GP4 Tyres Direction

Dirk1978

Very asic question. My fiancee bought me a set of GP4 tyres for Christmas. Question I have is, there is no indication on the tyres to state which way round they should be put on. How do I find this out?

Alinshearah

easy. The smooth brown side goes inside. The black side with the tread goes on the outside. Simples.

paul64

Dirk, if GP4 means Conti Grand Prix 4 Seasons or 4000 I would take a closer look as I have both and there are arrows showing the direction to fit them for forward motion

Dirk1978

Paul,

Yes they are the Conti GP4 Seasons. Where are the arrows?

Many thanks

balthazar

It doesn't matter which way, regardless of any arrows.

Rodrego Hernandez

GP4 season aren't directional. Fit any way you like (sticky side out)

Philby

There are direction arrows - they are however very hard to see. If you put a torch light on the tyre wall the direction arrow is just to the left of the "Made in Germany" wording. If you look at the 'sharks fin' design on the shoulder of the tyre the larger, longer fin should be towards the front.

Having said that it wil probablyl make f*** all difference. I had mine on the 'wrong' way round until someone pointed it out, and changing them round has made no perceptible difference.

Berk Bonebonce

GP4 means a different thing to people of a certain generation.

rc856

From Sheldon Brown:

Tread Directionality
Some tires have an asymmetrical tread, for instance "V" shaped tread blocks that could be oriented with the point of the "V" facing forward > or backward <. The question then arises, which way should they face?
Road Applications
With tires for road use, it really doesn't matter, since tire tread patterns serve no function on hard surfaces.
Tires with "V" patterns are common for motorcycles, and are generally installed so that the point of the "V" hits the road first. This is to help "squirt" the water out ahead of and to the side of the tire contact patch, as a protection against hydroplaning . Since hydroplaning is impossible on a bicycle, there's no need to observe this custom.

Buckled_Rims

My view is that if there are arrows on the tyre they are there for a reason. Don't confuse treads with "directional arrows". Most top tyres are slicks anyhow.

I'd imagine Continental have made the tyre lighter by designing it to be stronger running in one direction only. If you put the tyre on backwards the strength just isn't there (although you may never notice it). If you think about it, a tyre that is dual direction needs to have more overlapping rubber to cope with which ever direction it has to deal with. Making it only one direction saves rubber - an weight.

andi1363

Official words from Conti (via email)...there's no difference in performance, install the tyres which ever way you like.

Dirk1978

Thanks for the responses, looks like I will be ok with the direction, as long as they are fitted properly!!!

northpole

I agree that direction is unlikely to be important and whilst Conti have confirmed this by e-mail it leaves me curious why they bothered printing arrows on the side wall if it makes no difference. :?:

Peter

sheffsimon

Berk Bonebonce wrote:

GP4 means a different thing to people of a certain generation.

I used to have some GP4's for cross, and some SSC Blues on me road bike.

Rodrego Hernandez

northpole wrote:

I agree that direction is unlikely to be important and whilst Conti have confirmed this by e-mail it leaves me curious why they bothered printing arrows on the side wall if it makes no difference. :?:

Peter

They don't on the 4 season tyres, just on the GP4000s and we are talking about the 4 seasons here.

John Stevenson

northpole wrote:

I agree that direction is unlikely to be important and whilst Conti have confirmed this by e-mail it leaves me curious why they bothered printing arrows on the side wall if it makes no difference. :?:

Peter

In a word: marketing.

meanredspider

John Stevenson wrote:

In a word: marketing.

+1. Probably the same for the shark's fins and true too for a lot of "treads" on road tyres. All makes them seem more sophisticated and helps product differentiation.