byrd48

Hi,
I have had three sets of Continental tires and have had bad experiences with each. The first was Town and Country fat tires on my mtn bike, which got a few flats before I switched to Big Apples.
The second was Grand Prix 4000 sII on my road bike (700c x 25) that I got about 1100 miles on before I shredded the tread area, presumably from a piece of glass. I replaced that tire with another of the same for a tour from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. About 30 miles in, the road got extremely broken up and bumpy for about 10 miles. About 5 miles into that stretch, the back tire sidewall blew with a gash maybe half an inch in length. I had a spare tube and put a tube patch across the gash on the inside of the tire, and amazingly it held for the remaining 60 miles.
I did not find any debris in any of these cases and I suppose this could have happened to any tire, but it has me wondering if I should change brands. The biggest feature I like about the Grand Prix is the reflective stripe. Looking at the lit, it seems that the Grand Prix 4 seasons may have better puncture and sidewall protection, but no reflective stripe. Schwalbe has the Marathon series, but at more than double the weight. Schwalbe does not appear to have a folding Marathon type tire. I do love the way the contis ride, and I also like the fact that they are hand made in Germany, but I'm wondering if I've just had bad luck with them or if they just don't hold up as well as Schwalbes. As a commuter and tourer, I probably should get the Marathons and forget about the weight. Thoughts?

VegasTriker

Be adventuresome and try some different brand tires. I bought a brand new recumbent trike and it came with Schwalbe tires. The rear 700C X23 Schwalbe Durano $65 tire lasted 300 miles before it suffered a sidewall failure. I could have asked for a replacement under warranty and would have gotten one free but picked a fairly inexpensive road bike tire by Kenda to use until I could decide what tire to switch to. It turned out the Kenda tire was great for my purposes - no sidewall failure, tread lasted 3,000 miles, and I had few punctures in those miles. I'm still using the same tire today and will continue to replace it with the same one when the current one wears out. I could buy three of it for what one Schwalbe Durano tire costs. Why do you care where the tire was made? If the German made Schwalbe tire was three times as good as the Taiwanese made Kenda I'd agree but it certainly isn't.

jbucky1

I have to say I too have had bad experiences with Conti, other than Gatorskin and Hardshells, both of which ride like crap (corners, not supple) in comparison but are great commuting tyres because they are so tough and wear a long time.

James

www.buckyrides.com

GamblerGORD53

I had Contis before I started Schwalbes. The Contis always cracked, the last one bought around 2009 still went 6,500 miles or so. Before that, nothing lasted over 3 years before rotting usually at the corners of tread. So the last 5 years I have been buying only Schwalbe Marathon Plusses. None are finished yet, going 5 to 8,000 miles with still plenty life yet. 2 flats in the bunch, none on a 4,200 mile tour in Vietnam on 290 lb load. I have one plain marathon sitting unused 2 years, so no idea how it is.

In my experience, a tire lasted a mile per 1 cent. The Schwalbes far outlast that, absoluetly bullet proof.

byrd48

I looked at the Gator line also and read similar reviews about the ride feel. Maybe I should reevaluate the importance of the reflective stripe? Kenda definitely makes good tires, I have them on other bikes and never had a problem, but those are recreational bikes with low mileage. In fact, I considered that if I go back to Louisiana to continue the ride, I may take the Trek Multitrak with the 38mm Kendas to offer more cushion from those broken roads!

Rowan

I am sorry, but this is how it sounds:

I ran over some glass, damn the tyre for shredding.

I rode careless through some broken road, damn the tyre for blowing the sidewall.


There isn't much use asking others about their experiences with tyres, because unless they have ridden in identical conditions, you just can't make comparisons.

Look more carefully at where you are riding. That might even mean moderating your speed when the surface changes, and deviating around broken bits and glass.

FWIW, older T&Cs never gave me any problems, probably the longest lasting tyres I will ride. I am more than delighted with the GP4000 IIs in 700 x 25 form that have now done a lot of randonnee miles, even though technically they are race tyres.

canklecat

Darren Alff (bicyclingtouringpro.com blogger/vlogger) reported premature failures with two sets of Continental Town and Country tires in 2012 and 2014. He says he's not partial to any brand and has toured many miles on ordinary tires that held up just fine, so he considers these failures exceptional and noteworthy.

Despite that, I went ahead and bought a set of Conti Speed Rides (wire bead) about a month ago and have been very satisfied with the performance and wear. No long term results, of course, but I'm satisfied enough that I plan to buy at least one of the folding bead versions as a backup for long self-supported rides. I haven't read anything to indicate problems with batches or lots of other Continental tires.

pinsonp2 

I have had some reflective conti's, but the reflective strip is just tape and starts peeling immediately after I start using the tire. Once on a trail I had such an awful noise going that I stopped to inspect. The reflective strip was getting caught in the brake bridge with each revolution. Any one else have that issue?

Craptacular8

I've had Town and Country 2.1" tires on my mtb for around 750 miles. Most miles on gravel, some pavement, no issues. I can't even see any wear on them. Planning on throwing that bike on a trainer this weekend for the winter, probably will not bother putting a training tire on it, as I doubt the trainer will even make a dent in those tires, lol.

