Replacement for GP4000s?

[Mr Purple]

So apparently I am a murderer of rear tyres. I'm tracking the mileage now, and these are 2300km old GP5000s.



Well that would explain the lack of grip. I'm not sure what the answer is, but suspect it's because I'm a violent climber and do a lot of it.

Just to follow this up - I had the mileage wrong. There was another rear tyre in there as well.

So that tyre had a total of 807.68km on it to look like that. Do Continental have a problem or is this me?

[Retrobyte]

So that tyre had a total of 807.68km on it to look like that. Do Continental have a problem or is this me?

What's the road surface like on your most frequent rides? I know there's a lot of variation in road surface, even for stock bitumen roads - some are really smooth while others have a quite course texture

[ironhanglider]

So apparently I am a murderer of rear tyres. I'm tracking the mileage now, and these are 2300km old GP5000s.



Well that would explain the lack of grip. I'm not sure what the answer is, but suspect it's because I'm a violent climber and do a lot of it.

Just to follow this up - I had the mileage wrong. There was another rear tyre in there as well.

So that tyre had a total of 807.68km on it to look like that. Do Continental have a problem or is this me?

Totally your fault. Too many mad skids and burnouts!

Cheers,

Cameron

[Mr Purple]

You are not the first to suggest that! I'm not talented enough to do skids!

They did a lot of elevation (20,000m) and Brisbane roads aren't the best including a lot of coarse texture bitumen. Also 16 KOMs on that tyre, almost all short uphill segments.

I'm thinking it's a combination of elevation and big gear climbing, where you do occasionally lose traction. Totally worth it still.

[warthog1]

So apparently I am a murderer of rear tyres. I'm tracking the mileage now, and these are 2300km old GP5000s.



Well that would explain the lack of grip. I'm not sure what the answer is, but suspect it's because I'm a violent climber and do a lot of it.

Just to follow this up - I had the mileage wrong. There was another rear tyre in there as well.

So that tyre had a total of 807.68km on it to look like that. Do Continental have a problem or is this me?

Had multiple conti GP tyres from 3000 through to 5000TL. Not used the tubed version however.
One is in the drawer with my other spares, but I like tubeless too much and it hasn't been fitted.

Never had such low mileage with any tyre, let alone any Contis.

[trailgumby]

So that tyre had a total of 807.68km on it to look like that. Do Continental have a problem or is this me?

What's the road surface like on your most frequent rides? I know there's a lot of variation in road surface, even for stock bitumen roads - some are really smooth while others have a quite course texture

'
If I have to choose between grip (especially wet weather grip) and kilometres, I'm always going to choose grip. It's cheaper then orthopedic surgery and recovery treatment.

[warthog1]

Tubeless intrigues me but I might get it right on a gravel bike first.

This might help you. Makes a strong case for hookless about 30min in.

https://cyclingtips.com/2021/09/nerd-al ... confusion/

[queequeg]

I do a lot of country riding with Audax, 200’s, 300’s…400’s “and up”!

I pretty much exclusively use the GP 4Seasons tyres. I still have some GP4000IIS left but they just aren’t as tough as the 4Seasoms when it comes to riding on questionable quality country roads.
I buy the tyres in bulk from Germany usually, whenever I see them on special. Same with other consumables. I ensure I always have spares on Hand to avoid having my bike off the road.

I am sure there are dozens of other tyres I could try, comparing rolling resistance, weight and all that. Ultimately for me it comes down to the frequency of failure and the grip. I tried GatorSkins and they really should be called banana skins lol. The 4Seasons will hold their grip in anything. I descended Mt Buffalo on them in pouring rain last week and they were fine.

[Comedian]

I'm thinking I'll give tubeless a shot. Have a couple of spare GP5000's and 10 or so tubes to get through first though!

Listen to this. Do the test. It feels weird the first few days but after you've been riding it for a while you won't think of going back.

Most people fun far more pressure than they need to. I run 70 and 80 and I'm a lot heavier than you.

If you get the pressures right those ten tubes will last many years...

https://cyclingtips.com/2016/08/cycling ... pressures/

EDIT: Also I actually did the test. Rode for a time at a certain wattage and then lowered pressures and I did actually go faster. Maybe I shouldn't be telling you that.

[Mr Purple]

I just dropped them to 80PSI from 90PSI, and might try 70PSI next if I get through a few weeks with no pinch flats.

