Continental Grand Prix 4-Season Tires

[97CSI]

Looking at a set of these in 25 size for my daily riding tires. Seem like a reasonable combination of mileage, weight and durability. At least from the advertisements. Anyone have any experience with them? What do you think?

[chuckred]

Looking at a set of these in 25 size for my daily riding tires. Seem like a reasonable combination of mileage, weight and durability. At least from the advertisements. Anyone have any experience with them? What do you think?

Relatively lightweight, bombproof, and ride well. Easy to put on/ take off. What more could you want?

Only flat I ever had with them was a snakebite after hitting a pothole at about 25 mph.

I ride them all winter...

[Simon Q]

You will not be at all disappointed.

[Steelhead]

I love em' and as soon as I wear out the GP 4000s I have on now I think I am going to go back to them. Good stuff.

[bcm119]

I like them for a winter tire. I have them in 23, 25, and 28, and found myself riding the 28s all winter. Good wet grip and puncture resistance, but less supple than a michelin pro2race or similar tire. They have a solid, stable feel on rainy, debris strewn roads. On smooth dry pavement they feel a tiny bit sluggish compared to the michelins.

[97CSI]

OK. Thanks, everyone. Pulled the trigger on a pair. Good to read a reply from Colorado. That is where I am headed on Saturday and will be using these up and over TRR. With all the repairs this year, will need a tough tire.

[chuckred]

OK. Thanks, everyone. Pulled the trigger on a pair. Good to read a reply from Colorado. That is where I am headed on Saturday and will be using these up and over TRR. With all the repairs this year, will need a tough tire.

Have a great time! Summer is finally here... supposed to he hot and dry through Friday at least (remember, 90's in Denver can translate to 60's or less Trail Ridge eleveations, and with wind, can be pretty cool)... Ride early to avoid afternoon thundershowers... and tourist traffic.

[97CSI]

Haven't had any problems with the set of 4-Seasons and a successful ride in Colorado this past summer with them. However, am about to order a new set of tires for another set of wheels and am wondering about the reports of problems over this past several months with Conti tires. Especially the sidewalls going away. My Colorado riding friend crashed at about 35 on a descent in September with the blow-out of his sidewall on a set of Gran Prix 4000s the likely culpret. He is fine, but took a bit of skin and lots of aches & pains to get back to normal. Definitely something we would all like to avoid.

My question. Which Michelin tire is the analog to the Conti 4-Season? Thanks.

[11.4]

Haven't had any problems with the set of 4-Seasons and a successful ride in Colorado this past summer with them. However, am about to order a new set of tires for another set of wheels and am wondering about the reports of problems over this past several months with Conti tires. Especially the sidewalls going away. My Colorado riding friend crashed at about 35 on a descent in September with the blow-out of his sidewall on a set of Gran Prix 4000s the likely culpret. He is fine, but took a bit of skin and lots of aches & pains to get back to normal. Definitely something we would all like to avoid.

My question. Which Michelin tire is the analog to the Conti 4-Season? Thanks.

There are a lot of urban legends persisting about Conti sidewall blowouts. One goes and everyone thinks they're all bad, but any tire can have a sidewall blowout and frankly, many people ride them so as to make a blowout inevitable. There was a problem a few years ago that Conti addressed after a season, but I've never seen a verified defect on a Conti 4-season, 4000, or 4000S. And I've had a few on Pro2Races. Frankly, they all make good tires in their higher grades. None of them will do you wrong.

I'm riding the 4000S this winter on my wet weather wheels and really like them. They replace some Michelin Service Course limited edition tires and some Veloflex Paves, both of which were too puncture prone in the wet. The 4000S tires stick better, roll better, and don't even glass-cut. They certainly feel a lot faster and hold better than the 4-seasons. The latter have the mesh on the sidewalls to protect against long cuts, but it doesn't stop small cuts (that can still be blowouts) and doesn't even protect against larger glass cuts. I am guessing the mileage will be a tad less on the 4000S's (I'm at 1500 mi on the rear now and the centerline isn't worn flat yet, and it's cut-free, so I can't complain). It's a good tire.

I experimented with Michelins and Contis quite a bit to see if I could find a decent clincher ride. I just couldn't get there with Michelins -- they were either too soft or else they had to be overinflated and lost the ride. For a light rider they might be fine but I actually like the firmer and more predictable feel of the 4000S more. I wasn't a big 4000 or 4-season fan, but I do like the 4000S. I'll probably try a P3R, but Michelin's tire design philosophies don't quite mesh with mine. We'll see.

