bruce19

I have runn Mavic Ksyrium Ellites with Victoria ties (320 TPI) for years. Just went to Mavic Ksyrium Elite UST's and they are amazing. As I can afford it, all my bikes will be running Mavic tubeless. Faster, lighter, less rolling resistance and more comfortable.

Sojodave

I've put over 1200 miles on my 5000's clinchers. I added Stan's No Flats to my tubes for extra protection.

I had a flat in the middle of a paceline going 26mph and I thought I was going to dump my bike. I put my foot down and caught myself, it was pretty scary. I jumped off my bike, took my front tire off, and struggled with my carbon rims and screamed to the heavens only to look up and have 20 riders standing there watching me...DOH!

So far, I like my Conti 5000's and I hope I stay flat free.

Seattle Forrest

I didn't get many flats on 4Ks.

RShantz

I've got about 2k on mine running tubeless. I used the 4000's and S-Works Turbos before. I've never been one to flat a lot and haven't flatted the 5000's. I really like how these tires feel and plan to keep using them. This is my first experience with tubeless so I'm not certain whether it's the tire or the being tubeless. But, in any event, I'm really satisfied.

FWIW, it's looking like I'll get about 4-5k miles out of the rear which is what I got out of the others in the past. I weigh 135lb for reference.

berner

I'm using Specialized Turbos also and am satisfied with them. They are 28mm and I also got about 5000 miles out of the first one I tried on the rear and now have them front and rear. Myself and the bike together weigh 185 lbs. or less and i pump them up to 165 psi.

MinnMan

Holy typo, batman.

Sy Reene

I'll wager the 5000s were built to succeed in BRR website's tests. What that means is having a low RR and having some adequate puncture protection (rubber thickness) along the dead-center middle of the tire. To get that, the rest of the tire can be a gooey mess.

Abe_Froman

Erm. Low rolling resistance and puncture protection on the part of the tire that touches things besides air would seem to be pretty important performance aspects of a tire...

You essentially just stated Continental tried to make a good tire. I suppose that WOULD be the point.

noodle soup

[QUOTE=Psimet2001;20921985]Flats: Having been in this business for a long time you just can't predict flats. What's more flats follow people more than they do gear. If you're the kind of person who gets flats then you're going to get them. More resistant gear will help reduce it but it's your riding style and choice of line and pressure, etc that are causing the flats. Personally I couldn't tell you the last time I got an honest to goodness flat from a puncture.[/QUOTE]I see you've never ridden in the Southwest US.

noodle soup

...

Sy Reene

Erm. No. If you don't think puncture resistance outside of a 2mm band down the middle of a tire, nor ability to grip the road are important, then you'd be correct.

bluezurich

My experience with the GP4k's has been mixed but improved with wheels changes. I rode Mavic OP's with 23's forever and when GP4k's came out I went with them. Flats were as common as with any other light tire. When I started riding wider rims (HED Belgium +) I lowered my pressure from 115-120 to 85-90 and except for something from a construction site or a goathead thorn they have been fantastic. I am on my last pair and will not move to the more delicate 5k's so am curious what I might ride next.

daoswald

One might say there are two kinds of people; those plagued with flats, and those who seldom get them. The flat is a symptom, though. The disease is goatheads. There are those who ride among goathead thorns, and those who seldom pass by them.

Those who live near goathead thorn infestations will get puncture flats from them, unless they ride bullet proof tires and/or employ slime or some other sealant.

I've had as many as five flats on one ride with Gatorskins, from riding through a goathead-infested MUP. Last summer I had flats approximately every couple of weeks, so every 200-275 miles, riding GP 4000sII tires. This year I replaced my rear GP4000sII with a GP5000 on my road bike (the front GP4000sII is still too new to toss out). I've got a few hundred flat-free miles on that bike, but it's probably just luck and the fact that it's still too early for goatheads to be mature enough to puncture tires. Later in the season, we'll get there.

On my hybrid I have GP4Season tires. 400 miles in on those tires this year and still no flats. I'm sure they will be sturdier than the 4000 and 5000 tires, but I'm also sure that when goathead season gets underway they will be no match for such a formidable opponent.

It would be nice to have a world campaign to eradicate goathead / puncture plants. But if humanity ever pulled that off we would surely discover the puncture plant is vital to the planet's survival in some way we hadn't anticipated. Maybe they keep the bigfoot population in check, and without them we'll be overrun by that shy but powerful creature.

DrIsotope

My expectations for road tires are very high. I want both excellent puncture resistance and low rolling resistance, in a tire that will last at least 3,000 miles on the rear wheel. Oh, and I'd really rather not pay a ridiculous amount per tire. I've tried many, and most do not succeed.

On my Cervelo, I have about 8,000 miles on Giant Gavia AC1s, mounted tubeless. I have recorded three flats in those miles, all three of which resulted in the loss of the tire: a chunk of a broken Grey Goose bottle, a door hinge screw (about a #10 x 3/4",) and once again, glass-- but on that occasion, brown beer bottle glass. No "nuisance" flats (goatheads, radial tire wire, etc.) never even one. I get around 3,000 per rear tire, fronts are generally good for double that. The front is usually replaced because it's starting to show some ozone degradation in the form of cracks. Current front has about 4,100 miles on it, it will likely "age out" before it hits the mileage limit (probably in late June.)