All the calculators give me something different - Silca recommended 90 PSI, Goodyear 70PSI. I'm with you, I think I was running them too high but not sure it contributed that much to the tyre wear.

28mm is the other option.

[Comedian]

I just dropped them to 80PSI from 90PSI, and might try 70PSI next if I get through a few weeks with no pinch flats.

All the calculators give me something different - Silca recommended 90 PSI, Goodyear 70PSI. I'm with you, I think I was running them too high but not sure it contributed that much to the tyre wear.

28mm is the other option.

Listen to the podcast.

It's quicker to go stupid and work up. Like try maybe 30 and 40 at home and ride over a gutter (down first!) in your local area. You'll probably find that to low, so up another ten... and so on until you are confident. Then try it for a week. I ended up at 60 and 70 and rode it for a week. Was awesome but there was a chance of touching a rim on a sharp lip or so on. So I went to 70 and 80 and I've been riding that for years without trouble. Hardly any flats and tyres that last absurdly long compared to the old days.

It's really educational to learn how little pressure is in tyres when they feel flat". it's remarkably little. So what you are doing here is essentially cutting the crazy margins we used to have. You don't need to pump your tyres up more often (once every few days) because tyres go flat more slowly at lower pressures. But you know you've got a 5-10 psi margin. For me.. if I over inflate by 10 psi I'm like "holy crap this thing rides like a dray.. how did I ever do this?".

This is of course not to say that tubeless probably isn't a little better at this - but a lot of the benefits of tubless that people rant about can be had on normal road rims by investing a little time and getting to know your pressures.

Oh and do the other test.. find your minimum workable pressure. Then pump it up to like 120 or whatever stupid pressure we used to use. Go to the crit track and then do some laps at a comfortable power. Then let the tyres down to your new pressure and compare. Report back please. I was 1.6kph faster.

[Thoglette]

about 30min in.

Oh FFS!

An hour and ten for, I’m guessing, less than two paragraphs & charts of information.

Fergitaboutit!

(Ps One of the most useful things I’ve ever learnt is how to stop subvocalising when reading)

[warthog1]

about 30min in.

Oh FFS!

An hour and ten for, I’m guessing, less than two paragraphs & charts of information.

Fergitaboutit!

(Ps One of the most useful things I’ve ever learnt is how to stop subvocalising when reading)

Ffwd to it.
It was hardly directed at you in any case.

[Thoglette]

Ffwd to it.
It was hardly directed at you in any case.

Indeed !

[g-boaf]

I just dropped them to 80PSI from 90PSI, and might try 70PSI next if I get through a few weeks with no pinch flats.

All the calculators give me something different - Silca recommended 90 PSI, Goodyear 70PSI. I'm with you, I think I was running them too high but not sure it contributed that much to the tyre wear.

28mm is the other option.

Listen to the podcast.

It's quicker to go stupid and work up. Like try maybe 30 and 40 at home and ride over a gutter (down first!) in your local area. You'll probably find that to low, so up another ten... and so on until you are confident. Then try it for a week. I ended up at 60 and 70 and rode it for a week. Was awesome but there was a chance of touching a rim on a sharp lip or so on. So I went to 70 and 80 and I've been riding that for years without trouble. Hardly any flats and tyres that last absurdly long compared to the old days.

It's really educational to learn how little pressure is in tyres when they feel flat". it's remarkably little. So what you are doing here is essentially cutting the crazy margins we used to have. You don't need to pump your tyres up more often (once every few days) because tyres go flat more slowly at lower pressures. But you know you've got a 5-10 psi margin. For me.. if I over inflate by 10 psi I'm like "holy crap this thing rides like a dray.. how did I ever do this?".

This is of course not to say that tubeless probably isn't a little better at this - but a lot of the benefits of tubless that people rant about can be had on normal road rims by investing a little time and getting to know your pressures.

Oh and do the other test.. find your minimum workable pressure. Then pump it up to like 120 or whatever stupid pressure we used to use. Go to the crit track and then do some laps at a comfortable power. Then let the tyres down to your new pressure and compare. Report back please. I was 1.6kph faster.

I’ve let my tyres go down to 50-60psi but that wasn’t great over the sharp bumps we sometimes have around here. Too risky for flats. So I usually keep them higher, but not up at 100 though.

[Comedian]

I just dropped them to 80PSI from 90PSI, and might try 70PSI next if I get through a few weeks with no pinch flats.

