Tyre advice

[MikeLovesHisDefys]

Hi all,

I switched to my MTB in October as I wasn't sure my road bikes (Defy1 and Defy1 Advanced 1)'s tyres were up to a winter asthey are still the tyres the bike came with. I am happy on my MTB but am missing the road bikes and don't want to wait until the spring to ride them again.

I keep homing in on a choice of tyre but then find a whole load of bad reviews and I'm back to square 1. Anyway, I have narrowed it down to 4 (until you fine folk chuck 10 more into the mix)!. These are:

>Continental 4 seasons
>Continental GP4000
>Schwalbe Durano
>Continental Gatorskins

My main driver is puncture resistance as I REALLY hate changing tyres and really don't want to do it at the roadside in the dark and wet.

Any views on the 4 above? I have the Conti 4s in my Chain Reaction app basket. £10 off if I order today .

Thanks

Mike

 

[ianrauk]

Durano Plus

 

[MikeLovesHisDefys]

Yes, I meant Durano plus.

 

[Racing roadkill]

I’d advise steering clear of the Continentals If puncture protection is your key metric. Personally I ride with a mixture of 700c x 25mm Schwalbe Durano plus on one bike, and 700c x 25mm Tannus Aither tyres on my other road bike. The former are very draggy in comparison to a ‘summer’ tyre, the latter are completely puncture proof, but take a bit of getting used to.

 

[MikeLovesHisDefys]

I’d advise steering clear of the Continentals If puncture protection is your key metric. Personally I ride with a mixture of 700c x 25mm Schwalbe Durano plus on one bike, and 700c x 25mm Tannus Aither tyres on my other road bike. The former are very draggy in comparison to a ‘summer’ tyre, the latter are completely puncture proof, but take a bit of getting used to.

An interesting comment re the Continental. I had Conti Travel Contacts on my old Rockhopper MTB and they were faultless. Zero punctures in 4 years and they were very quick on the trails..

 

[fossyant]

Durano Plus for puncture resistance. 4 Seasons are great, but not if you've a glass strewn commute.

 

[Milkfloat]

For every person slagging off Continental, you will find someone else like me that loves them. I am a big fan of the 4 seasons (not the Band, Hotel Chain or even Vivaldi) because they are a reasonable mix of puncture protection and relatively low rolling resistance. I had no end of trouble with Durano +, including punctures. So being honest, no matter what you read you are never going to get a consensus. If you want pure puncture protection and are not worried about anything else then the Tannus solid tyres (as @Racing roadkill wrote) would be worth looking at, but do your research first, plenty of people hate them with a passion, with just a few loving them.

 

[MikeLovesHisDefys]

I think I need to bite the bullet here. They will be an Xmas present from the girlfriend anyway so if I ceremoniously burn them in a field in March, no great loss and I'll try again.

 

[Joffey]

As a previous poster mentioned, someone will stick up for Continental, and here I am.

I don't ride loads in winter but in my last 3 years riding I have never had a flat on Gatorskins. I think they are a great tyre and pretty cheap.

Ultimately though you'll have to bite the bullet and get one or the other, I imagine they are all pretty similar. If you don't want punctures maybe get Tannus or go Tubeless.

 

[rogerzilla]

I'm doing ok so far on Durano Plus. UltraGatorSkins, unless they've been reformulated, tend to embed glass. I threw away a pair two weeks from new as I was getting lots of punctures on cyclepaths. When I looked at the tread, it was liberally studded with small chips of glass.

 

[chappers1983]

+1 for gatorskins

Had no end of problems with Duranos - literally disintegrated in no time at all

 

[Spiderweb]

Gatorskins have been brilliant for me, great longevity in excess of 8k miles on my last set and 1 puncture!

 

[boydj]

I've got the 4 Seasons on two bikes and think they're a great commuting tyre. Fast, good grip in all weather and good puncture resistance. Can't remember the last time I had a visit.

 

[NorthernDave]

Another one for Gatorskins - I run them year round on both road bikes and find them excellent.

 

[Ajax Bay]

I have narrowed it down to 4 (until you fine folk chuck 10 more into the mix)!. These are:
>Continental 4 seasons
>Continental GP4000
>Schwalbe Durano
>Continental Gatorskins

I am a big fan of the 4 seasons

I, too, am a fan of Continental GP 4 Seasons. I have one on the front at present (28-622, come up narrow) which has rolled over 10 thousand kilometres and is still looking fine. I cannot recall any visits in that time, and I often venture off-road for short stretches for a bit of rough stuff. It has more rubber than the GP 4000SII which I had on the rear from January to September.
The GP 4000SII (28-622, comes up wide btw) did 7385km on the rear which seems good endurance for a tyre which is 'fast' (low rolling resistance). I had maybe 3 punctures in it in that time: two were snakebites - my fault - and one was a thorn.
I had a pair of Gatorskins a while ago but they are heavy, roll poorly and offer only slightly better puncture resistance than the 4Seasons (scoring 18 v 17). Some may say that they are good value for money.
Here is the rollingresistance comparison for three of your shortlist:
Compare/continental-grand-prix-4000s-ii-2014-vs-continental-grand-prix-4-season-2015-vs-schwalbe-durano-plus-2017
The Schwalbe ones are a good lot heavier and score no better on puncture resistance than the 4 Seasons.
Here is the rollingresistance comparison for:
Compare/continental-gatorskin-2015-vs-continental-grand-prix-4-season-2015
I have a Michelin Pro4 Endurance V2 on the rear at present and have previously been pleased with the Service Course flavour of Michelins (Mille Pennines and LEL). The testing suggests puncture resistance similar to the 4 Seasons, and they 'roll' much better, are meant to 'grip' better (no evidence), and have no tread, so you can check the rubber effectively for foreign bodies after cleaning.
Here is the rollingresistance comparison for:
Compare/continental-grand-prix-4-season-2015-vs-michelin-pro-4-endurance-v2-2015

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