Conti Speed King Supersonics?

[pbayne]

Anybody used these or any other version of the conti supersonic models? I ride patapsco, the shed, rosaryville mostly and race the cranky monkeys, michaux races, greenbrier type stuff.

I was gifted a pair of these tires this year.They tires are crazy light, @400grams. I'll be running with tubeless stan's setup. Mavix 717 up front and a ZTR 355 in the back on an aluminum hardtail.

I have ridden IRC mythos for about 10 years but stans specifically says they have weak beads and I finally ripped one off the tire last year. The conti tires are recommended for tubeless conversion. I'm worried that the supersonic version may not hold up in the sidewall area. I don't care about tread wear, just catastrophic failure.

[xmynameisdan]

I've got the Supersonic Mtn Kings and ride Patapsco all the time, and they've been great. They stick really well. As far as tubeless, I'm not so sure. There was a thread on MTBR not long ago and someone had some trouble, but I don't know if he fixed it. Anyway, post back on your tubeless results, because I also have 717's and was thinking about doing a tubeless conversion with these tires

[pbayne]

I have been riding a pair of 717's tubeless for a little over a year. I used the stan's standard rim strip, about 2 oz. of sealant, and the IRC mythos 2.1 front and rear. I raced it all over including the rough places like greenbrier and michaux.

Only problem I had was that one day at Greenbrier on the fast, wet descent by the campground I tore the bead from the rear tire. I came to a stop and the sealant plugged it. Every time I hit a hard turn the tear would open up again. That tire was specifically not recommended by stans due to a weak bead; I guess I proved that. I'm still using the front tire. I went to a super heavy and thick Panaracer Fire UST that I had lying around. It also worked great but I swear I could feel how slow and heavy that thing was (around 750g) compared to the light IRC (around 450g).

When I put on the Speed Kings, I'm also going to try just the stan's yellow tape and valve stem instead of the rim strip to try and save some more weight. I'll let you know how it goes, but overall I have been blown away by tubeless conversion. I'll put it up there with suspension and clipless as far great innovations in cycling.