Team Tested: New Continental Prototype Baron

After receiving and fitting them I realized just how rare they are. With none of the UK team riders having even seen a set (other than mine) still to this day! I have to admit I have always been swayed more towards the Maxxis High Roller 2 or Minion than Contis when it comes to grip from a general-purpose Enduro race tyre. So on fitting these I still had my doubts, but they just looked right some how. They have much bigger gaps between the inner nobbles for dirt clearance. They seem to have a much better (not so bulbous profile) than the Trail King, with the outer nobbles having much more beef about them. Softness of the tyre seems about right too, not so soft they can start to peel off after loads of hammer on rocks or so hard they struggle to grip over the smooth rocks and roots.

I weighed them on the scales and they came in a kilo each, so no lightweight, but personally I would prefer to suffer a bit on rolling tyre weight, safe in the knowledge they are not going to slash on the slightest sharp object. Fitting to my carbon rims was a tad more of a mission than the Maxxis, as these are definitely a thicker wall tyre, but with the use of one tyre lever they were on, filled with gunk then up to pressure running tubeless. First couple of rides did see a few losses of air out of front and rear, but on close inspection, these are a bit rougher where they seal to the rim, being they are out of the first proto-type mould and not the finished product. Plus now the tyre gunk seems to have settled around the edge of the tyres air loss now seems a thing of the past.

So that’s all the faffing done, lets cut the crap and talk performance. My first rip on these tyres was a dry lap at local hard-pack stone type trail Llandegla, I know this place well and thought it most fitting of the hard-pack test. After about 2k I hit the first big fast downhill and the smile on my face said it all. On hard-pack where other tyres give, these just beg for more, they want you to throw the bike in to flat corners, daring you to get them to slip. The grip is (and I don’t say this lightly) absolutely phenomenal! OK I know STRAVA is not that accurate, but it gives a very good idea of your pace as a bike and components tester. I got home excited to look, I normally get around top 20 out of thousands at Degla on the downs, but this time it was 2nd WOW, these things rip!

I have used them since on all surfaces and they are just as fantastic on every type, maybe loosing the edge to a true mud tyre in the deep sloppy stuff, but still far better than their current brothers in the gloop. In the wet or dry, rocks, soft or roots these things have given me the most confidence I have ever felt from a tyre. I have now gone to just one on the front, with the trusty Minion on the rear, just because I want to make the Baron’s last the few months we may all have to wait until proper production, but prepare to see lots of these out on the trail in the not too distant future!

Official prices and specs still not available

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