Cyclist
New Continental Terra Adventure tyre blurs the line between gravel and MTB
Continental has launched the Terra Adventure, its most off-road-focussed gravel tyre yet, which it says is inspired by cross country MTB tyre design. The new tyre follows the trend of ever-wider tyres for drop bar bikes both on road and off, with widths of 45mm, 50mm and 55mm available.
The Continental Terra Adventure tyre is priced at €61.95 (approx £52) and available from today.
Borrows from XC MTB tyres
Continental says that its new gravel bike tyre is designed for speed, comfort, puncture protection and ride confidence, and takes tech from the brand’s XC MTB tyres. Conti says it’s aimed at riders looking to tackle extreme gravel terrain and provides grip on a variety of surfaces from hardpack to soft ground.
The open tread pattern is claimed to be fast rolling and the brand says the Terra Adventure tyre offers high levels of grip, comfort and confidence. That’s thanks to a tread pattern derived from MTB tyres with aggressive shoulder knobs for cornering and grip on off-camber surfaces.
Meanwhile, Continental says the stud pattern at the centre of the tread ensures a smooth transition to the shoulder knobs and controlled braking. It has beefed up the sidewalls and under-tread casing, while the new tyre is tubeless-ready and also compatible with gravel bike wheels with hookless beads.
Conti says that riders looking for speed should choose the 45mm variant, while if you want long-distance comfort you should choose the 55mm tyre – that is, if your gravel bike’s frame has the clearance.
According to Conti’s MTB and gravel product manager, Alexander Haenke, ‘The Terra Adventure offers confidence-inspiring support, security and speed, while its tread pattern features an open and studded design, closing the gap between all-round gravel and cross-country mountain bike tyres.’
The Terra Adventure tyre weighs 540g in 45mm width, 620g for the 50mm and 730g for the 55mm. It joins the Terra Hardpack, Terra Speed and Terra Trail in Conti’s gravel armoury.
More MTB than gravel?
The new tyre uses Conti’s Grip Compound variant of its Black Chili rubber, which it says offers damping and traction, without compromising rolling resistance and which also sees action in the Terra Trail and Terra Hardpack gravel tyres. The Trail Casing used in the Terra Adventure is ported directly from Conti’s XC MTB tyres.
The 540g weight in 45mm width is similar to the Terra Trail, Conti’s previously most off-road-focussed tyre, which has a claimed 535g weight in 45mm, which is the widest size available for that tyre.
The only other gravel tyre in Conti’s range to go wider than 45mm is the Terra Hardpack, which comes in 50mm width with a weight of 530g. That tyre is also available as a 650b, which interestingly Conti isn’t offering for the Terra Adventure.
650b has been the go-to wheel size for adventure-style gravel riding, but is progressively falling out of favour as gravel bikes offer more and more clearance for 700c tyres.
Conti isn’t the only tyre maker to offer a 50mm gravel tyre, with both Panaracer and Hutchinson recently launching tyres of this width, but the 55mm tyre is pushing the envelope of current gravel bike tyre width and many of the best gravel adventure bikes don’t currently offer that much tyre clearance.
The new tyre is getting close to XC MTB territory too, with Conti’s Race King MTB tyre offering 29er widths of 50mm and 55mm, although they’re still a little heavier than the Terra Adventure, tipping the scales at over 600g. But the Terra Adventure does feel like more ammunition for the ‘gravel bikes are just 1990s MTBs with drop bars’ argument.
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