I've put over 300 miles on a 2.3" Cross King on the rear and 2.4" Trail King on the front of my hardtail. They've both surprised me at how much grip they have on San Diego's loose-over-hard riding conditions. The Cross King happily powers up incredibly dry, loose dirt on our steep hills. The Trail King's also done well, but I would have been fine running two Cross Kings. The few times I've ridden through mud this winter, the Cross King's managed to grip well enough, and shed the mud relatively quickly.
No issues with any snake bites or burping when combined with Conti's tire sealant. I'm not exactly careful about where I place my rear wheel, but the "protection" marketing speak's been true to its word.
I have a 2.2 Crossking on the rear and a 2.3 Crossking on the front. Great combination. I have ridden endless tough rocky trails around southern CA and no cuts, gashes, punctures. They are light but tough. I was concerned that they might not hold up because they are light weight but I can say that they do not fail despite the serious abuse I put them through. The 2.3 has very nice deep knobs that really dig in making it perfect for a front tire. The 2.2 has more medium knobs which make it perfect for rear. They came spec'd on my racy hardtail and I already burned through one rear. I bought another 2.2 for the rear because I like and trust it. I like the 2.3 so much may put it on my Yeti SB100 too. The knobs are big enough on the 2.3 to make it really have a burly trail tire feel. Thank and enjoy your ride!
Twice now I've had the Continental tires delaminate on me. I love Continental on my road bike and they seem to have a great price point for mountain bike tires but, at this point, I think I need to move on to Maxxis
