I came across a few sets of these super cheap but wondering if they are worth it compared to the tired and true GP4000s.
I can’t find any data on cRR testing for the Triathlon tire. Only claim for speed is from some website info I found on google.
The Continental Grand Prix Triathlon Tire is built by little old ladies in the small town of Korbach, Germany. Each GP Triathlon Tire features the Continental’s own infamous Black Chili Compound which Conti claims provides longer life, improved grip, and 20% less rolling resistance than a regular GP4000 tire. In addition to Black Chili Compound, the little old ladies also take the time to incorporate Conti’s VectranBreaker anti-puncture belt, because there is nothing they hate more than seeing a cyclist stranded on the side of the road with a flat tire.
Surely they roll faster than a 4000, but are they faster than a 4000s? I guess I should send some to Afm to add to the holy grail of tire data.
I think you are better off going with the Attack Force combo, with that being said, if the GPTriathlon is the one with Black Chili I think we can assume that it rolls as well as the GP4000s.
Yeah its the black chili compound. I guess the question is if it rolls as WELL or BETTER than the 4000s. If the advertised 20% reduction is true it would be a darn fast tire. Which begs for testing…
They have the same build materials (advertised 330 TPI, Vectran Anit Puncture, Black Chili rubber) but the Tri tire lacks the “tread” spots. The two tires weigh in nearly the same (205g +/-).
Then again Conti discontinued them. The little flower must not have caught on.
GP Attack/Force better than both options, has the Black Chili, but the major thing is the rear tire has better rolling resistance (due to wider…yes wider tires roll better, according to velonews.com) while front tire is slightly skinnier so better aerodynamics though probably not noticable. I would also like to point out Tony Martin chose to use a GP Attack in the World TT.
I don’t know if the triathlon model is faster than a GP4000s (I am slow), but I absolutely love this tire. The triathlon Conti is light, bombproof, durable, good on wet roads, pretty easy to install, and very-OK rolling resistance.
The old Gp triathlon tire is 24mm wide measured. I have over 2000 miles on the rear tire. Must be why continental doesn’t show them on the website anymore. They last too long! The new TT tire coming out rumoring only to last like 100 miles. This seems to be the growing trend for fast tire. Make the clincher just like the tubular with hardly any tread. Cost you $1 a mile and they make more money! I say offer both tires. Use TT tire for the event and Triathlon tire for street racing.
I’ve been looking at that tire as well. From what I can tell it’s the 4000S without the tread, can anyone confirm that?
jaretjI’ve used the triathlon tire once when the shop had no GP 4000’s in stock. Other than the surface being entirely smooth (no profile), it looked and felt exactly the same.
As to the difference between GP4000 and GP4000s, they have the same compound, only difference is the decal. Performance is exactly the same.
I think you are better off going with the Attack Force combo, with that being said, if the GPTriathlon is the one with Black Chili I think we can assume that it rolls as well as the GP4000s.
Why do you think the Attack/Force combo is better than the GP 4000 or the GP Triathlon? Is it because the Attack (front tire) is 22mm and the Force (rear tire) is 24mm whereas the GP 4000 only comes in 23mm and 25mm?
In comparison, Jordan Rapp is running the Zipp Tangente (21mm in front and 23mm in back) on his Shiv.
The Supersonic is the fastest tire. The Attack (22mm), GP TT (23mm), and Force (24mm)… all appear to be about the same… built like the GP4000, but with thinner tread. Martin used a “prototype” like the SS at worlds.
The SS has very thin tread and no Vectran belt.
The Attack has thin tread… maybe a little more than the SS, but less than the GP4000… and has a Vectran belt.
The GP TT looks the same as the Attack, though spec’d a 23 vs 22.
The Force is lighter than the GP4000, so must have thin tread also. It has Vectran as well.
The GP4000 has thicker tread than any of the above and includes the Vectran belt.
I’ve heard reports that Tony Martin was using either the Attack or GP TT in his Worlds win last year… which never made sense to me, since the SS should be their fastest tire. I wondered if there were some shape/aero considerations. But then I saw this report that claims it was a “special” TT tire with the Vectran belt omitted… so it’s basically the SS.
It sounds like I’d be best off using the GP 4000 on my Flo wheels, then, based on the fact that I’ll be using my wheels for every day training as well as racing? I’m assuming the thinner tread on the Attack/Force means they would wear out faster than the GP4000s…
The Supersonic is the fastest tire. The Attack (22mm), GP TT (23mm), and Force (24mm)… all appear to be about the same… built like the GP4000, but with thinner tread. Martin used a “prototype” like the SS at worlds.
The SS has very thin tread and no Vectran belt.
The Attack has thin tread… maybe a little more than the SS, but less than the GP4000… and has a Vectran belt.
The GP TT looks the same as the Attack, though spec’d a 23 vs 22.
The Force is lighter than the GP4000, so must have thin tread also. It has Vectran as well.
The GP4000 has thicker tread than any of the above and includes the Vectran belt.
I’ve heard reports that Tony Martin was using either the Attack or GP TT in his Worlds win last year… which never made sense to me, since the SS should be their fastest tire. I wondered if there were some shape/aero considerations. But then I saw this report that claims it was a “special” TT tire with the Vectran belt omitted… so it’s basically the SS.
Yes, they should wear faster. Since front tires wear a lot less than rear ones IME, it would make sense to use a thinner one there. Any race you care about, use the fastest tires you can on the front and back.
K_Man - sorry it took me so long to respond. I was busy writing up a blog post on this. This general tire question comes up too much in my circles and my process engineering days got the better of me. I answered your specific question at the very bottom of the post. Cheers, TG
All of Conti’s Vectran tires tend to be durable tires. Yes the tires with more tread depth get more mileage but they also suffer from higher rolling resistance (that is a bad thing), and as they wear down they lose their shape and become less aerodynamic. Race tires are that, you race on them, replace them frequently.
Do you have any experience with the puncture resistance of their fast tyres without the vectran? I’ve enjoyed the 4000s a lot, but would be interested in a faster race tyre, if it wasn’t too likely to flat.