All the calculators give me something different - Silca recommended 90 PSI, Goodyear 70PSI. I'm with you, I think I was running them too high but not sure it contributed that much to the tyre wear.

28mm is the other option.

Listen to the podcast.

It's quicker to go stupid and work up. Like try maybe 30 and 40 at home and ride over a gutter (down first!) in your local area. You'll probably find that to low, so up another ten... and so on until you are confident. Then try it for a week. I ended up at 60 and 70 and rode it for a week. Was awesome but there was a chance of touching a rim on a sharp lip or so on. So I went to 70 and 80 and I've been riding that for years without trouble. Hardly any flats and tyres that last absurdly long compared to the old days.

It's really educational to learn how little pressure is in tyres when they feel flat". it's remarkably little. So what you are doing here is essentially cutting the crazy margins we used to have. You don't need to pump your tyres up more often (once every few days) because tyres go flat more slowly at lower pressures. But you know you've got a 5-10 psi margin. For me.. if I over inflate by 10 psi I'm like "holy crap this thing rides like a dray.. how did I ever do this?".

This is of course not to say that tubeless probably isn't a little better at this - but a lot of the benefits of tubless that people rant about can be had on normal road rims by investing a little time and getting to know your pressures.

Oh and do the other test.. find your minimum workable pressure. Then pump it up to like 120 or whatever stupid pressure we used to use. Go to the crit track and then do some laps at a comfortable power. Then let the tyres down to your new pressure and compare. Report back please. I was 1.6kph faster.

I’ve let my tyres go down to 50-60psi but that wasn’t great over the sharp bumps we sometimes have around here. Too risky for flats. So I usually keep them higher, but not up at 100 though.

It's all about working out what is the minimum for your riding.

[foo on patrol]

I find it funny and laughable some of the pressures being talked about. I've experimented with low pressures when I was much lighter than now and still racing at the now called "Elite" level and the experience of having a tyre all spongy is just ridiculous and down right dangerous in fast corners and the sprint!

Foo

[Mr Purple]

So 437km into the new rear Continental GP5000 and bits of rubber are falling off in chunks. I'm pretty sure this one's not even going to get to 800km.

Thinking P Zero 'Road'. Though slightly intrigued by Michelin Power Road - they have good reviews and are only $55 apiece. I'd probably try some Schwalbe Pro Ones but I honestly can't understand their naming system.

Any other suggestions?

[Mr Purple]

Picked up a P Zero road in 26mm today - bit thrown by the size but it turns out they've actually measured the width rather than just called it a 25mm like the other manufacturers.

Suspiciously cheap at $58, but it was that or the $78 'race' version which is apparently less durable. The last thing I need.

A bit annoying that Pirelli have replaced the old Velo with two models without stating which one is equivalent, but I'll try the basic version first. Will log the miles and report back.

[stevenaaus]

So 437km into the new rear Continental GP5000 and bits of rubber are falling off in chunks. I'm pretty sure this one's not even going to get to 800km.

Mate - i know you put out some power on mean gradients, but i think there's something else affecting your tyre wear.
I've got a modest (strava) 5/600w for a short while on 20 percenters, running 25mm GP 5000s at 80-90psi - sometimes i can hear them slipping around, but tyres are fine. And I'm pretty sure they're tested by racers putting out a lot more power than us.

[Mr Purple]

I know - but what else could I be doing differently?

Running 80PSI, rarely hard on the brakes, light and not overly powerful.

I suspect it’s a road surface thing, not a ‘me’ thing. Maybe being a largely standing climber?

Not sure but any suggestions are welcome!

[P!N20]

^ Bad batch? I had a Maxxis Refuse do a similar thing that you describe, where all the other ones have been fine.

[Mr Purple]

Wondering that too. It’s not even that they’re wearing out - just that big chunks of rubber are regularly falling off until I’m down to canvas.

No other tyre has ever done this to me, but I’ll log the miles on the Pirellis and see how they look in comparison.

[warthog1]

Don't use tubed tyres much anymore.
I did just put a tubed 5k on my rear zipp.
Only done one ride on it though.
They are smaller than the 4k
It fits in a 25c on the rear of my S5.
No way that was happening in a 4k.
The 23 would just fit. They were a tall tyre.
My 5kTL have been great
Best tyres I've used. Sorry they are no longer made

[stevenaaus]

Looks bad alright, like you're riding through diesel. You're not going overboard cleaning your bike with some degreaser ? The rubber's getting softened up by something nasty.