Continental Contact Winter Reflex Black Review

This is my third year driving in winter and I'm trying out Conti Top Contact tires for the first time. As winter came early this year, I am inclined to write about my experiences already. I started with extreme caution, but as I rode my confidence in the tires diminished. Note that the air temp was a comfortable +7 with snowy frosting and hidden extras. I have to say that I'm sure they will work well. The stops were very good, as was the traction for the starts. I'll wait for deeper snow to…

The only tire better for snow and ice is metal spikes, but then you lose out in dry weather. I've ridden studded tires in the snow and they're great, but you can't turn on dry roads without fear of skidding (plus the noise and vibration of the metal). On the other hand, they are real winter tyres, better than conventional tires for all conditions below 50º. Overall, Continental makes great tires - even my alligator skins held up better on icy roads than my rubber-soled shoes - and are the best…

I have both this tire (Continental Top Contact) and a set of Nokian WXC300 studded tires. The WXC300s are fantastic on ice and hard surfaces, but they have annoying rolling resistance on dry roads, and the lugs hum like crazy, making pedestrians give you strange looks. These Continentals are great for those winter days when the bike lanes are mostly clear so you won't need spikes but will leave patches of snow so you need some reassurance. You're not paying for the high rolling resistance and…

I'm too lazy to keep changing tires, don't drive in deep snow, but wanted to leave something for the winter. But it's no substitute for a studded tire - I've slipped everywhere on firm but soft snow and haven't felt much of a traction advantage with any fixed-profile tire (like the Schwalbe Marathon). Meanwhile, perhaps due to the soft compound, it's slow as hell on dry tarmac. Also, can any tire physicist answer this question for me: As can be seen in one of the product photos, the very thin…