Tyre Life

jonnyboy77

I fitted a new Conti GP4S to my commuter last October and its covered close to 2500km ... seems a bit knackered now though, the centre of the tyre is noticeably worn flat and its littered with cuts and tears.

Its serviceable, but I wonder how long before it becomes more prone to penetration and the inevitable deflation fairy visits on a more regular basis.

What sort of tyres/life/distance do people generally get? I like the lighter weight of the Conti Gator/GP4S but I'm wondering if I should switch to one of the more bulletproof tyres like the Schwalbe Marathon Plus?

I'm currently using 700x28 but considering a switch to 700x25 to see if this improves things generally.

- Jon

menthel

jonnyboy77 wrote:

I fitted a new Conti GP4S to my commuter last October and its covered close to 2500km ... seems a bit knackered now though, the centre of the tyre is noticeably worn flat and its littered with cuts and tears.

Its serviceable, but I wonder how long before it becomes more prone to penetration and the inevitable deflation fairy visits on a more regular basis.

What sort of tyres/life/distance do people generally get? I like the lighter weight of the Conti Gator/GP4S but I'm wondering if I should switch to one of the more bulletproof tyres like the Schwalbe Marathon Plus?

I'm currently using 700x28 but considering a switch to 700x25 to see if this improves things generally.

- Jon

I have just been through a pair of gatorskins in 1500km on the roads of London. Front died because of slash in side wall. Back was binned because there were a couple of big holes and they were pitted and slashed to hell. I think most tyres apart from something like the Marathon + would have suffered badly with the wet and windy weather we have had- it just puts so much crap on to the roads.

The gatorskins on my other bike have done about ~1200km but have not been used for commuting. They are in a substantially better state than those on the commuter.

markhewitt1978

There's no reason to expect that going 28 to 25 will improve things in any way.

jonnyboy77

menthel wrote:

jonnyboy77 wrote:

I fitted a new Conti GP4S to my commuter last October and its covered close to 2500km ... seems a bit knackered now though, the centre of the tyre is noticeably worn flat and its littered with cuts and tears.

Its serviceable, but I wonder how long before it becomes more prone to penetration and the inevitable deflation fairy visits on a more regular basis.

What sort of tyres/life/distance do people generally get? I like the lighter weight of the Conti Gator/GP4S but I'm wondering if I should switch to one of the more bulletproof tyres like the Schwalbe Marathon Plus?

I'm currently using 700x28 but considering a switch to 700x25 to see if this improves things generally.

- Jon

I have just been through a pair of gatorskins in 1500km on the roads of London. Front died because of slash in side wall. Back was binned because there were a couple of big holes and they were pitted and slashed to hell. I think most tyres apart from something like the Marathon + would have suffered badly with the wet and windy weather we have had- it just puts so much crap on to the roads.

The gatorskins on my other bike have done about ~1200km but have not been used for commuting. They are in a substantially better state than those on the commuter.

Have you tried the Gator Hardshells? They seem to be an improvement over the standard Gatorskins?

markhewitt1978 wrote:

There's no reason to expect that going 28 to 25 will improve things in any way.

lighter & narrower - so less tyre touching the road/debris? faster rolling than 28s? Were some of the thoughts that crossed my mind.

- Jon

markhewitt1978

jonnyboy77 wrote:

lighter & narrower - so less tyre touching the road/debris? faster rolling than 28s? Were some of the thoughts that crossed my mind.
- Jon

Lighter, yes a little bit. Faster rolling, no, wider tyres roll faster than narrow ones. Less tyre touching, well think about tyres which are designed for dealing with deris such as MTB/CX tyres, you notice they are wide!

menthel

jonnyboy77 wrote:

menthel wrote:

jonnyboy77 wrote:

I fitted a new Conti GP4S to my commuter last October and its covered close to 2500km ... seems a bit knackered now though, the centre of the tyre is noticeably worn flat and its littered with cuts and tears.

Its serviceable, but I wonder how long before it becomes more prone to penetration and the inevitable deflation fairy visits on a more regular basis.

What sort of tyres/life/distance do people generally get? I like the lighter weight of the Conti Gator/GP4S but I'm wondering if I should switch to one of the more bulletproof tyres like the Schwalbe Marathon Plus?

I'm currently using 700x28 but considering a switch to 700x25 to see if this improves things generally.

- Jon

I haven't. The gatorskins are about as much dead tyre feel when rolling that I can tolerate. I had Durano pluses on a previous bike and they felt terrible. If I run into trouble with the rubino pros I have just got I may got to hardshells on the commuter.

