Continental  Terra Speed ProTection Tire

This tire is amazing… but I just wanted to mention that the tread life is extremely short. I’m 5’10” and 170lbs and I only got 750 miles out of the rear tire with typical use of 60% gravel and 40% pavement. I plan on purchasing a new rear tire as I expect that two rear tires will last as long as one front tire. It is extremely fast rolling and it’s a wonderful tire but if you’re not concerned about the fastest rolling resistance possible you might be better served with a tire that has a longer tread life. it mounts extremely well and doesn’t give any problems and has good grip as you would expect from a tire with minimal knobs.

I picked up 2 at the local store as I was looking for a lighter gravel bike tire for a race. One weighed 422g and the other was 425g; despite online resources stating a weight of 360g. One box even had a receipt in it since it must have been a prior return; I'm guessing another rider thought it was too heavy for a 35mm tire. Both tires are going back and I'm thankful for REI's return policy.

In 2003, I purchased two Conti Terra Speed tires for my Specialized Diverge with Axis wheels. Here in 2025 and 2000 miles later (all tarmac), I replaced the rear tire with a new Terra Speed tire as the knobs were worn down. This tire offers great handling, it's reasonably durable, and is easy to install. Zero flats so far. Overall the quality you expect from a Conti product.

I thought I'd try Continental's gravel bike tires since I have had really good luck with their road and mountain bike tires. Terra Speed Pro tires were priced lower than comparable tires, and pretty light as well. I've got a few hundred miles on these now, and have these insights. #1- They measure slightly small in width; 40mm tires are 1.5 inches. Typically, tires run larger than the advertised size in my experience. #2 - Despite being tubeless ready, I could not get these to seat when I first mounted them. I had to use them with tubes for a month or so to form them to the rims. Second try, they sealed easily with Stan's sealant. They ride just fine, both on gravel or pavement. I would go with 42 or 45mm for rocky riding conditions, as the extra girth really helps with comfort and avoiding bottoming out when running low pressure. Overall, seem to be well made tires with usual Continental quality.

Pros: Great traction Cons: Loud, slow feeling, and short tread life Looking for an alternative to my Specialized 2bliss tires, I selected these after reading about them on bicyclerollingresistance.com, particularly their low rolling resistance. Maybe that skewed my expectations but they were noticeably louder than the 2bliss and felt slower. I’m fine with both if those for the gain in off-road traction. Where they got lowered to 3-stars though, is that they’re at ~50% tread life after just 375 miles.

Have almost 200 miles on these with my road bike. Rather than buy a new gravel bike, I maxed out the clearance with these since I ride 90% road 10% gravel, just to dip my toes into the idea of gravel. Excellent rolling speed and cornering grip, rated very well on bicyclerollingresistance(.)com. Good for light gravel and packed dirt. Confirmed the 35's are actually 33.5 at 65psi.

Great on fast corners, smooth on pavement and decent grip on the dirt. Got a couple of pricks and lost 10 lbs of pressure but the tire sealed over so well I couldn’t find the holes. Using Peaty’s sealant from REI.