Do they roll as well as say Schwalbe Pro Ones? Well, no. But they also last significantly longer, and cost half as much. Would I try the GP5000? Sure, for $40-45 a tire, For what they cost now? Absolutely not.

Abe_Froman

Ok, well, it seems you're implying either that the 4000 had poor grip, or that Continental intentionally sacrificed grip on the 5000 to increase rolling resistance then. Before we move on....would you mind clarifying which, so I dont have to infer?

MinnMan

GP5000 are two for $80 at PBK. They don't seem to have the tubeless variety at the moment, but I might have missed it.

Unless you've got something against PBK.

DrIsotope

Tubeless is an absolute must for this area. Following two wet winters, the number of goatheads approaches infinity.

jpescatore

I'm about 400 miles into a pair of GP5000 tubeful 32mm tires on my Trek Domane. They are definitely not Schwalbe Marathons - they have picked up shards that I've removed and there are other nicks. But nothing close to coming through the inner belt.

I've always used treaded or inverted tread tires on my road bikes, since I bought the Domane in 2017 I've tried the lower rolling resistance tires for that bike. I'm not really sure I could tell the difference between most tires in a blind test, but the 5000s do feel at least as fast as the Bontrager AW3s they replaced and on wet roads they don't scare the crap out of me the way some tires I've tried in the past did.

If I can get 2 seasons or 5-6K miles out of the GP5000s, I'll probably stick with them. They are way easier to get on the Vision 40 wheels on the Domane, and if they last that long I'm fine with it. If not, I'll probably go back to putting Schwalbes on the Domane, which gets most of my mileage these days.

Puncture resistance is my top criteria - one roadside flat repair will eat up the entire year of time saving due to lower rolling resistance!

dmanthree

If you can go that far on GP 5000s, my hat's off to you. I wasn't able to find out how far I'd go on them, but I rarely got more than 1500 miles out of the rear tire on the older GP 4000s tires. Maybe just my riding style, maybe the roads, whatever. Even the front was gone after about 3K miles. Hoping you stay flat-free, as well. They do ride nicely.

Psimet2001 

Started in this sport while living in El Paso Texas and spent my first two years of riding and racing there. I got a lot of flats there. *shrug* That doesn't change anything I posted. Some people are flat magnets.

These threads always make me feel like when a customer buys a new tube and then goes and rides on it and gets a flat in the first month of having a new tube that we installed. They storm through the door sure in their conviction that they have been wronged and that we must be at fault somehow. While they're talking I find the hole and trace it back. "You ran over glass. Here it is." "That's impossible! I don't remember riding over any glass."

Me:


Them: "Well I better not get a flat on this new one this time."

Me: "The only way to remove the possibility of getting a flat is to not ride the bike. Things happen when you ride."

Them: "Oh, I understand that-"

Me: internally - "do you?"

As a shop you quickly dial in to the fact that there are repeat offenders in every group. Doesn't matter what they are riding, tire, etc.... while all these things will impact the absolute value of the frequency of occurrence it doesn't change the fact that for the same conditions and rides, etc...some people just get more flats than others.

noodle soup

This happens often at my shop, but usually it a new bike buyer(that's new to cycling in the area). They can't believe they got a flat in the first week

In this area it's usually a thorn(not glass), but punctures are common here.

Psimet2001 

Yeah when I was in El Paso I ended up with at least 1 layer of Mr Tuffy and rode thorn resistant tubes and would patch tubes. They'd still find a way in.

Since I've been in the Chicagoland area I might get 1 flat a year if I'm riding a ton. Needless to say it's been years since I got an actual flat. I tore the valve off a tube last year trying to see how low I could go on pressure. I found out.

Carbonfiberboy 

Sidewall cuts are the fault of the rider, not the tire, though of course one can run heavy sidewall tires, but they're slow. I'd rather avoid rocks and run enough pressure to prevent pinch flats.

My 4000 IIs tires are the best I've ever run on our tandem or my singles in terms of tread cuts. Michelin Endurance were possibly the worst. What happens to tires around here are small tread cuts from whatever, maybe 3/16" long, which don't cause a flat immediately. I've had Endurance tires with maybe 10 or so of these of varying sizes. Sooner or later though, they pick up a bit of debris, glass, flint, whatever, which sits in the cut and eventually works its way through the casing and causes a flat. I once had 5 flats on a 50 mile rain ride while running a pair of cut Endurance tires. Yes, I threw them away when I got home, and yes I pick out the debris between rides.

On the good side, my 4000 IIs are the most cut-free tires I've ever run. It's the tread material. Whatever Conti is using, it's the best. I've run over lots and lots of glass with the 4000s. Seldom a flat, seldom a tread cut.

I'm looking forward to running my new 5000s, but I'll have to wait until I wear out my 4000s, so maybe next year.

WhyFi

Jeebus. I don't even carry enough spares/patches to address 5 flats, but if I did, I still would have called it quits by #3 , maybe #4 , and made the call of shame.

datlas 

Patches? We don't need no stinkin' PATCHES!!