I have just been through a pair of gatorskins in 1500km on the roads of London. Front died because of slash in side wall. Back was binned because there were a couple of big holes and they were pitted and slashed to hell. I think most tyres apart from something like the Marathon + would have suffered badly with the wet and windy weather we have had- it just puts so much crap on to the roads.

The gatorskins on my other bike have done about ~1200km but have not been used for commuting. They are in a substantially better state than those on the commuter.

Have you tried the Gator Hardshells? They seem to be an improvement over the standard Gatorskins?

markhewitt1978 wrote:

There's no reason to expect that going 28 to 25 will improve things in any way.

lighter & narrower - so less tyre touching the road/debris? faster rolling than 28s? Were some of the thoughts that crossed my mind.

- Jon

essex-commuter

9,800 miles on a Marathon Plus (fitted to the rear), one puncture.

viewtopic.php?f=40012&t=12956692&p=18715335&hilit=marathon#p18715335

bunter

I had
Marathon +: bombproof but heavy and poor grip
so I tried
Conti 4 seasons: grips and rolls well. Comfortable. Wears out quickly. Some punctures, mainly on the worn out tyre.
so I tried
Marathon Supreme
Grips and rolls well. Seem to be lasting well so far. No Fairy visits. Expensive.

fat_tail

this thread has a useful discussion of tyre issues (although entitled Bloody GP4000s)

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40012&t=12946495

my experience is that Gators are tough, Rubino Pro 3 are nice rolling and quite tough but not great in the wet and that Vrediestein Fortezza are a great compromise (grip, ride and durability)

MisterMuncher

Rubinos are definitely nice in the dry, my only puncture due to some idiot leaving a nail in the road, but I did fin them very sketchy in the wet.

I've went back to my previous favourite, 25mm Schwalbe Durano. Hard to beat.

jonnyboy77

fat_tail wrote:

this thread has a useful discussion of tyre issues (although entitled Bloody GP4000s)

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40012&t=12946495

my experience is that Gators are tough, Rubino Pro 3 are nice rolling and quite tough but not great in the wet and that Vrediestein Fortezza are a great compromise (grip, ride and durability)

I dug this out after I posted (change of keyword in my search!) now trying to find more info on Vrediestein Fortezza and also see if anywhere sells them in either 700x55 or 700x28 ...

Schwalbe Marathon Supreme are about the same price as the Conti tyres and get good reviews.

Decisions ..

- Jon

iPete

jonnyboy77 wrote:

fat_tail wrote:

this thread has a useful discussion of tyre issues (although entitled Bloody GP4000s)

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40012&t=12946495

my experience is that Gators are tough, Rubino Pro 3 are nice rolling and quite tough but not great in the wet and that Vrediestein Fortezza are a great compromise (grip, ride and durability)

I dug this out after I posted (change of keyword in my search!) now trying to find more info on Vrediestein Fortezza and also see if anywhere sells them in either 700x55 or 700x28 ...

- Jon

The Vrediestein Fortezza Quatro are my favourite all weather tyre (in my 5th winter of high mileage London commuting) and I've tried lots but they only come in 700x23.

pitchshifter

iPete wrote:

jonnyboy77 wrote:

fat_tail wrote:

this thread has a useful discussion of tyre issues (although entitled Bloody GP4000s)

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40012&t=12946495

my experience is that Gators are tough, Rubino Pro 3 are nice rolling and quite tough but not great in the wet and that Vrediestein Fortezza are a great compromise (grip, ride and durability)

I dug this out after I posted (change of keyword in my search!) now trying to find more info on Vrediestein Fortezza and also see if anywhere sells them in either 700x55 or 700x28 ...

- Jon

The Vrediestein Fortezza Quatro are my favourite all weather tyre (in my 5th winter of high mileage London commuting) and I've tried lots but they only come in 700x23.

how many miles do you get out of them iPete?

drlodge

jonnyboy77 wrote:

I fitted a new Conti GP4S to my commuter last October and its covered close to 2500km ... seems a bit knackered now though, the centre of the tyre is noticeably worn flat and its littered with cuts and tears.
- Jon

I've had GP4000S on my Rourke and they've done around 3000 miles, the centre is somewhat flat esp on the rear tyre so I swapped them over. I guess they're good for a while yet but a thinner tyre=more puncture prone, no problems yet though.

I have some new tyres (Michelin Pro4 Service Course) ready to go on, which I'll do once the weather improves and I start to use the summer bike.

iPete

pitchshifter wrote:

how many miles do you get out of them iPete?

1: 2,481 miles
2: 1,468 miles
3: 1,042 miles
4: 538 miles

They've been moved between bikes so all the milages are different, they are all still going strong.

