712.4 km |
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* As these where OEM tyres, the cost per kilometre is estimated using the Wiggle replacement cost as at September 19, 2009.
Interesting that your front tire had more flats than your back.
I mentioned in a thread in another group that my dad always contended that the rear trailer tires of his 18-wheelers tended to flat because of debris more often than the other tires. He thought it was because a nail or other sharp would be thrown up by the drive wheels and land sharp side up when it got to the rear.
I could see that happening with small shards of glass or wire with my bike. Plus, my rear tire carries more weight than the front.
Interesting that your front tire had more flats than your back.
I mentioned in a thread in another group that my dad always contended that the rear trailer tires of his 18-wheelers tended to flat because of debris more often than the other tires. He thought it was because a nail or other sharp would be thrown up by the drive wheels and land sharp side up when it got to the rear.
I could see that happening with small shards of glass or wire with my bike. Plus, my rear tire carries more weight than the front.
Hi Ken
I need to update his page, but the rear is catching up quickly with two more to be added 🙁
Regards
Andrew
Hi Ken
I need to update his page, but the rear is catching up quickly with two more to be added 🙁
Regards
Andrew
I have these on my LHT, I also had them on my Kona Sutra, here is a post from a thread I commented on back in Feb 2008
“I got some travel contacts great tire when new i got nearly 3000k with 1 flat, but i had to swap out the front and rear after 2600km due to really excessive wear. so i figure with the swap ill get 6000k or so, which i guess is pretty good, they roll pretty fast and if im honest i like them.”
Original Thread here http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=6190814&postcount=17
There great tires although they do wear down pretty quickly, however they still seem very puncture resistant until the end.
I have these on my LHT, I also had them on my Kona Sutra, here is a post from a thread I commented on back in Feb 2008
“I got some travel contacts great tire when new i got nearly 3000k with 1 flat, but i had to swap out the front and rear after 2600km due to really excessive wear. so i figure with the swap ill get 6000k or so, which i guess is pretty good, they roll pretty fast and if im honest i like them.”
Original Thread here http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=6190814&postcount=17
There great tires although they do wear down pretty quickly, however they still seem very puncture resistant until the end.
I got two punctures in the Conti Contacts on my first 60km ride. Both were caused by stone chips which lodged in the treads and penetrated the tire. I was unimpressed and replaced them immediately with narrower 700 x 32C Schwalbe Marathon Supremes. These are lightweight and low rolling resistance, with minimal tread pattern to pick up stones.
Ron.
Andrew, I believe the Conti tyres that came with your LHT (as shown in the photograph above) are called “Contact”. The “Travel Contact” is a different model.
Hi
Thanks Cameron for the catch. I assume that they where Travel Contacts as this is what is listed on the Surly website. Closer inspection following your comment confirms your view. The post is now updated.
Thanks
Andrew