Originally Posted by
ericcox
Thought I'd resurrect this. Last weekend, I got a pretty deep cut on my front gp5000. my fault - I ride some pretty terrible roads, and happily incorporate light gravel roads. I can probably pinpoint the pothole that did it. While it is holding air, the split is growing and I can see the cords. Based on some of the recommendations above, I ordered some Pirellis. I just mounted a Pirelli on the front. The only reason I'm posting now is to note that while the continentals caused me to utter a great deal of profanity and end up at my LBS to mount tires for the first time in more than 20 years, the Pirellis popped right on. Super easy to mount. Even popped the bead on with my regular floor pump.
The only issue is I'm too cheap to change the back tire that only has ~1000 miles on it, so I have mismatched tires. But you can't see that when you're moving :-)
I went ahead and mounted the rear one as well before a ~77 mile ride on some pretty rough roads Saturday. Getting it to seat took a little more time than the front, but I still managed it with my regular floor pump. It popped just as I was about to break out the air compressor. I really like the way these tires feel. I'm not going to argue that they are a transformative experience over the continentals, but I'm likely to buy another set when they start wearing out.