Continental 4000s vs GP4 vs Ultra GatorSkin

VTech

I had asked before about these tyre and was going to buy a set but didn't, not sure why but just decided to buy a set now for my new wheels and again am confused which are best.
I will be getting the 25mm for comfort and would prefer the best in terms of speed and puncture resistance.

Scrumple

One is a sticky, racier tyre (ish) and the other is a harder and more durable winter type of training tyre.

One will last longer, the other will ride better.

For the weather coming up go for for the better feel of the 4000s. Keep the gatorskin for training rides on censored roads in poor weather. The felt deserves the 4000s.

The e.g. is that people use gatorskins on winter bikes and commuters. Posh summer carbon should have sticky race tyres!

Scrumple

oh, just noticed the GPP4S bit tucked in the middle - they are a much more racy winter tyre that can be run all year.

I run GP4s on my winter bike, and prefer it to the heavier feel of the more durable gatorskins. The trade off is that they cost more and don't last as long.

Tyres are a sliding scale between bombproof and reliable (yet wooden and heavy to ride) and super light, sticky and slick (cut up and more likely to p*n%u&e)

I'd buy GP4s for now, and 4000s for summer. Gatorskins if you commute and need to trade the feel for best reliabilty.

http://www.conti-tyres.co.uk/conticycle/road.shtml

charlie_potatoes

My 4000s rear cut up badly during the early part of winter. Since then I have had a 4 seasons on the rear which has been fine. I have been forever digging shards of glass and stone out of the 4000s (front).

As already said above I would go 4000s for summer and 4 seasons for winter. Maybe Gator if you winter commute.

Scrumple

The website suggests the 4 seasons are a derivative of the 4000s with some more protection lobbed in (i.e. weight).

The gators are just your winter boots.

VTech

Ive just ordered the 4000s package with inner tubes. should arrive next week, cheers guys.

flasher

GP4000s year round, no problems at all, until tomorrow!

charlie_potatoes

Flasher wrote:

GP4000s year round, no problems at all, until tomorrow!

passout

Good choice, I didn't like the gators in the wet.

maddog 2

now if you had tubeless rims....

adamaitken

I blew out the sidewall of a brand new Conti 4000s today

I recently received the Wiggle package of two Conti 4000s and five tubes.
I fitted one with the correct size inner tube, and checked it was sitting on the rim evenly and that there was no inner tube protruding. In fact I inflated and deflated it and the re-inflated to make sure.
The rim is a Mavic 700c and I have been using continental tires and others on this wheel for the last ten years and never had a problem.

I am 72 kgs so I doubt my weight is a problem.

I inflated it to the recommended pressure.
I went for a ride and five minutes into my ride the side wall blew out and tore a 5-6 cm rip between the tire bead and the sidewall.

I have the other tire unopened and would like to return that also as I have no confidence in this particular batch of tire.

I believe that there may be a defect in part of the sidewall of this tire and perhaps in the other one but I would rather not open the packaging. :evil:

VTech

This must be a defect as there is no way your weight or tyre pressure should take a side wall.
I've been running mine for a whole now and love them.

passout

adamaitken wrote:

I blew out the sidewall of a brand new Conti 4000s today

I recently received the Wiggle package of two Conti 4000s and five tubes.
I fitted one with the correct size inner tube, and checked it was sitting on the rim evenly and that there was no inner tube protruding. In fact I inflated and deflated it and the re-inflated to make sure.
The rim is a Mavic 700c and I have been using continental tires and others on this wheel for the last ten years and never had a problem.

I am 72 kgs so I doubt my weight is a problem.

I inflated it to the recommended pressure.
I went for a ride and five minutes into my ride the side wall blew out and tore a 5-6 cm rip between the tire bead and the sidewall.

I have the other tire unopened and would like to return that also as I have no confidence in this particular batch of tire.

I believe that there may be a defect in part of the sidewall of this tire and perhaps in the other one but I would rather not open the packaging. :evil:

Hand made in Germany by Grannies?

Sounds like a fault in either the tyre or your pump pressure gauge (less likely)!

Grill

adamaitken wrote:

I blew out the sidewall of a brand new Conti 4000s today

I recently received the Wiggle package of two Conti 4000s and five tubes.
I fitted one with the correct size inner tube, and checked it was sitting on the rim evenly and that there was no inner tube protruding. In fact I inflated and deflated it and the re-inflated to make sure.
The rim is a Mavic 700c and I have been using continental tires and others on this wheel for the last ten years and never had a problem.

I am 72 kgs so I doubt my weight is a problem.

I inflated it to the recommended pressure.
I went for a ride and five minutes into my ride the side wall blew out and tore a 5-6 cm rip between the tire bead and the sidewall.

I have the other tire unopened and would like to return that also as I have no confidence in this particular batch of tire.

I believe that there may be a defect in part of the sidewall of this tire and perhaps in the other one but I would rather not open the packaging. :evil:

There was a bad batch of the 4000S. It's quite well documented on the WW forum. I have a set with 2.5k miles that are still going strong with no issues, so there are good ones out there. TBH I prefer the Pro4 from a grip standpoint as I've found longevity to and puncture resistance to be the same on both.

apreading

Great... I too have just got one of the 4000s from wiggle - could this be from the same batch? Is there any way to tell if you have one from this batch?

Grill

Not that I'm aware of. I got mine from Wiggle and they were fine (it's not like the batch OEM'd Pro3's that Ribble was selling off). From what I've gathered it's a very small sample size and over 99% will be fine. Conti/Wiggle are both good with warranty so if it happens at least you'll be taken care of.

drlodge

I've been using the GP 4000S on my Rourke and love them, but this is a fair weather bike. I've got Gatorskins on the Condor (winter bike) but I find them too slippery in the wet, so have a set of GP4S in 25C ready to put on that. I think the GP4S should be a bit more efficient than the Gatorskins too.

apreading

About to switch from my 28mm Vittoria Zaffiros that came on the bike to a 25mm GP4000S front/28mm GP4seasons rear.

If the 4 seasons came with the black chili compound, I would probably have them on both ends, or if the 4000s came in 28mm I would possibly have that on both ends in the summer. So trying this as a compromise between the two.

I have alot of laps of 3 local loops that I do, all tracked on Garmin, so will be interesting to see if there is any improvement in performance/effort - if there is, I will know straight away and precisely how much.