Touring Bike Tire Test: Continental Top Contact Winter II

The Continental Top Contact Winter II Premium is one of the few winter tires available (excluding spike tires) for bicycles. The Top Contact Winter II is closely related to the regular Top Contact II (read review). Just like the regular Top Contact II, the Winter II uses a 3/180 folding casing with a Vectran puncture protection insert. The biggest difference can be found in the softer winter compound and ribbed tread design based on Conti's knowledge of winter tires for cars.

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The Top Contact Winter II is the only bicycle tire (that I'm aware of) that comes with the ribbed tread design that pretty much all winter tires for cars rely on. The ribbed tread profile is known to increase grip on snowy or icy roads dramatically. I don't see a reason why this shouldn't work just as well for bike tires as it does for car tires. If you're looking for non-spike winter tires for your bike, the Top Contact Winter II seems to be miles ahead of the competition on paper.

Manufacturer Specifications

Manufacturer Specs
Brand	Continental
Model	Top Contact Winter II
Year	2016
Supplied By	Bought in store
New or Used	New
Mileage	0 km
Price Range	High
Buy At	Ad Amazon.com
Manufacturer part number	0100713
TPI	3/180
Compound	Winter compound
Bead	Folding
ETRTO	37-622
Size Inch	28"
Width mm	37.00
Specified Weight	470 grams
Max Air Pressure (psi)	85
Made In	Members Only
Available Sizes	42-622 (28x1.60) 37-622 (28x1.40) 55-559 (26x2.20) 50-559 (26x1.90)

Continental Top Contact Winter II Test Results

Size, Weight, and Thickness Measurements

Size, Weight, and Thickness Measurements
Specified Weight	470 grams
Measured Weight	468 grams
Measured Width	32 mm (un-round)
Measured Height	32 mm (un-round)
Tread Depth	2.3 mm
Total Tire Thickness Center	5.5 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.

On a 17C rim, inflated to an air pressure of 60 psi / 4 bars, the Top Contact Winter II measures just 32 mm wide. 32 mm is small for a tire advertised as a 37-622 tire. I'm not sure if Conti made these tires smaller on purpose (to increase grip on snow), but this should have been a 32-622 / 35-622 rated tire. Be aware of this when buying these tires, a 42-622 version is available as well.

Tread depth comes in at a very average 2.3 mm which doesn't appear to be that impressive as the regular Top Contact II has a tread depth of 2.5 mm. The total thickness of the tire at the center of the tread is 5.5 mm; the sidewalls have a thickness of 0.85 mm. For reference, the regular Top Contact II came in at 4.4 / 1.05 mm.

Rolling Resistance Test Results

Rolling Resistance Test Results
Inner Tube	Conti Tour 28 (170 gr butyl)
Rolling Resistance 75 PSI / 5 Bar	27.0 Watts CRR: 0.00809
Rolling Resistance 60 PSI / 4 Bar	28.5 Watts CRR: 0.00854
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.

Maybe rolling resistance isn't the main criteria to look for when buying winter tires, but it's always nice to know how they perform in this test as well. Compared to the Top Contact II (read review), the Top Contact Winter II performs only slightly worse in the rolling resistance test. When compared to the best performing (summer) touring bike tires (touring bike overview), rolling resistance can be up to 50% higher.

How much power is lost precisely greatly depends on the air pressure used. When compared to the Top Contact II (that isn't the fastest tire out there), at the typical touring bike air pressure of 60 psi / 4 bars, the Winter II needs an extra 15-20% (4.3 watts) of power input to reach the same speed. At the higher end of the air pressure range (75-90 psi / 4-5 bars), an extra 25% of power is lost in the tires (5-6 watts per tire). At lower air pressures, the Winter II closes the gap considerably (less than 10%).

Puncture Resistance Test Results

Puncture Resistance Test Results (higher is better)
Total Puncture Score Tread	119 Points
Total Puncture Score Sidewall	Members Only
Tread Puncture Force Sharp Needle	17 Points
Tread Puncture Force Blunt Needle	No Data
Tread Total Tire Thickness	5.5 mm
Sidewall Puncture Force Sharp Needle	Members Only
Sidewall Puncture Force Blunt Needle	No Data
Sidewall Total Tire Thickness	Members Only

In the puncture resistance tread test, the Top Contact Winter II performs very strong. With a score of 17 points in the tread test, it outperforms the Top Contact II by 1 point. In the sidewall test, performance isn't as strong but still decent.

On the Puncture Factor Tread calculation, the Winter II performs even better as the total tread thickness has gone up to 5.5 mm (compared with the Top Contact II) which results in a Puncture Factor score of 94 points. 94 points is a very decent score; these tires will be hard to flat. Puncture Factor Sidewall, on the other hand, is a bit on the low side for a touring bike tire but it shouldn't cause too many troubles.

Static Grip Test Results

NOTE: Grip test data is only available on tires tested after November 2018. You can find more information about our grip test here: Introducing Grip Testing

Static Grip Test Results
Wet Grip Average	No Data
Wet Grip Center	No Data
Wet Grip Edge	No Data
Grip in points = coefficient of friction * 100 Tour/E-Bike grip test rim width = 23.0 mm

Conclusion

Grip on snow and ice will be the most important reason of why you'd want to buy a tire like the Continental Top Contact Winter II Premium. I'm sure grip on snowy and icy roads will be as good as it gets for a tire that doesn't use spikes as these tires use the same proven concept used on winter tires for cars. Rolling resistance isn't the most important thing to consider, but I feel it is good to know how these tires perform. It also might help to decide if it's worth it to change to summer tires when the weather improves.

Another good thing to know is puncture resistance is excellent as well. You do not want to be stranded with a flat tire when it's cold outside! Another thing to remember is the actual size of the 37-622 rated version of this tire is just 32 mm wide. If you're looking for a large tire, go with the 42-622.

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RATING: 4.0 / 5
TEST VERDICT: Recommended

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