My last tyres, GP4000S, lasted 1k miles before cuts retired them. These are the first tyres to get this far without any noticeable cuts. I think most people(?) who get big miles from Conti tyres ride away from glass covered, pot holed city streets.

mudcovered

On my CX bike I've got a GP4Seasons (700x28) front that 's still going strong after at least 5000miles (I can't be exact as its been on the bike for so long I've lost track of the total milage). It got one significant cut on where a flap of rubber came away from the tyre body. I glued it back down using some rubber cement from a puncture repair kit and its been running like that for at least 12 months.

Rear tyre on the same bike probably did in the region of 3000 miles before it got so thin it was through to the fabric layer. Right up to that point it was no more puncture prone than when it was new. Oddly enough I replaced like with like and I've had no more punctures on the old front tyre than on a brand new GP4seasons on the rear.

Riding is probably a 60/40 mix of tarmac (mostly reasonable quality) and off-road mud/dirt/gravel riding (canal towpath).

Mike

ugo.santalucia

essex-commuter wrote:

9,800 miles on a Marathon Plus (fitted to the rear), one puncture.

viewtopic.php?f=40012&t=12956692&p=18715335&hilit=marathon#p18715335

6000 + on a Randonneur PRO and still no punctures

Initialised

I got 4000 miles out of my rear Spesh Espoir Sport 28mm, then went and pulled a skid in a skate park (should not have watched Road Bike Party) and it was down to the carcass. Now I'm about3000 miles into Spesh Espoir Elite 23mm, they seem similarly resilient, have plenty of wet grip, they even ride OK through wet mud and grass if you need to detour off road a little. Only on puncture so far a 3cm, 5mm diameter self tapping screw with a pilot hole bit at the front, even the mighty Marathons would have struggled with this:

jejv

It's horses for courses.

One thing to think about is that if most of your punctures /tyre damage is at the back, a tougher / heavier tyre just at the back may make life easier, without trading off braking, or the comfort of a light, compliant front tyre. If the back starts sliding first under load in the wet, that's probably better than the front.

Also, experimenting with one tyre at a time may be cheaper.

jonnyboy77 wrote:

I'm currently using 700x28 but considering a switch to 700x25 to see if this improves things generally.

Not sure why that would help.

jonnyboy77 wrote:

I'm wondering if I should switch to one of the more bulletproof tyres like the Schwalbe Marathon Plus?

If you're mudcow007, that'll be the only thing that works. But it's horrible if you don't really need it.

bunter wrote:

Marathon +: bombproof but heavy and poor grip

Not completely bombproof for me, but tougher than anything else.

jonnyboy77 wrote:

I fitted a new Conti GP4S to my commuter last October and its covered close to 2500km

Our kids - who have quite "clean" commutes have done that on Ultremo ZX (found a good deal), and they've got plenty more miles left.
So I could - stupidly - say that ZX is obviously way tougher than GP4S.
I think I need something a bit tougher - Rubino Pro 3 28mm ATM for me

bunter wrote:

my experience is that Gators are tough, Rubino Pro 3 are nice rolling and quite tough but not great in the wet

Sounds about right for me (we haven't tried Gators).

jonnyboy77 wrote:

Schwalbe Marathon Supreme are about the same price as the Conti tyres and get good reviews.

They're fairly light. Haven't tried them myself. I'd try something like that - at the back.

Initialised

jejv wrote:

One thing to think about is that if most of your punctures /tyre damage is at the back, a tougher / heavier tyre just at the back may make life easier, without trading off braking, or the comfort of a light, compliant front tyre. If the back starts sliding first under load in the wet, that's probably better than the front.

If the back wheel goes you've a chance of recovering, if the front wheel goes your going down.

You know what, I really liked 1.2 (32mm) on the front 1.6 (41mm) on the back when I rode a converted MTB.

What I didn't like was the inconvenience of having to carry two different spare tubes. But I now carry two 18-25mms now and I guess they stretch to 28mm or even 32mm if needed.

I have a 28mm with decent rubber left in the shed... Maybe 28 mm rear, 23mm front is worth trying. The bigger contact patch of a 28mm on the drive wheel would improve acceleration and comfort would be improved by a larger volume while the smaller front tyre would offer the same low rolling resistance.

Now we've suggested it on here look out for pro's testing it in the spring classics next year, we're always ahead of the curve!

EKE_38BPM

Initialised wrote:

If the back wheel goes you've a chance of recovering, if the front wheel goes your going down.

Generally, but the other day my front wheel started sliding from underneath me on a wet and oily road. Somehow I held it (still clipped in) and I rode away feeling like a bike handling genius. This adds nothing to this discussion, but I wanted you all to know how great I am.

I have used Gatorskins pretty exclusively for the last 10 years or so. I find them to have decent grip, p*ncture protection, weight and price (generally a reasonable compromise in all areas). I was on 23s but now on 28s and the grip remains the same but it is a more comfortable (though probably a little slower) ride.

