SQUIRREL_13383887
The Terra Adventure is a new tyre in Continental’s line-up, blurring the line between gravel and cross-country mountain bike tyres with a new casing and compound.
Continental says the Terra Adventure has been designed to prioritise puncture protection, durability and grip rather than low rolling resistance and weight.
In testing, the impressive grip certainly shone through, but true to Continental’s word, it comes at the expense of rolling resistance. This is a noticeably slow tyre compared to the competition.
That’s not a problem if you’re riding consistently in challenging off-road terrain or bikepacking, but I’d struggle to recommend these tyres for day-to-day exploits.
The Continental Terra Adventure tyres are priced at £54.99 / $55.95 / €61.95 / AU$119.99.
Continental Terra Adventure details and specifications
The Terra Adventure was launched in March 2025 and sits alongside the all-rounder Terra Trail and race-oriented Terra Speed in the German brand’s gravel tyre range, which also includes the Terra Hardpack.
Continental positions this new model as a gateway tyre for more challenging terrain, saying it excels in adventures from soft to hardpack in dry and wet conditions. In fact, the brand says the Terra Adventure is its “first model being partly integrated in the technology nomenclature of our new MTB line-up”.
Given the tyre straddles the line between gravel and mountain bike tyres, Continental has opted for a traditional, but relatively low-profile knobby tread pattern. The central tread features alternating ramped and edged knobs in a ‘3-3-4’ sequence, which the brand says increases braking performance by improving traction.
Slightly wider-spaced and taller outer knobs are then designed to improve cornering and off-camber grip.
The Terra Adventure is Continental’s first gravel bike tyre to use its previously MTB-specific Trail casing and Grip compound.
The Grip compound is borrowed from the brand’s cross-country, downcountry and trail mountain bike tyres. Continental claims it offers an optimal balance of grip and rolling resistance.
The Trail casing sees a reinforced two-ply sidewall and an anti-puncture layer under the tread.
The Terra Adventure tyres are made in China, rather than the brand’s usual German production.
Speaking to BikeRadar, Alex Hanke, Continental’s product manager, explains its tyres “are produced within our own plant network, which allows us to maintain flexibility and independence in our production. We continuously invest in modern technologies, products and standardised processes across our facilities to ensure consistent quality and latest up-to-date technology”.
The tyres are available in 700c x 45, 50 and 55mm widths in black or ‘Transparent’ sidewalls. The 55mm option is particularly pleasing to see, given the trend for gravel bikes with wider tyre clearances.
The black 50mm tyres on test weighed 614g each on my digital scales, 6g lighter than claimed. That’s a smidge lighter than a set of 50mm Schwalbe G-One RX Pros, which I weighed in at 617g, but heavier than the Vittoria Terreno T50 at 590g.
When the tyres launched, my colleague, Felix Smith, weighed a set of 45mm tyres at 527g (13g lighter than claimed).
Continental Terra Adventure installation
I first set the tyres up tubeless on a set of Fulcrum Rapid Red 500 wheels on my Niner RLT 9 RDO gravel bike with Muc-Off sealant.
Other than needing a tyre lever to get the first bead onto the rim with both tyres, the Terra Adventures were overall very easy to install.
There were no popping noises during inflation, which was a little disconcerting, but both sealed at 25psi / 1.72 BAR using only a track pump.
The Fulcrum rims have a 23mm internal width and the tyre measured 45.73mm at 25psi – that’s rather narrow.
I then moved the tyres onto a set of WTB KOM i27 rims on a Kona Ouroboros. This tubeless setup experience was even easier and the tyres seated by 22psi.
The WTB rims have a 27mm internal width, but the tyres still came up undersized at 48.61mm.
When asked if Continental designs its tyres around a specific rim width, the brand said it works to the latest European Tyre and Rim Technical Organisation (ETRTO) standards.
According to Continental, a 45mm tyre should measure true-to-size on a 23mm-wide rim, whereas 50 and 55mm tyres should measure true-to-size on 25mm-wide rims. This wasn’t the case with my test set, though.
This is disappointing because a tyre that measures wider will have a larger contact patch and will be more compliant because you can run a lower pressure.
How I tested – wide gravel tyres
For this loosely titled ‘wide gravel tyres’ test, I pitted four 50mm tyres against each other.
This included two mixed-terrain options (Vittoria Terreno T50 and Schwalbe G-One RX Pro), hardpack rubber (Pirelli Cinturato Gravel H) and a tyre that straddles the line between gravel riding and cross-country mountain biking (Continental Terra Adventure).
Having conducted many tyre reviews for BikeRadar, I’ve developed a methodology for my testing.
After being weighed, each tyre was set up tubeless and tested on the same Fulcrum Rapid Red 500 wheels on a Niner RLT 9 RDO gravel bike, as well as at least one other wheelset on a different bike to reach a definitive judgement on how easy or difficult they are to install, and how wide they inflate.
Each tyre was subjected to a mixture of short and long rides across a range of surfaces, in both wet and dry conditions. All of the tyres were tested on a 70km control loop in the flint-infested Chilterns, before being tested in at least two other environments to get an idea of what conditions the tyre excels in – because the perfect gravel bike tyre for every terrain type doesn’t exist.
