Continental GP 4 Season

Macy0161

Sidewall threads on my Conti GP2000sii's have finally gone beyond want I'll chance (after reading about blowouts caused by the sidewalls), plus the usual wear and tyre after 18 months or so.

This bike is probably going to become my winter/ bad weather bike, so considering more puncture resistant options rather than just a new pair of Sii's.

Anyone running 4 season? How do you find them in comparison with the sii? What are the other alternatives- still Durano's?

I put on a spare pair of marathon plus I had for last weekend, and whilst I wouldn't be without them commuting, definitely weren't fun on a hilly 80km+, so definitely want something before the weekend!

jamesd

Using the 4 seasons on my winter bike and 4000's on the summer and find the 4 seasons excellent and would even use them all year round as dont find much of a pace reduction with them at all.

jon1981

Running 4 seasons since January, daily commutes in Dublin city including the quays so well tested with respect to road glass and that. No punctures at all.

The prior two years I was running gp4000s and i would average 4 punctures (at least) in 12 months and they would only last 11-12 months at best due to the amount of nicks they would pick up. The four seasons are still going strong with plenty of life in them. So less punctures and less tire changes saving a few quid.

I've been out on a pacey spin with them and found they still roll well. For long winter spins they'll be fine.

Borderfox

I run them myself and find them great, did a 30kmph charity spin on Saturday with no loss of speed

Macy0161

Thanks all - hopefully be here before next weekend - although I may be on the wimp list looking at the forecast!

Koobcam

4 Season are a good tyre alright, but bloody expensive. I've had a couple of sets of Michelin Pro4 endurance (version 2) and they seem pretty good, significantly cheaper than the Continentals

jon1981

You need to look out for deals alright. I've managed to always source a pair for <80euro online. Only talking 5-6 euro a tyre in the difference.


example : 85 euro and includes 3 tubes.

https://www.sigmasport.co.uk/item/Continental/4-Season-25mm-Tyres-with-Race-28-Inner-Tubes-Bundle/BLV8?&co=IRL&cu=EUR&glCountry=IE&gclid=Cj0KCQiAgZTRBRDmARIsAJvVWAux7ggOcJgxf243U2TAbqSyIiLZSmRR6zOYKfopU4abS1ushrxYKHIaAoqoEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Mercian Pro

Have had 4 Seasons in the 28 size on my commuter bike for about three years (don't do much commuting since retiring) and find them great. Very little wear on the thread, good grip and hardly any punctures.
If I had written this before last night I could stop there. Unfortunately, on the way home from The Laurels Santa Cycle the front wheel punctured with quite a bang. A spare tube without a pump isn't much use so I had to be rescued from the side of the Naas Road. After replacing the tube this morning, there was another loud bang once I pumped it up. Finally I spotted a thin slit in the sidewall just above the rim where the tubes presumably had developed hernias. I don't really think I can blame the tyre as one of the brake blocks was very slightly overlapping the tyre. Having fixed the brake, I put a spare GP4000 on but will probably order a replacement 4 Seasons.
On my good bike I have had a Rubino Pro on the front for about 6,000km and am very impressed with it. I put a matching one on the back this morning and am looking forward to seeing how it behaves. Quite a bit cheaper than the Conti's too.

Daroxtar

I had ContiGrand Prix GT tyres on for 18 months, hassle free. Great tyres. Put on GP 4000s 2 months ago and have had 3 punctures and one tyres destroyed. I'll be back on the GTs next week.

ted1

Not a fan of contis a I think they offer zero grip in the wet, I find these much better

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/ie/en/schwalbe-durano-plus-folding-tyre-smartguard/rp-prod128939

Mercian Pro

ted1 wrote: »

Not a fan of contis a I think they offer zero grip in the wet

All Conti's or just Gatorskins?

nilhg

ted1 wrote: »

Not a fan of contis a I think they offer zero grip in the wet, I find these much better

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/ie/en/schwalbe-durano-plus-folding-tyre-smartguard/rp-prod128939

Mercian Pro wrote: »

All Conti's or just Gatorskins?

Definitely not true of all Conti's, the only ones I'd describe as poor in the wet that I've experience of would be the hardshell gatorskins

Macy0161

Fitted these on Friday, and first spin Saturday. Impressed with the rolling resistance and grip so far. As ever, put myself under time pressure to make the spin, but was fine descending on a wet/ gritted road.

JMcL

Weighing in late with a bit of positive reinforcment - I've been using 4 Seasons year round for a while now and they hit the sweet spot for me. Very low puncture count and even then it's almost usually been through some culpability of my own (chancing my arm while rushing out the door that there was enough air in, or seeing exactly how maggoty they could get before replacement - answer being quite, but wouldn't recommend it). Usually get about 3000km on average rotating front to back

Alek

Usually get about 3000km on average rotating front to back

Do you skid a lot? I get 8000km on 28mm GP4000SII...

thelawman

Does everyone get the threads peeling off the sidewall of the GP4000IIs, The only complaint I have about them

devonp

yep happens to mine, a little disconcerting but doesn't seem to affect performance

jon1981

JMcL wrote: »

Weighing in late with a bit of positive reinforcment - I've been using 4 Seasons year round for a while now and they hit the sweet spot for me. Very low puncture count and even then it's almost usually been through some culpability of my own (chancing my arm while rushing out the door that there was enough air in, or seeing exactly how maggoty they could get before replacement - answer being quite, but wouldn't recommend it). Usually get about 3000km on average rotating front to back

That's pretty poor, I'm on about 4k km and looking like loads of life left.

Pulling a few cheeky skids on your commutes?

Macy0161

thelawman wrote: »

Does everyone get the threads peeling off the sidewall of the GP4000IIs, The only complaint I have about them

That's the reason I was replacing mine/ starting this thread. Google brought up people claiming blowouts because of that. Definitely no brake rub for me (which seems to get the blame sometimes), as it was a disk braked bike!

JMcL

jon1981 wrote: »

That's pretty poor, I'm on about 4k km and looking like loads of life left.

Pulling a few cheeky skids on your commutes?

Actually my bad - I rotated them at 3k, not replaced - so 5-6k on a set is probably more realistic (I add a note to activities to track when I change/rotate, but Garmin connect seems to be missing a bunch of my activities for some reason). Not up with the 8k that somebody else claimed, but I tend to find after winter the rubber on any tyres I've tried starts to look a bit the worse for wear regardless of distance covered