Touring Bike Tire Test: Continental Contact Urban
Contents and Test Summary
- Introduction
- Manufacturer Specifications
- Size, Weight, Thickness
- Rolling Resistance: 18.4 Watts
- Puncture Resistance: 95 Points
- Static Wet Grip: 81 Points
- Conclusion: 5.0 / 5 Highly Recommended
- Comments
- Continental Contact Urban
(100% is best)
The Contact Urban is a new touring bike tire from Continental that comes with a modern look and feel. A couple of months back, we already tested its little brother, the Grand Prix Urban (read our review). While the Grand Prix Urban is targeted more towards performance, the Contact Urban comes closer to traditional touring bike tires as it's heavier and comes with more puncture protection.
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Together with the Continental Contact Urban test, we're introducing wet grip testing to the touring bike section. Today, you can find wet grip test results of 5 touring bike tires, and every new test in this category will also include the wet grip test from now on. We only re-tested 4 other touring bike tires as we only re-test tires newer than 3 years, and the touring bike section hasn't been all that popular. We hope the addition of the wet grip test will spark some new life into the touring bike section.
The Continental Contact Urban comes with a 3/180 TPI casing which is quite common on Continental tires. The compound is the PureGrip compound used on many other "medium-priced" tires from Continental, and it's ranked just behind their BlackChili compound. What seems new is the "SafetyPro" layer of anti-puncture material under the tread, which we haven't seen on any other Continental tire yet.
Before testing the Contact Urban, we already spotted one significant advantage over many of its competitors: it's available in a HUGE amount of different sizes. Check the table below to see all available sizes, but this tire should be on the list of everyone looking for 27.5", 26", 20", and even 16" tires.
Manufacturer Specifications
| Manufacturer Specs | |
|---|---|
| Brand | Continental |
| Model | Contact Urban |
| Year | 2022 |
| Supplied By | Bought in store |
| New or Used | New |
| Mileage | 0 km |
| Price Range | Med |
| Buy At | Ad Amazon.com |
| Manufacturer part number | 0150351 |
| TPI | 3/180 |
| Compound | PureGrip |
| Bead | Wire |
| ETRTO | 40-622 |
| Size Inch | 28" |
| Width mm | 40.00 |
| Specified Weight | 545 grams |
| Max Air Pressure (psi) | 94 |
| Made In | Members Only |
| Available Sizes |
28-622 (700x28c) 32-622 (700x32c) 35-622 (700x35c) 37-622 (700x37c) 40-622 (700x40c) 42-622 (700x42c) 47-622 (700x47c) 50-622 (700x50c) 55-622 (700x55c) 42-584 (650x42b) 50-584 (650x50b) 55-584 (650x55c) 47-559 50-559 55-559 32-406 42-406 50-406 35-349 |
Continental Contact Urban Test Results
Size, Weight, and Thickness Measurements
| Size, Weight, and Thickness Measurements | |
|---|---|
| Specified Weight | 545 grams |
| Measured Weight | 538 grams |
| Measured Width | 39 mm (un-round) |
| Measured Height | 38 mm (un-round) |
| Tread Depth | 1.3 mm |
| Total Tire Thickness Center | 4.4 mm |
| Total Tire Thickness Sidewall | Members Only |
| All size measurements are taken at an air pressure of 60 psi / 4 bars on a 17.8 mm inner width rim. | |
Rolling Resistance Test Results
| Rolling Resistance Test Results | |
|---|---|
| Inner Tube | Conti Tour 28 (170 gr butyl) |
| Rolling Resistance 75 PSI / 5 Bar |
16.9 Watts CRR: 0.00507 |
| Rolling Resistance 60 PSI / 4 Bar |
18.4 Watts CRR: 0.00552 |
| Rolling Resistance 45 PSI / 3 Bar |
Members Only |
| Rolling Resistance 30 PSI / 2 Bar |
Members Only |
| All numbers are for a single tire at a speed of 29 km/h / 18 mph and a load of 42.5 kg / 94 lbs. Use the formula: RR (Watts) = CRR * speed (m/s) * load (N) to calculate rolling resistance at a given speed and load. |
|
Puncture Resistance Test Results
| Puncture Resistance Test Results (higher is better) | |
|---|---|
| Total Puncture Score Tread | 95 Points |
| Total Puncture Score Sidewall | Members Only |
| Tread Puncture Force Sharp Needle | Members Only |
| Tread Puncture Force Blunt Needle | Members Only |
| Tread Total Tire Thickness | 4.4 mm |
| Sidewall Puncture Force Sharp Needle | Members Only |
| Sidewall Puncture Force Blunt Needle | Members Only |
| Sidewall Total Tire Thickness | Members Only |
Static Grip Test Results
| Static Grip Test Results | |
|---|---|
| Wet Grip Average | 81 Points |
| Wet Grip Center | Members Only |
| Wet Grip Edge | Members Only |
| Grip in points = coefficient of friction * 100 Tour/E-Bike grip test rim width = 23.0 mm |
|
Conclusion
- Continental Contact Urban
(100% is fastest - lightest - thickest - strongest)
We're impressed by the performance of the Contact Urban, especially when considering its friendly price. It's one of the fastest rolling touring bike tires, offers excellent tread puncture resistance, and is simply the best performing tire in our wet grip test. The main weakness can be found in the sidewalls as they aren't really up to touring bike standards.
As the Contact Urban is available in so many different sizes, we want to dig a bit deeper into the wet grip test results. We've noticed over the years that bigger tires in the same series sometimes come with a softer compound than the smaller versions. The reason is that bigger tires can use softer compounds as the pressure per square mm of contact area is lower. In other words: a small tire with a very soft compound would wear too fast, and they require a harder compound to have the same durability.
We're not sure if Continental also does this with the Contact Urban, but we suggest getting at least the 40 mm version (on test here) if you're buying it because of the wet grip performance.
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RATING:
5.0
/ 5
TEST VERDICT:
Highly Recommended