We last tested the City Contact some time back and since then, one has spent a cumulative total of about a year on the back of my town bike.
The latest version is essentially the same tyre, although you now get a free innertube and a one-year guarantee against tyre failure (note: not punctures per se). It's now available in a 406 (20in) size too and, for £2 extra, with reflective sidewalls.
It's a wire-beaded gumwall with a slick centre tread and deeply siped shoulders, and there's a file pattern on the sidewall that will do for a dynamo.
The City Contact isn't quite as peppy as Specialized's Fat Boy, Vredestein's S.Lick - which the test tyres replaced - nor Conti's own Sport Contact. That's to be expected: the City Contact is lower pressure (70psi versus 90psi) and heavier.
Puncture protection is good thanks to a nylon-kevlar belt. There are tougher tyres, such as Schwalbe's Marathon Plus or Conti's Contact Security, but it's a good compromise for street use: it's tougher than most tyres that are faster than it and faster than most than are tougher than it. I still prefer the Sport Contact, but it's undeniably a good town bike tyre.
