One of those days

[jdtate101]

Doing my regular 25 training loop on my new bike and I get a back puncture. No biggy. I stop and change the inner tube and pull a small piece of glass from the tyre. Get my mini pump out and start to pump away...SNAP...the damn thing breaks. Now i'm stuck miles away from anywhere and with no mobile signal. Queue very long walk back to a main road. Luckily an old boy on his bike came past, saw me and he lent me his pump.

So thanks to that old boy (probably not a reader here I'm guessing) I got home ok.... There are still decent people out there.

Now the RANT....

If I spend £2500 on a nice new carbon bike....why the F**K do they insist on putting the cheapest tyres on it. I've had the bike less than a week and already had 2 punctures. These are Conti Ultra Sport tyres...F'in useless. Have ordered some GP4000S from my local shop and they arrive tomorrow luckily.

Just can't understand the logic behind that silly penny pinching.

 

[dan_bo]

I don't, as a rule, trust conti road tyres.

 

[apollo179]

+1 - for 2 1/2 grand youd expect some decent tyres.

 

[gavroche]

+1 - for 2 1/2 grand youd expect some decent tyres.

and an engine!

 

[HLaB]

I don't, as a rule, trust conti road tyres.

Yet I'm the opposite I've had some relatively great wear out of my conti tyres (my current rear, a wired Grand prix is at 9276miles 1 p'ture, 2530 on the Bianchi front, 4886 on the kinesis front and now 1860 on the rear). It was the stock tyre on the Bianchi although I swapped it for a lighter foldable one. Out of curiosity however, I might try the Michelin Pro's next time.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

The first thing I did after my Kilmeston arrived September last year was to swap the stock tyres for Bontrager Race Lite hardcase tyres, the stock tyres are still hanging in the shed unused.

 

[CopperCyclist]

+1 you'd expect decent tyres, and decent inners too. Spent a grand on my last bike and 7 miles down the road from the shop, the cheap 'Made in Korea' inner tube in the back wheel just failed in two places - no puncture, tube just burst itself on the inside, and yes, rim tape was in place properly with no reason for it. I made them swop both for Continental inners and have't (touchwood) have a problem since.

 

[gbb]

It's all about the spec for the price.
I often noticed someone'd have a lovely bike on sale, nice groupset, nice frame....and a pair of Tiagra wheels.
Nothing wrong with them but they didn't really match the spec of the rest of the bike. Fact is, if you want top spec right the way through the bike, you'll pay more.
You'd look on the specs for the same bike at a different retailer, top price, it'd have better wheels on it.

Lowering spec on wheels and tyres allows them to shave the price and make it look more attractive.

 

[jdtate101]

Well I picked up the GP4000S tyres and new inner tubes, spent 30mins in the kitchen fitting them (plus a new micro pump) and took them out for a spin. Must say I'm seriously impressed with them. Smooth, quiet and they seem to be faster too. They have even less road buzz than before, so a very smooth ride. Looking forward to 40+ miles on them tomorrow morning.

 

[Cosmicned]

+1 on the GP4000S- great grippy fast tyres IMHO with brill p*ncture resistance- taking off the cheapo slicks was the first thing I did on my roadie... They don't wear well apparently but so what? ;-)))

 

[jdtate101]

All the reviews on Wiggle and Evans websites seemed to think they wear quite well if not better than most, well I shall have to see for myself