The tyres were assessed for rolling resistance, grip, puncture protection and value for money across both wet and dry surfaces on varied terrain. I’ve ridden each tyre for at least 500km, and while that’s not enough to comment definitively on durability, it has given me a flavour of what you can expect.
Since the tyres occupy different genres, I’ve drawn comparisons between them where I can, but I’ve also drawn on my wider experience with other tyres outside this group test, making more pertinent comparisons where applicable.
Continental Terra Adventure performance
I tested the Terra Adventure tyres through unseasonably dry conditions around my usual trails in Bristol and the Chilterns in the UK.
I also put them to bikepacking duties on the Trans-Cambrian Way, a 170km route that traverses mid-Wales with a punchy 4,000m elevation. The route was mostly dry, albeit with many river crossings and rocky sections, with occasional servings of mud.
After some experimentation, I settled on running 25psi / 1.7 BAR for the front and 27psi / 1.86 BAR out back for my current 74kg weight. On my bikepacking trip, I increased this to 27psi / 1.86 BAR front and 28psi / 1.93 BAR rear.
I found these pressures were suitable for all of my off-road exploits, and they felt good on the road too, with no squirming.
The first thing I noticed on the initial ride on my 70km Chiltern control loop that I subject all test tyres to was how sluggish these tyres felt. They are noticeably slower than almost every other premium mixed-terrain tyre I’ve ridden, such as the Pirelli Cinturato Gravel M, Vittoria Terreno T50 and Schwalbe G-One RX Pro.
Compared to Continental’s Terra Trail and Speed, as well as its Race King mountain bike tyres, these feel noticeably less supple.
But the impressive levels of grip were certainly there on the two notable descents of this loop – these are notably grippier than the Terreno T50s and the Continental tyres listed above, but it’s a very close-run race between these, the Cinturato Gravel M and the G-One RX Pro.
These observations continued throughout the rest of my testing, where the bike was unloaded. I found I had to work a little harder than usual with these tyres on my local gravel group rides, but the trade-off was I could switch my brain off on technical sections because I knew I could rely on there being abundant grip.
That extended to wet and muddy terrain, too (albeit in summer conditions), and the Terra Adventures were unflustered by the odd mud patch.
Independent lab testing from BicycleRollingResistance.com found that a 45mm Continental Terra Adventure tyre generated 26.9W of rolling resistance at 33psi / 2.27 BAR. That’s noticeably higher than the 18W figure for a 45mm Schwalbe G-One RX Pro (also at 33psi) and the 21.7W figure for a 45mm Pirelli Cinturato Gravel H at 31psi / 2.14 BAR.
The Terra Adventures impressed me more on my Welsh bikepacking trip, where puncture resistance and grip on a fully loaded bike trump outright rolling resistance. I specifically chose to run the Continentals because this route is famous for ruining tyres and would prove the ultimate bikepacking test.
I was particularly impressed with them on long fireroad descents, where they really bit into the dirt and they were also unflustered on various sections of rocky singletrack, as well as deep river crossings.
There were multiple sections with sizable boulders (and wet stretches frequently thrown in for good measure) with sharp edges waiting to pierce rubber, but the Terra Adventures came away unfazed.
This tougher terrain, that converges with mountain biking, is exactly where these tyres fare best and I was confident I could rely on them.
Of course, every tyre has its limits and although you can push these impressively far, there was a wet and steep shale-infested descent off a Welsh mountain, where I needed to exercise considerable caution – but that’d be the case with almost any gravel tyre.
Long-term durability has often been a sticking point with Continental’s gravel tyres in my experience – but the tougher construction of the Terra Adventures and the new casing seem much more resilient.
After 500km, the front tyre still looks like new and it’s a similar story for the rear, other than the fact it has now lost most of its vent spews (hairs). I’m confident there’s plenty of service left in these tyres.
It’s difficult to judge the Terra Adventures' value definitively seeing as they’re specialist tyres, but at £54.99 / $55.95 / €61.95 / AU$119.99, they come in cheaper than the Schwalbe G-One RX Pro at £74.99 / $83.39 / €74.90 / AU$147.95 and the Pirelli Cinturato Gravel M at £64.99 / $84.90 / €72.90 / AU$99.95.
Both of those tyres are better all-rounders though, balancing excellent grip with low rolling resistance, whereas you’re really going to be looking for that outstanding grip if you opt for these.
Continental Terra Adventure tyre bottom line
The Continental's Terra Adventure is an excellent option if you want something reliable and robust for top-level grip on technical terrain or when bikepacking.
But the impressive grip comes at the expense of rolling resistance. As such, for typical day-to-day use, I’d struggle to make a compelling case for recommending you buy these. These are more specialist tyres than gravel all-rounders.
The fact they consistently come up undersized is another stickling point if you want a tyre to run true-to-size.
SQUIRREL_13383887
Product
| Brand | Continental |
| Price | A$119.99, €61.95, £54.99, $55.95 |
| Weight | 614g |
Features
| Features | Trail Casing and Grip Compound |
| Tyre sizes | 700c x 45, 50 and 55mm |
| Puncture protection | Anti-puncture layer |
