LATEST NEWS!
08/10/20
Update to Rob's Contact Urban comments
Riding in the wet - first outing on wet roads with the Continental Contact Urbans.
Just perfect - no issues, no slipping, no doubts, just worked.
Even pushing hard around roundabouts they just gripped.
Tyre Pressures.
Sometimes I remember to top the tyres off before each ride.
Sometimes I let it slip.
When left to sit for a week I’m noticing a little drop in pressure - I often notice this on new inner tubes and the amount of loss seems to reduce with use. I guess the valves take time to seat perfectly and they settle with use.
So if I just ride I’ve noticed the Contact Urbans feel sluggish, like a set of Marathon Plus tyres.
If I inflate before a ride they feel fast and sporty. They just want to roll.
I use a digital pump gauge so can keep track of the pressure and this is where it gets interesting.
At 58psi the Urbans feel sluggish.
At 65psi the Urbans feel sporty.
That’s only a small difference and would be hard to even spot with my old analogue gauge pump.
But hey, lesson is to inflate before every ride.
Update to Rob's Contact Urban comments
Riding in the wet - first outing on wet roads with the Continental Contact Urbans.
Just perfect - no issues, no slipping, no doubts, just worked.
Even pushing hard around roundabouts they just gripped.
Tyre Pressures.
Sometimes I remember to top the tyres off before each ride.
Sometimes I let it slip.
When left to sit for a week I’m noticing a little drop in pressure - I often notice this on new inner tubes and the amount of loss seems to reduce with use. I guess the valves take time to seat perfectly and they settle with use.
So if I just ride I’ve noticed the Contact Urbans feel sluggish, like a set of Marathon Plus tyres.
If I inflate before a ride they feel fast and sporty. They just want to roll.
I use a digital pump gauge so can keep track of the pressure and this is where it gets interesting.
At 58psi the Urbans feel sluggish.
At 65psi the Urbans feel sporty.
That’s only a small difference and would be hard to even spot with my old analogue gauge pump.
But hey, lesson is to inflate before every ride.
06/10/20
New tyres in the Shop!
Marathon Winters in 406 back in stock in preparation for the winter months, and Marathon Plus in 559 for extra puncture protection on those Windcheetah rear wheels….
New tyres in the Shop!
Marathon Winters in 406 back in stock in preparation for the winter months, and Marathon Plus in 559 for extra puncture protection on those Windcheetah rear wheels….
13/09/20
Rob and the Conti Contact Urbans - Week 2.
This week I ran the 42mm Urbans at a higher pressure.
What a difference!
At 65ps (vs ‘recommended’ 58psi) they were plenty quick.
I ‘found’ a time trial in progress and gained three places before our routes separated.
Ride average - 60 miles in the lumpy Derbyshire Dales - was about the same as I get riding the Scorchers.
The assessment remains the same - the Scorchers are faster on ‘good’ surface but now the Urbans aren’t that far behind - maybe 2%, the Urbans still have that damping feeling but I’m getting to like that on rough, broken roads and they feel just a little more ‘connected’ with regards to acceleration on the rough.
I’m thinking it is time to try the 32mm version on the front of the QV too.
Rob and the Conti Contact Urbans - Week 2.
This week I ran the 42mm Urbans at a higher pressure.
What a difference!
At 65ps (vs ‘recommended’ 58psi) they were plenty quick.
I ‘found’ a time trial in progress and gained three places before our routes separated.
Ride average - 60 miles in the lumpy Derbyshire Dales - was about the same as I get riding the Scorchers.
The assessment remains the same - the Scorchers are faster on ‘good’ surface but now the Urbans aren’t that far behind - maybe 2%, the Urbans still have that damping feeling but I’m getting to like that on rough, broken roads and they feel just a little more ‘connected’ with regards to acceleration on the rough.
I’m thinking it is time to try the 32mm version on the front of the QV too.
07/09/20
Rob takes a pair of Contact Urbans for a spin…
Test ride with a pair of Continental Contact Urban 42-406 on the rear of the QuattroVelo.
The tyres seem to dampen the feel of the ride a little compared to the Scorcher120s that they replaced.
On the fast sections (flat/smooth road) of my test ride this felt like I was maybe 3% slower. This was with the Urbans at about their recommended 60psi pressure.
The more interesting part of the ride was when I got onto rougher, less well maintained, and shake-and-bake surfaced roads, that same feeling of damping the ride was still there, but oddly felt to be letting me put more power into those sections of the ride. With the Scorchers those sections can get a bit bumpy and I hold back a little. With the Urbans the damping seems to cope with those bumps much better and it feels like there is more road contact. I don’t think I lift the wheels ever, just the bounce normally feels like I need to back off. I felt better able to power through those rough sections.
I expected these ‘puncture resistant’ tyres to cost in terms of performance. Overall I don’t think they cost me anything - the overall ride average speed was slightly on the faster side of normal and I hit 25 achievements on Strava. And the 42mm size seems completely happy in the back of the QuattroVelo.
Rob takes a pair of Contact Urbans for a spin…
Test ride with a pair of Continental Contact Urban 42-406 on the rear of the QuattroVelo.
The tyres seem to dampen the feel of the ride a little compared to the Scorcher120s that they replaced.
On the fast sections (flat/smooth road) of my test ride this felt like I was maybe 3% slower. This was with the Urbans at about their recommended 60psi pressure.
The more interesting part of the ride was when I got onto rougher, less well maintained, and shake-and-bake surfaced roads, that same feeling of damping the ride was still there, but oddly felt to be letting me put more power into those sections of the ride. With the Scorchers those sections can get a bit bumpy and I hold back a little. With the Urbans the damping seems to cope with those bumps much better and it feels like there is more road contact. I don’t think I lift the wheels ever, just the bounce normally feels like I need to back off. I felt better able to power through those rough sections.
I expected these ‘puncture resistant’ tyres to cost in terms of performance. Overall I don’t think they cost me anything - the overall ride average speed was slightly on the faster side of normal and I hit 25 achievements on Strava. And the 42mm size seems completely happy in the back of the QuattroVelo.
04/09/20
Continental Contact Urban tyres hit the Small Tyre Shop.
Available in 32-349, 32-406 and 42-406, they're £30 each and combine strong puncture protection with good rolling resistance.
Rob's going to be trying a pair on his velo, so stand by for his review!
Continental Contact Urban tyres hit the Small Tyre Shop.
Available in 32-349, 32-406 and 42-406, they're £30 each and combine strong puncture protection with good rolling resistance.
Rob's going to be trying a pair on his velo, so stand by for his review!
The Full Fat and the Adventure visited Ardalanish Weavers on the lovely Isle of Mull.
The weavers seemed as interested in the trikes as we were in the weaving and they came out and had a go on the Full Fat!
The Adventure is here and assembled!
Our Adventure demonstrator is in the build queue, so will hopefully be with us quite soon!
Rob sets off to scout test ride routes.
The FullFat is here!
Completed, test ridden and ready to meet new friends!
The FullFat looks a bit bonkers at first glance, but we've had a lot of people ask, over the years, for a trike that was a bit higher off the ground than some of the groundhugging models we typically sell, and it's certainly that!
The FullFat takes shape.
Every time we look at it, it seems bigger….
Tyres and tubes for the Full Fat….
