Continental Ultra Race 700x23c folding bead clincher £23.95

Made in the Far East and designed and marketed as a mid-range sporting road tyre, Continental’s Ultra Race is offered in a choice of wire or folding bead in both 700x23c and 700x25c formats. We are looking at the probable biggest seller in the shape of the folding bead 23c example, which weighs a claimed 220g. Add 50g for the wire bead, which saves £6.

Like its fellows, it features a 60tpi carcass fabric laid up in Conti’s multi-layer pattern and has a Safety System anti-puncture belt of tightly-woven Nylon and Kevlar fibres. The result is comfortable, quickish and handily resistant to puncture without challenging race rubber for outright speed.

The tread is Conti’s old black natural rubber compound rather than the Black Chili found on the firm’s more expensive German-made offerings but is perfectly serviceable, providing the supple, grippy and durable ride for which the original Grand Prix of the 1990s was renowned. In fact, were the tread pattern the same polygonal block outline rather than the new ‘race-orientated’ design, it would be hard to distinguish the Ultra Race from its revered ancestor. Which is no mean recommendation.