Continental has announced the Terra Competition, an aero-optimised all-road tyre that “blurs the lines between road and gravel”.
Claimed to be the brand’s new fastest off-road tyre, the Terra Competition uses a design optimised for low weight, rolling resistance and aerodynamic drag.
Compared to the brand’s previous fastest gravel tyre, the Terra Speed, Continental claims the new Terra Competition is up to 16 per cent lighter and rolls up to 17 per cent faster (depending on size and pressure).
Available now with Continental’s Race or Trail casing, prices for the Terra Competition start from £59.30 / $76.26 / €68.95.
Going against current trends for ever wider gravel bike tyres, however, the Continental Terra Competition is available in 700x35, 40 and 45c sizes. This leaves a hole in the brand’s line-up for a ‘larger than 45c’ (but smaller than 2.2in) gravel race tyre, which suggests the brand may not believe wider is always faster when it comes to mixed surface riding.
Conti’s first aero off-road tyre
With XC mountain bike tyres being one of gravel's hottest trends, concerns about the aerodynamic drag of gravel tyres have taken a back seat in recent years.
According to Continental, however, the new Terra Competition uses a “light-knobbed” tread pattern designed to reduce drag, as well as to provide grip on rough roads and “light gravel”.
This isn’t the first time Continental has launched a tyre with an aero tread pattern, of course. Continental’s Aero 111 road tyre is claimed to significantly reduce drag compared to a standard GP5000 S TR.
The tread has a distinctive V-shape, with an semi-slick central portion transitioning to slightly taller knobs towards the tyre’s shoulders.
Although it also includes notches for “soil interaction” and “drainage”, Continental notes the tyre is best suited to “dry to moist conditions” – and the tyre's looks appear to confirm this, as the tread is minimal compared to most gravel tyres.
At the time of writing, Continental hasn’t published any figures for how much energy you can expect to save thanks to this aero-optimisation, and it declined to do so when asked.
Nevertheless, it claims to have found “savings in aerodynamic drag for all tested velocities for yaw angles from -20 to +20 degrees [of yaw]”, compared to the Terra Speed.
Faster and lighter
We do have figures for the claimed reductions in weight and rolling resistance, though.
The new Terra Competitions are 16 per cent lighter compared to Terra Speeds – although this is highly dependent on which size you opt for:
| Tyre size | Terra Competition (g) | Terra Speed (g) | Difference (g) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 700x35c | 345 | 413 | -68 |
| 700x40c | 420 | 445 | -25 |
| 700x45c | 470 | 516 | -46 |
As for rolling resistance (Crr), the headline figure is a reduction of 17 per cent, for a 35c Terra Competition (Race casing) compared to an equivalent Terra Speed. According to Continental, that’s worth 4.52 watts.
This was tested on a smooth steel drum with a 50kg load.
It’s worth noting the 17 per cent improvement in Crr was measured at a relatively high tyre pressure of 5 bar / 72.5 psi, and that the improvement drops in line with tyre pressure:
| Tyre pressure | Terra Competition (watts at 30kph) | Terra Speed (watts at 30kph) | Difference (watts at 30kph) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 bar / 72.5 psi | 21.89 | 26.41 | -4.52 |
| 4 bar / 58 psi | 23.68 | 27.73 | -4.05 |
| 3 bar / 43.5 psi | 27.37 | 30.17 | -2.8 |
Casings and puncture protection
All models of the Terra Competition use a 3x330 TPI (Threads Per Inch) construction, but Continental is offering it in two casing types – Race and Trail.
As the names suggest, the Race casing is designed for low weight and rolling resistance, while the trail casing uses a slightly more robust, but slower, construction.
Both casings feature a puncture protection belt beneath the tread, although the one on the trail casing spans a greater width of the tyre.
Both types of casing are tubeless-ready and compatible with hookless rims.
Where does the Terra Competition fit with modern gravel trends?
When news of the new Terra Competition dropped into my inbox, and as a wannabe go-fast gravel rider, I was excited that Continental might finally be about to catch up with gravel’s hottest trend.
What constitutes a suitable ‘gravel tyre’ for racing has been evolving faster than Keegan Swenson’s setup at Leadville in recent years.
Thanks to influential riders like Dylan Johnson, average tyre sizes have ballooned at key races such as the Traka or Unbound, with many turning to cross-country mountain bike tyres in the vacuum created by a lack of gravel-specific options over 45mm wide.
With Schwalbe refreshing its G-One Pro range in late 2024, adding 50 and 55c sizes, I assumed it would only be a matter of time before Conti followed suit.
I’d imagined an updated Terra Speed in 50 and 55c sizes, with the new and improved compound and casings, plus variants with more aggressive tread patterns to better suit different conditions.
The launch of the Terra Adventure last March, which comes in 45 to 55c sizes, only added fuel to that fire.
Instead, Continental seems not to have the same faith in the whole ‘wider is faster’ mantra as everyone else, at least for now.
Conceptually, the new Terra Competition – with its low profile, aero-optimised tread and limited size range – feels akin to Merida’s latest Mission gravel bike, which controversially tops out at ‘just’ 40mm of tyre clearance.
That didn’t stop former world champion, Matej Mohorič, from securing a podium aboard the Mission on the (mostly) dry and dusty UCI gravel world's course in Limburg last October, of course, and those are likely the kinds of races and conditions Continental is targeting here.
In fairness to Continental, it does also pitch the Terra Competition as more of an all-road tyre, than a pure gravel tyre. And perhaps it's simply happy to keep ‘gravel racing’ at 35 to 45c, and let anyone in search of something wider opt for XC tyres like its popular Race King.
But with that tyre is only available in a 2.2in / 55mm size with the fastest ‘ProTection’ casing, though, Continental is left with something of a hole in its range, and the appearance that it may have missed the boat on this trend.
