Thanks rruff, well I'm not really fat, but i am old. AT 68 years, I'm now 5'7" and 147 lbs, I guess I could lose 8 or 10 lbs and be better off. Being retired and not having a huge disposable income, I don't care to spend much for speed, but I think I might splurge on a set of GP4000s if I can get another mph or so out of them. Have my first 140.6 next year, and don't want to be out there any longer than I have to. Thanks for the help guys.

For most people in an Ironman, you can ride GP4000s, flat once, fix it, and still finish faster than if you ride Gatorskins and don't flat at all. Gatorskins are a huge power suck. And it's not like GP4000s flat every ride.

As for cost concerns, train on training tires and race on race tires. They'll last a long time that way.

For small riders, aero equipment becomes more important.

You don't have to spend a lot to go significantly faster. If you are interested, put up a post with your equipment and position.

You should get the latex tubes and GP4000's back since he doesn't need them.

Already got the tubes. :D

X10

GP4000s has almost as good puncture protection and much better crr.

I use them on my road bike/tri bike most of the year round, then swap them out a couple weeks before big races. Don't know how much time I give up because of it.

I did one ironman on them where the roads were in rough shape. It was probably the slowest I ever rode, but I didn't flat. I've had races where I have gone for times savings and had multiple flats. I guess if you are willing to give up a bit of time you will probably have more peace of mind. Or you can learn how to do quick tire changes.

Finally jumping in on this thread.

Back in 2010, I finally agreed to do a triathlon and signed up for Vineman. Near Xmas I bought a Cannondale road bike for about $1600 and started riding over the Xmas break. I had been running for about 18 years so pretty fit and it didn't me long to get used to riding. After a few flats over the next few months, I finally got some Gatorskins and no more flats. I decided I would do Vineman with the Gatorskins because I didn't want to chance losing up to 10 minutes changing the flat. I ended up with a 5:15 at the 2011 Vineman (at the age of 56) with a 2:49 bike split using that same cheap Cannondale with aero bars. As my friends said, it's the engine that counts.

Even last year with a tri bike and the whole aero set up, my best Vineman bike split was 2:38 so it's not like it made that much difference. I'm actually just a much better biker than I was in 2011. Although I now do use the Conti 4000s tires, I can't imagine it made much more than 2 minutes difference over the 56 miles.

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Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard.

Will allow for creativity, the latter I can confirm is very much not true :)

Sorry, couldn't resist. ;-)

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Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard.

The data in the other thread suggests a greater than 2 minute time difference.

Although it's not like continental only makes 4000s and gatorskins. They make a range of tires in between those two options which have varying amounts of crr and flat protection technology. I think that's what drives me nuts about people who decide to race on gatorskins, it's often a bit of an overreaction and/or under investigation of the true cause. If after checking rim tape, and ensuring good installation and regularly inflation you are still getting flats, then maybe look to a tougher tire. Maybe start with one on the rear where people tend to get more flats.

Of course, you could also ask yourself if you know what's causing your flats. Like if it's regularly glass, could you wear gloves or learn to rub off your tire while you ride with your foot. If it's big bumps, could you do a better job of avoiding those things.

I don't know, I'm a pretty big believer in not riding slow tires, even in training, if you can avoid it because like is too short to go that much slower.