The Race King Cyclocross Clincher Tire from Continental has a tread that is at home whatever non-road conditions you throw at it.

The tire goes beyond traditional cyclocross: The 35mm width is 2mm wider than the UCI cyclocross width limit, but that only matters if youre doing UCI races. Most are not.

They created a tread thats low enough not to slow you down on pavement and hardpack, but still delivers sufficient bite on loose and mixed conditions. The second part is thanks to the spacing between the knobs, which allows for both digging into the ground and the dirt flowing through once the knobs have left the dirt.

The tread rubber is Contis PureGrip compound. It doesnt quite have the lowest rolling resistance and highest grip like Black Chili, but its close in those realms. It exceeds that compound in terms of total mileage.

The casing is 180 TPI under the tread and 120 TPI on the sidewalls. Between the casing and tread is a breaker belt, keeping sharp objects from cutting through the tire. The belt adds a little rigidity to the tread, but the sidewalls are still fairly supple, and their easy deformation will keep your tires on the ground nicely. The 700c x 35mm tire weighs 420g.