On my bikes that take 700 tires, I've had good luck with Panaracer Tserve tires on a commuter, no flats, not too chunky, fairly decent rolling, and Challenge Gravel Grinder tires. I've found the gravel grinders to be very plush riding, little rolling resistance, work great for me on both gravel and pavement. Probably my favorite tire so far, though I'm planning to try out some Compass tires when it's time to replace. Hate to jinx myself, but flats have not been an issue for me on any of these tires, and I've had good tread wear as well. I don't see myself ever wanting to go with something like the Schwalbe marathon series...not sure the lack of flats could ever make up for the serious rolling resistance and heft. Maybe the Marathon Supreme ones though if I ever were to do a long unsupported tour?

byrd48

I can't believe I forgot that part, my reflective strip did the same thing, it came delaminated at the same spot on both sides of the tire and hit the seat stays with each revolution. I had to snip them with scissors.

byrd48

I have marathon supremes 26 x 2.0 on my mtn bike tourer and the only flat I had on those was from a 3 inch nail in the road. They are hard to find in that size though. I'll check out the panaracer and challenge options, thanks!

GerryinHouston

2800 mi. on Schwalbe Marathons (OEM on the Randonee), no signs of wear yet. Routinely go through broken glass (this is Houston) and rough pavement (Houston roads=potholes holding hands).

trailangel

Flats and cuts happen ... when and were they happen.
Now what I find absolutely ridiculous is... riders complaining about a 230 gram tire not hold up, and then going to a 500 gram tire and singing the high praises of long mileage, no sidewall cuts...and it rides great!

shafter

Just buy some reflective rim stickers like i did and don't worry about the tire

cyccommute 

While I agree that riding over glass is operator error, tires should be able to stand up to impacts. While it is possible that bryd48 rode over something to cut the sidewall, it may also be the tire's fault. I've had enough Continental tires fail me that I won't buy that brand anymore.

I've had at least 6 of them blow off the rims...including 4 blowouts in 26 miles...at the listed pressure on the sidewall. I struggled through a tour on the same tires but I had to run them at 20 to 30 psi below the rated pressure of 90 psi to avoid more blowouts.

I've also had one that the tread separated from the casing after a minor rock strike. Yes, I probably shouldn't have hit the rock but the tire should be able to stand up to deflecting a rock and not shred.



I've done lots more touring since that picture was taken on surfaces that were a lot less ideal with other tires and haven't had the problems I've had with Continentals. I won't use them.

pdlamb

There's enough tire brands that anyone who's upset with one brand can buy another.


That said, I usually run tires a bit heavier than the lightest ones available just for bad road conditions -- those are everywhere! My choice is to accept a bit more rolling resistance for a bit more flat resistance; others may well choose other points on that continuum.

cyccommute 

I too have had lots of problems with Continentals (see above). Frankly, I'll use a Bell tire from Helmart before I'll use another Continental...and I have after the shredded tire above.

Some of the tires I've used successfully on tour have been the above Bell tire from Helmart...not a great tire but it got the job done better than the Continental. The tires that the Continental replaced was a Michelin Lithion but, unfortunately, Michelin doesn't make that tire wider than a 25mm. That's a shame as they were pretty good touring tires.

I used 32mm Panaracer RibMo on my latest tour that included about 700 mile of dirt roads, canal towpaths and the C&O/GAP trails. They are a good, tough tire. I've also used Panaracer Pasela's in the past with good results.

I've been using Vittoria Voyagers (which don't seem to be made anymore) for commute and I'm certainly impressed with them. They are a tough tire but not too heavy.

I haven't had a chance to try Schwalbe but, when I look at the specifications, I'm not sure I'll be trying them in the future. They seem to be unnecessarily heavy compared to what I've been using.

FullGas

have gone thru multiple sets of Gators (when I didn't know better) and then 4000S (both I and II).

of the dozen sets of Contis, only had one premature failure. an early series 4K developed a sidewall tear in the first 100 miles of use. there was a rash of complaints about similar problems around this time which indicated a mfg defect.

so, then tried Rubino Pro Slicks, Schwalbe ONE, Michelin Pro SC...while all these were good tires, none gave the mileage of the Contis.

have gone thru 2 more sets of Contis 4KIIs in the last couple of years with no further problems...

fietsbob

559-47 size Travel contact were my last Continental tire, used, they were OK ; gator skin mesh side wall , on a 26" trekking tire..

My next tire , Schwalbe..

TenSpeedV2

I have Continentals on 3 of my 4 bikes, Gatorskins on 1, City Ride on the other 2. No issues with any of the tires in mixed use of road, broken up road, debris, light off road, etc. Gatorskins are tough, ride hard, handle like crap on wet pavement, but have been rock solid. City Ride has been excellent so far and I would highly recommend them, and for $25 a tire, this is a hard one to beat. Ride is supple, good traction and a reflective strip that has not come off at all.

SquidPuppet

I had a pair of continental Town and Country tires. Rode harshly, no grip, cornered awkwardly, noisy, and rotted super fast on a bike that was always garaged. Never tried any more after that.

10 Wheels

I liked them on five bikes and toured with them.

dave s

I used the GP 3000's and then the GP4000 for the last 5 years or so. I usually by 4-6 at a time, I did have some sidewall issues @ 4 years ago, none since. I run the 25's and get over 4,000 mi before I rotate them onto the back up bike. I just bought a pair of 28's for the tandem we just purchased. The roll and wear well. I'm 185, run 95 r 70 f on wide road rimes( Boyd), I run 110r 90 f on Ultegra rims (1st gen). I've have been very happy with them.

BlazingPedals

Exactly. The 400SII is a racing tire. It has one of the lowest rolling resistances you're going to find, which you can expect to come at a cost, in this case the sidewalls are more vulnerable and it doesn't have a lot of rubber in the tread area. It doesn't say bad things about the tire that it can't handle gravel or junk, that's not what it was designed for.

joejack951

I commuted on Grand Prix 4 Season 28mm tires for years. In ~25k miles, I suffered maybe two puncture flats while getting at least 6k miles on the rear tire before wearing through the rubber. No blowouts, no sidewall cuts, etc. I weigh 160-170 lbs. and usually had about 10 more on my rear rack. I would not hesistate to recommend them.