Product Full Name | Continental Der Baron Projekt ProTection Apex 27.5

Retail Price | £59.95

Available From | Conti Tyres UK

Continental Der Baron is outstanding in soft and loose conditions

A few years ago, the Continental Baron had one of the best treads for winter riding without being a dedicated mud tyre, but it suffered from a small carcass size and thin casing prone to pinch punctures and sidewall splits.

Thanks to development with Team GT, the new Der Baron is finally available to buy now – and is a huge improvement over the previous model.

Read on to see what we thought in our Continental Der Baron Projekt ProTection review…

The Detail

Available in 26, 27.5 and 29in sizes, the new 2.4in carcass size isn’t the biggest out there but is a marked improvement on the previous model.

The tread pattern is one of the most open spaced out there and has a hard edged shoulder for cutting in to turns. The new Continental Der Baron uses their unique Black Chili compound that measures mid 40’s on a rubber durometer tester, but manages to be strangely fast and hard wearing.

Unlike the older 26in version, this brand new Continental Der Baron uses the ProTection Apex casing which is not only far sturdier with it’s 4ply 240tpi casing, but it’s tubeless ready too.

Though we mounted our test tyres fine on Easton rims, and inflated them with no major issues we had a night mare on SRAM Roam rims – having to resort to using a Stans rim strip kit. We also suffered slight air leakage over longer periods.

We weighed both of our 27.5in samples at just under 960grams a piece. Not the lightest, but the casing is sturdy and they’re built to last.

Photo | Simon Nieborak

Out on the Trail

The trails near to the Factory Jackson office in Bath are notoriously slippery in winter – which made the perfect testing ground for the Continental Der Baron. The unique mix of claggy clay mud, roots and Bath limestone make for hellish conditions that few other tyres can cope with.

Having ridden the old Barons and loved them locally, we knew the tread and rubber compound work well – but the new Der Baron was designed around harder riding than the original. And this is reflected in the larger volume and bigger casing – which makes the tyre a major front wheel player for all round trail riding.

The thicker casing feels tougher and stable at lower pressures – a previous issue. And they generally feel like a much improved version of the tyre we love and have been craving in 27.5 for so damned long!

The shoulders have a good edge, which is predictable even when they do break loose, and the main tread is open and clears mud fast. What really is outstanding in their traction though, is the grip they offer on wet roots and limestone rock – they really do have the most surefooted feel we’ve ridden in a long time. And locally, they’re even better than the Schwalbe Magic Mary which does tend to be the if-all-else-fails tyre.

The Continental Der Baron also has another trick up it’s sleeve that you just wouldn’t expect looking at it, and when you feel the rubber: it rolls fast. Ok, not as fast as an Ardent, Crossmark or Rock Razor – but substantially faster than any other tyre this aggressive.

Whilst it’s too early to see how they wear, we’ll be running them all winter so will let you know how they fare.

We Say

The new Continental Der Baron performs as well as we wanted it too – the casing is far sturdier and offers a good ride at a variety of pressures. So far, no cuts or slashes either.

Traction was always the thing we loved on the Baron, and the new Der Baron is every bit as good – and has a larger volume to boot which makes a lot of difference to the way you can approach rough terrain. It’s an excellent soft conditions tyre for front and rear, and also a brilliant front tyre for firmer conditions too, thanks to the acceptable rolling speed.

Our only niggle is that we didn’t get the tyre to inflate first time on all the rims we tried, and we did lose a little pressure over a few days. 

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