ContinentalTop Contact Winter II Premium 700c Tire(Return to Product Page)

I turn the pedals throughout the winter in New England when the roads are open. Fixing a puncture when the temperature is in the teens is a bit of a hardship. I purchased these Conti tires to limit the risk of puncturing when it is cold. I also wanted additional traction and road adherence on slushy, cold tarmac. These tires ticked all of the boxes. My expectation was that these tires would be slow. They are. My expectation was that they would be true to size. They are not. They measure about 32mm on a 17mm rim. The only other nit-pick is that the tread design captures little flinty stones in the tread. No punctures to date, and I am keeping my fingers crossed. If I don't suffer any punctures over the course of this winter, I would purchase these tires again. They are good for the task they were designed to achieve.

Road in winter for the last two years in KY. There is more ice than snow. the first winter i fell 3 times and cracked a rib. last winter i bought these after my first fall and didn't go down again. the warmer it gets the stickier they get so i would wait to put them on till the highs are consistently under 60 degrees. i will buy these again.

I purchased the 42mm tire - they mounted up around 38-39mm as expected. I put them on my cross bike with disc brakes for winter training. I still had clearance for the Planet Bike fenders although it was a little tight.

The tread pattern is unlike any bike tire I've owned before - they're are very car tire-like. Tires channeled water and slush very nicely off to the sides of the tire instead of carrying it around and you (and your bike) ending up wearing it. They felt very confident on icy or questionable slick conditions. I didn't get a chance to try in snow deeper than 2 inches, but performed well in an inch or so.

A tad more roll resistance as expected, but smooth rolling - again I had the 42mm. So far tire wear has been good with no flats (only about 400 miles so far)

BTW - I saw reviews that described them as hairy; I concur. They are fuzzy from the tire mold, but they kept the inside of my fenders clean!

Worked well so far. Have ridden in snow and rain for about two months and only slipped on an iced over railroad crossing. No flats either.

Use: First Time Used

Conditions: Snow/Ice, Single Digit Temps

Tire Pressure Lowered Tire Pressure but not sure to what PSI

It snowed all day in Denver and I picked up my bike from bike shop late in the evening. I rode the bike home and these tires performed as I expected from previous posts. The road was slick with ice and snow but the tires gripped to the surface, never slipping. I slightly deflated tire pressure as well. Looking forward to my commute to work tomorrow.

These tires have very, very good traction, especially on chip seal. They do tend to pick up little bits of gravel, and probably glass. Even with them on I can keep up with the regular guys with standard road tires, though I'm probably working a bit harder.

I ride 11 each way, mostly on bike path, but in the winter, melt and freeze on underpasses and slippery wood bridges were handled. I still slowed because I have fallen before with mountain bike tires, but never had a problem. Did ride slow one day in packed ice and didn't have a problem. Easily kept up with traffic at 15-20 mph. Transitions great to dry pavement. Did 63 miles last year to Thanksgiving Dinner at the in-laws. Seem to be wearing well. Mounted on spare wheels on an All-City Macho Man.

Haven't ridden these much yet. Out of the box, the manufacturing seems typical Continental... which is very good. The tread is carefully molded (many, many, many mold vents)to produce a deep tread with lots of sipes. This tread produces outrageous amounts of grip on chip-seal. Also typical Continental, they aren't really 37mm. The mounted 34mm on my rims. (Which formerly had 32 mm gatorskins which were really 30mm)

I have mixed feelings about these. I bought the 37mm wide version. They measured 31.6mm on my 19mm interior width rims, which are pretty wide for a road rim. I'm guessing the 42 will measure 36 or 37mm wide. Apart from that, and the fact that they are completely covered in mud-release nubs, they seem good. I think they are soft, so definitely for winter use - I imagine they'd wear very fast in warm dry weather.

Just took it over snowy and slushy bridges yesterday. I slowed down and was careful, but these tires never slipped once. They felt very stable. On dry road I did a 30 mph descent and in a sharp turn they were extremely stable. So they can handle some speed as well.

These tires were put on my cross bike for winter use.They have excellent cold and snow condition grip. They are just like car snow tires and have a tire compound that allows for maximum grip in cold conditions.

Great tires for my Specialized turbo bike, well made, very grippy, and after 500 miles i don't see much use of the tred

Bought a set of these a few years ago to use on my 29er for commuting. Rain, snow, icy patches, dry pavement, dirt, you name it, it works. In sandy terrain the tire sipes will tend to pick up a lot of the fines but washing them off with a good stiff brush every so often takes care of that. Now have them mounted on a spare set of wheels for my cross bike. Very durable as well considering it is supposedly a softer compound rubber. Would definitely buy again.

Glad I found this and didn't waste my money on studded tires. This tire is relatively fast for a winter tire, and still has great traction.

I live in Minnesota, and these tires have made it possible for me to ride all winter long. They grip well - even on ice and bumpy snow.

smooth ride and best handleing on all terain,

My daily commute in the great lakes area requires a hairy (bridge freezes before roadway) overpass with high speeds and congestion. Soft rubber with brush-like high contact area makes the ride less dangerous than it looks. Excellent daily transition and consistent performance from ice and snow at 35 PSI, to dry roads at 85 PSI. So far (400 miles) no siginificant wear