Will I trash my Conti GP4000 IIs by riding on slightly rough trails ?

[RhythMick]

I normally ride Marathon + 25mm front and rear, largely because I like to be able to ride whatever the road throws at me without worrying too much about it. Mostly road (with the usual South Yorkshire potholes) but also trails which can occasionally be muddy and stony.

I'm doing London to Paris with a bunch of mates from work in June, which is all on road of course. I heard and read a lot about the difference in weight and rolling resistance and switched to GP4000s a few days ago (took me ages to find them). They are definitely much easier on road, big difference.

Yesterday I popped out for a 44 mile ride, mostly on road. I used a short section of the Trans Pennine trail north of Barnsley and suddenly thought "whoa, am I knackering my nice new road tyres?". It was muddy in places with quite a few stones buried in there. I avoided what I could and took it slowly.

Am I right to be concerned ? Will they be trash after a few rides on those surfaces ? Should I put the Marathons back on until the L2P ?

 

[Apollonius]

If the roads round your way are as bad as they are round these parts, you have much the same chance of damaging your tyres on road as off.

All the same, the London to Paris ride is, understandably, big in your mind right now and you want everything to be right for it. if you do change back to the Marathons, you will get a nice boost when you change back just before your big ride, which you might like. Nothing feels better than taking a bit of weight off your rolling bits. (Apart from taking some off your middle, of course!)

 

[Racing roadkill]

They aren't made of toothpaste, but they're not as durable as the marathons. As long as you don't plough through too many big pot holes, the Conti's will take quite a bit more punishment than you might think.

 

[mrbikerboy73]

I've ridden mine all through the winter on some filthy, pothole ridden country lanes and they've taken the abuse very well and still look good. Obviously I can't vouch for the area you will be riding in, but they seem to be a fairly robust tyre from my experience.

 

[BigAl68]

Ride mine everywhere. Road, tracks and even flinty canal paths.

 

[MikeW-71]

Take it steady and avoid anything obviously sharp, and they'll be fine.

 

[RhythMick]

great thanks all.

 

[jiberjaber]

I had my Conti's on for about 400km before they were pretty much being cut to ribbons by all the flints which were washed on to the road. So I swapped them over to get some p* resistance to some Durano Duos, they lasted about 1100km till they had a hole in that looked like it might be risky to ride with. One a second set of DDs now (650km in) and they seem to be lasting, I think it was the wrong time of year and me being a bit over cautious on the tyre damage...

Hoping I can switch back to the Conti's at some point as I loved the grip!