MrSweary

I got over 4k miles out of my last set of Conti GP 4Seasons (25s) commuting on London roads with no punctures. In fact they even survived being run over by a taxi and are still sitting, fully inflated and with plenty of tread left, on the buckled rims of the CXP22s that were on my Felt. I really need to take them off because they are obviously magic.

jonnyboy77

Mixed feedback.

On the way to work this morning I looked at some of the crap on the roads (glass, sharp stones, etc.) and naturally it collects at the edges of the carriageway.

It made me think that if some of the more positive experiences with tyres are influenced by where we typically ride. Ride faster and with more confidence, chances are you're riding 'primary' more often than not and therefore avoiding a lot more of the debris.

Still looking at tyre options, but not in a rush. I drew the shortlist from the various bits of input,

Conti GP 4Seasons
Gatorskins
Rubino Pro 3
Marathon Supreme
Spesh Espoir Sport/Elite
Randonneur PRO
Vrediestein Fortezza

Cheers

Jon

markhewitt1978

I've ridden Conti GP 4 Seasons all through the winter on some pretty crappy roads covered in mud and in some cases, ice. They've held up well and they still look as fresh as the moment I put them on - no punctures.

It made me think that if some of the more positive experiences with tyres are influenced by where we typically ride. Ride faster and with more confidence, chances are you're riding 'primary' more often than not and therefore avoiding a lot more of the debris.

Perhaps so. On Sunday I punctured my GP4000S for the first time after 1,500 miles because I rode through a bicycles only bit of road, cutting the corner off the main junction, I was thinking before I took it that it might be risky and sure enough as soon as I turned in down my tyre went..

drlodge

I've had good experience using GP4000S over the winter on My Rourke, and with GP4Seasons on the winter hack. GP4 Seasons seem like a robust tyre to me, although GP4000S rides a bit faster.

EKE_38BPM

jonnyboy77 wrote:

It made me think that if some of the more positive experiences with tyres are influenced by where we typically ride. Ride faster and with more confidence, chances are you're riding 'primary' more often than not and therefore avoiding a lot more of the debris.

+1
I always teach my trainees to not ride in the gutter, usually by saying that the p*ncture fairy hides in the clutter in the gutter.

Maybe I don't get that many visits because I stick to primary, but that takes the ability to hold a decent speed amongst London traffic and the confidence to take the lane.

roger_merriman

EKE_38BPM wrote:

jonnyboy77 wrote:

It made me think that if some of the more positive experiences with tyres are influenced by where we typically ride. Ride faster and with more confidence, chances are you're riding 'primary' more often than not and therefore avoiding a lot more of the debris.

+1
I always teach my trainees to not ride in the gutter, usually by saying that the p*ncture fairy hides in the clutter in the gutter.

Maybe I don't get that many visits because I stick to primary, but that takes the ability to hold a decent speed amongst London traffic and the confidence to take the lane.

I ride or did a combo of London and Surrey roads plus various shared paths some are a bit glass tactic and others are gravel which when wet do cut up tyres, the rear tended not to last much behond 1000 miles before looking dreadful.

The roadie/SS has a gater rear and 4 seasons front which may or may not last better, at moment the bike is in storage, so the tyres shouldn't degrade much!

itboffin

i'm a big conti fan but those tricomps does seem rock solid & on rails which i guess is what we're all looking for no?

i'll take 50-100g more on each tyre over my summer 'racers' veloflex corsas for all season durability

jejv

EKE_38BPM wrote:

jonnyboy77 wrote:

It made me think that if some of the more positive experiences with tyres are influenced by where we typically ride. Ride faster and with more confidence, chances are you're riding 'primary' more often than not and therefore avoiding a lot more of the debris.

+1
I always teach my trainees to not ride in the gutter, usually by saying that the p*ncture fairy hides in the clutter in the gutter.

Asbo-luteley.

But we don't always get the choice where "we typically ride". Staying out of the gutter helps.
Having a commute that isn't strewn with broken bottles helps more.

jejv

Initialised wrote:

Now we've suggested it on here look out for pro's testing it in the spring classics next year, we're always ahead of the curve!

There's nothing new in cycling. I'd sortof expect for the proper quick road folk - not me - that they'd have more air resistance at the front and more rolling resistance at the back, so something like 23mm/25mm or 25mm/28mm just might make sense.

I think this has been looked at, but it's too late to dig up papers.

Then off road, fat front and narrower rear might be good.

gbsahne001

1 week for the Rubino Pro, I don't know what I rode over yesterday but it's put a huge cut across the tyre. Need to rethink my Winter tyre choice.....