[jtferraro]

I'm on my 2nd set. My first set were 25C's and I ran them on my winter fixie w/SKS RaceBlade fenders. I don't think I've ever had a flat and subsequently bought another pair in 23C to run on the same bike in the summer, sans fenders. I figured the extra puncture resistance was worth it since (although I haven't biked to work in a while) my commute is over some city streets, which can have glass present in certain areas. The only negative thing is that I've seen the sidewall 'web' stiching come off in certain spots, although this didn't have any negative consequences. Best of luck w/them!

[Grant McLean]

Vittoria open corsa cx 700x25 black ;)


g

[rwsaunders]

http://www.probikekit.com/display.php?code=Y1094

[maunahaole]

Has anyone tried the 700x28 4 season? I'm wondering on how the sizing runs, particularly compared to a 700x25 michelin. 11.4 - have you tried the michelin krylion? it is a stiffer (and harder compound) tire than the PR2 - but still michelin size and shape. Just a thought.

[3chordwonder]

There are a lot of urban legends persisting about Conti sidewall blowouts.

Urban legend to those who haven't experienced it personally, anyway.

frankly, many people ride them so as to make a blowout inevitable.

How does a person ride to make a blowout inevitable?

You seem to have a lot of experience and I would value the info - I'd genuinely like to know so that I can avoid it myself.

[weiwentg]

... and frankly, many people ride them so as to make a blowout inevitable...
explain, please?

[11.4]

Urban legend to those who haven't experienced it personally, anyway.

How does a person ride to make a blowout inevitable?

You seem to have a lot of experience and I would value the info - I'd genuinely like to know so that I can avoid it myself.

I should probably have said that "some people ride so they don't have blowouts, while others ride in a way that is conducive to blowouts." It's like flats -- I train in a 15-25 rider group and 80% of the flats happen to 2-3 of the riders. Other riders can be on the same tires they're riding and yet they have most of the flats. This is what we've seen on blowouts -- there are a couple riders we just stay away from on downhills or in crits because they tend to blow tires. I've looked at a number of their tires and there's often a larger scuff adjacent to the blowout, or a clear glass cut through the cords, or other evidence that they hit something. When I ride behind them, they take straight lines and get out of the saddle when they go through potholes, or they go right through gravel patches, while other riders steer around that stuff. And don't blow out. I don't know how to make it more scientific, but when someone jumps off a sidewalk onto the road or digs a tire into a crack in the road, and then they blow out a few hours later, I tend to see a connection. This equipment is fragile and some riders just tend to break it more. There's nothing wrong with that -- it happens to some riders in the pro ranks as well -- but I'd go to sturdier equipment or I'd change riding habits, but blaming a lightweight tire isn't necessarily appropriate. Even with Conti's problem back a few years ago, it was so scattered and anecdotal that it didn't have statistical significance; Conti just had to respond to an immense amount of bad press. It's like the demise of Vivalo -- they had one documented fork breakage that led to a suspension of their NJS certification and a couple months later they are driven out of business. I'd just ask for more than a few anecdotal reports of failures. I could lay blame to virtually any component on my bike on that basis.

[3chordwonder]

11.4, thanks for taking the time to reply in depth.

That all sounds sensible and FWIW (nothing much since I don't know much) I agree with your point that it's good to take internet talk about fragile equipment with a grain of salt.

Maybe that's the case with the Contis too. Who knows. I hope so since they ride so well.

All I know is over the years I've only ever had one tyre blow out, and one looking like it might (maybe it never would have, who can tell). For whatever reason beyond my control, those two happened to both be Contis that have had others post about as well.

Whether that's coincidence or a genuine design issue is beyond my expertise, but I know I'll personally feel better if I know there's been a design cycle in the high end Conti's before I ride one again.

[Ti-Boy]

I use the 25's as my winter tire with no complaints. I use the 23's as my non-winter wet weather tire- also no complaints.

[97CSI]

Yeah..........I really like the 4-Season tire. Am wondering if I should pay the extra $4/tire for the Vectron model? Any advantage/disadvantage?

[Dave]

I went for the 700 x 28 size for winter tires and was suprised how small they measured. The actual width, measured with calipers is 25.3mm. I dropped the air pressure by 15-20 psi and they sure ride smooth. I only got a couple of rides in before is started snowing around here. I'm not getting off the trainer until it's sunny and upper 40's.

[chrisroph]

4 season, gatorskins, good winter tires. i've got some combo of them on my fixie.

btw, i've never had a sidewall issue with a conti although some of the pics are scary, like the one posted here last week or earlier this week.