Conti you've screwed me yet again

[Hank Scorpio]

Just went out to clean up my bike and make some preparations for the covered bridges ride and saw that both front and rear sidewalls have big cuts in them. These tires only have a couple of hundred miles and I haven't flatted on them yet. I gave them another chance after a similar situation a few years ago. I have a third 700x 25 4000s in the box I might put in the classifieds if anyone is interested pm me.

If you have any desire to learn new combinations of curses come to my garage tomorrow for the second day of trying to mount Vittoria evo cx's on campy 2'way fits.

[norcalbiker]

Pm'd you.

[false_Aest]

Dude,

No reason to cut down coke when you can just smoke it.

Stop playing with razor blades.

[regularguy412]

My experience:

Conti Clinchers = Hate

Conti Tubies = Love

I've seen / heard of this same issue with Conti Clincher sidewalls cutting/blowing out for a long time. The 3000's seemed to be actually much worse.

I'll stick with my El Cheap-O Vredestein Fortezza SE's for everyday clinchers. They are a lil on the heavy side , but seem to last forever and seldom flat. In fact, I've had 3 pairs of them and only 2 flats due to punctures. Did have a one-off bead separation on a tire that only had 200 miles on it. Replaced that one and no issues. Not bad for a sub-$30 tire. They are quite round and roll very well.

Sorry you're having troubles. Almost nothing worse than coming out to the garage to ride and find some issue that magically appeared since two days ago when you last rode.

Mike in AR:beer:

[SoCalSteve]

In the many, many, many thousands of miles that I have used Conti GP 4000's I have only had 1 tire ever fail at the sidewall. They wear out long before I ever have any issues with them.

Now, on the other hand,with the Michelin Pro3 Race, I have had many, many problems including sidewall issues.

YMMV...

[Elefantino]

GP3000s: Sidewall-blowing death traps. Put me off Contis for a while.

GP4000s: Never had an issue. Wear like iron, but feel like iron.

ProRace3s: Best combo of feel and wear. Looking forward to trying the 4s.

MMDV! ;)

[AngryScientist]

you'll love those vittorias once you get them mounted!

[tele]

i refrain saying anything about Contis lest they smite me down on my next ride.

[stephenmarklay]

Man tire threads are abundant. They are also one of those threads that leave me wondering if there are really any really great tires or bad (qualified for use)

Last thread resulted in a pretty strong conti bias.

I won't touch the CX myself anymore. Not much life out of them for me.

[FlashUNC]

I think a lot of it simply comes down to luck.

ProRace3s, when I tried them out, seemed to have only two settings: Flat or punctured. Meanwhile, my Conti Gatorskins and 4000s have been really dependable.

Different strokes for different folks.

[Hank Scorpio]

I could understand if I had hit a pothole but I don't remember hitting anything that hard and the rear is split in two spots. I have had great luck with the vittorias. I had two seasons on my last pair. Not so much luck with a ks I was given in trade. I think I will just mount the cx's on my open pros and use them for the ride.

Does anyone else have the two way fits? I have had trouble with every tire i have tried to mount with these. It must be due to the center channel of the rim not being recessed. Maybe I just need to bulk up my thumbs.

[AngryScientist]

Does anyone else have the two way fits? I have had trouble with every tire i have tried to mount with these. It must be due to the center channel of the rim not being recessed. Maybe I just need to bulk up my thumbs.

they are a hair tight, but i've used the OC's, and PR3's very recently on my shamal 2-way-fits with no real problems. once the tires are stretched, they come on and off like butter.

[BobC]

For your everyday (training) wheels I would recommend using gatorskins, they are cheap, bullet proof & last forever. Just what you want for everyday use.

[zap]

No problem with Conti 4000 or 4000S on our tandems, either 23c or 25c on paved roads or gravel roads or dirt trails. Flings rocks with no damage to sidewalls.

The old Conti 3000 were really bad.

[BillG]

I've never had a flat on a Conti clincher and I have many many thousands of miles on them. I have taken my current set of 4 Seasons 28s (really 26s) from NYC to Boston on many crap roads and for three days of 80% dirt road riding in Vermont including a road that I can only compare to a WWI battle ground. All this holds of my sets of 4000S 25s which I still ride, and among other things rode through fresh very hot tar. They sure stuck to the road after that.

I've only ever had two flats on Conti tubes, one a bad luck side gash and the other a nail.

[tuscanyswe]

GP3000s: Sidewall-blowing death traps. Put me off Contis for a while.

GP4000s: Never had an issue. Wear like iron, but feel like iron.

ProRace3s: Best combo of feel and wear. Looking forward to trying the 4s.

MMDV! ;)

Challenge criteriums has the best ride for me if its not all in my head but thats what i think regardless of reason. Unfortunetly they dont last long and the sidewall may not blow up but the tanned sidewall recently just came of for me exposing a white sidewall :)

I replaced them with Prorace3s, i dont know why but i feel they roll much less efficent. I know these things are suttle but thats what i feel. The clock might tell me otherwise but i dont race :D

Contis 4000s have been a great tire for me.

[stien]

When I got a cut in the sidewall of a 4000s recently I found that it had a ton of nicks in it (both actually) and that was after ~1k miles over not glassy roads. Since I've got tubies for racing now I guess I can go with Gatorskins for training on my Al wheels, seems like a smarter choice.

[GregL]

The mid-late '90s Conti Gran Prix tires were infamous (as least in my personal experience) for sidewall cuts. I swore off Conti's for ~10 years as a result. The current generation seems solid. We have Grand Prix 4-Seasons on our tandem because they are a good blend of performance and reliability. All my clincher race wheels are shod with GP-4000S tires that have proven to be good all-around race tires. The GP-4000s have IMO the best comibination of grip, feel, and reliability of the clincher race tires I have used (e.g., Michelin Pro 4, Maxxis Courchevel, Veloflex Pave). Your results may differ...

-Greg

[forrestw]

I've seen more sidewall cuts on gp4000 clinchers than other tires but these never resulted in failure and they've proved more flat resistant than their competition.

Now I ride schwalbe by preferrence, even better flat protection and ride.

[azrider]

For your everyday (training) wheels I would recommend using gatorskins, they are cheap, bullet proof & last forever. Just what you want for everyday use.

+10

[tv_vt]

As others have said, Conti 4000s has been a great tire for me. Only on first pair and first summer with them, but very nice so far. Would definitely buy again.

TV

[Mr. Squirrel]

dear mr. hank,
i was waiting up the road. maybe next time. :)

mr. squirrel

[russ46]

I switched to Conti GP 4-Seasons last winter after double flatting on Vittoria Evo CX tires. Other then finding rear tread life to be a little shorter then other tires I've used I have found them to be very reliable with a comfortable ride.

[Ralph]

I agree with the comments about the Gaton Skins, the foldable ones not the wire bead ones, and you've gotta be careful which one you buy because the heavier wire bead one is used as a price leader sometimes.

Sure the casing is tough and a bit heavy, and the tread is thick, which reduces their "feel" a tad. But they don't flat and last forever. Perfect for a training, commuting, touring tire seems to me. I use them in 700X25 on my dailly rider which has sorta wide Campy Omega rims.

And BTW my Gator Skins in 700X25 measure same section width as some Michelin 700X23 PR2's I have on another bike.

[alancw3]

fifty years of serious cycling=best tire ever=conti gp4000. i have use these tires for the last six years. never a flat or issue and i have ridden each one down to the core. i get 2500 miles off on rear tires consistantly and 5000 on front tires. one tire did have a thread start to unraval but i just riped it off and good to go for remander of tire life. i guess what i am saying is conti gp4000= best tire for me ever!!!