I am renting a set of Zipp 606s to use at IMLou. The wheels come set up with Continental GP 4000 clinchers. I believe that those are the top of the line Continental clincher. I am currently running Michelin Pro2Race clinchers and have never had a flat and they ride pretty nicely. If anyone uses Conti GP 4000s I’d appreciate your thoughts on them - puncture resistance, ride, overall quality/feel, etc. Thanks.
They’re nice tires. I prefer them to the ProRace for training.
But put your ProRace tires on for the race.
I put on a pair and one split like a dropped watermelon. Thank goodness I had a boot patch and was close to home. The tube only had a pin hole and I don’t inflate more than 110 psi. Now I use the other on my trainer. I’ve had no problems with Vittoria Rubino Pro or Michelin Pro. I’ll continue to use those.
Contineal GP 4000 is a great overall tire. Since I have only one set on tires for commuting/trainning/racing I go with those guys since they have great, if not fantastic, puncture resistance. However they are not the fastest out there, and the Michelin Pro2Race are one of the best clincher tires and quite fast so I would recommend those on your Zipp 606.
Fred.
I have both Michelins and Contis tires (same models you cited) and I have used both for years. Without going into the details, I would recommend you use the Michelins for the races.
All tires have DPI
First Mich Pro2Race I put on my bike it split the sidewall.
I flatted at IMAZ 3 freakin time on Victorias
Now the Pro2Race I figure that was just a fluke. I still ride them on a road bike of mine. Screw Victorias, not very good puncture resistence IMO.
All bike bike with the exception of my cross bike and one road bike are fitted with GP4000. I love the tire so much I even got their new tubular for my race tires. Tried it for the first time at Steelhead. Had a PR bike split, So I think it rolls just fine.
Now they have that new surface. Can’t remember what they call it, I have two new Conti’s 4000 on another road bike with that new surface. I think it rolls just as fine as the Pro2Race and with a little better puncture resistance. I cannot tell the difference in the ride, although one bike is CF and the other is titanium. I ride in St. Louis. We don’t have the best roads here and I’ll take the comfort of a little better puncture resistance over rolling resistance when it comes to Ironman.
The 4000s Clincher with the Black chili compund is a decent tire with competitive rolling resistance (A first for conti clinchers)
The GP 4000 (non s) is bullet proof but slow compared to a prorace2
The 4000s Tubular is slow.
No wonder they flatted. You have Victorias. Where did you pick them up. Everyone knows those are crap.
ViTTorias not Victorias. And actually they make fantastic tires. For Clinchers, i’d probably go with the Michelins, they are slightly faster tires than the contis. The contis are great for training since they’re fairly good for puncture resistance (although I saw 5 flats at a race on the weekend and they were all on bikes using GP4000s). As for tubulars, I’ve tried Conti, and I’ll never use them for anything more than a spare, I run exclusively Vittorias (1 flat in 2 years, and that was on the ride home from the TT, not in the race itself).
I had one do this to me as well, ended my day at baja 70.3. The tire blew apart in such a way as to separate the tire proper from the bead in a five-inch segment. It was inflated to 120psi and installed correctly, and had less than 20 miles on it.
My LBS replaced it (they were convinced it was defective) and though i’ve not had any issues training on them since, I probably won’t be buying another set anytime soon.
How do you know if they have the Black Chili compound or not? Or, do all of the new GP4000s have the compound? Looking at a few websites that sell Continentals, I don’t see any differentiation between Black Chili vs. non-Black Chili. Thanks everyone for you input.
look on probikekit.com
link to the normal http://www.probikekit.com/display.php?code=y2016
Black Chili link http://www.probikekit.com/display.php?code=y1014
.
I have both the Conti GP4000 and the Conti GP4000S (Chili). The only real way to notice the difference is in the coloring of the writing on the side of the tire. I doubt that all 5 people had the new GP4000S since they are not that available from what I can see. I had to search high and low to get them.
Thanks. Actually, I just took a look at the race wheel rental website and it says the wheels come with 4000s tires as opposed to the regular 4000.
They’re nice tires. I prefer them to the ProRace for training.
But put your ProRace tires on for the race.
Exactly my thoughts.
I train on Continentals and race on Pro Race 2. The Contis feels slower than the Pro Race. Not sure if that’s real or just a mental thing, but I go with it.
I have GP 4000’s on several bikes for training and like them. If I had to pick the fastest for a race…Pro2Race with latex tubes. Check the current thread by rroof. He has a post about his wheel/tire choice for his IM Lou.