I picked up a pair of these while on sale at a great price. I use them for general road riding/training and for a few gravel-grinder organized rides (Hell of Hunterdon, Fool's Classic). After using several brands/models of tires, these have held up the best for the gravel roads. MUCH better than GatorSkins which I have had terrible luck with tearing the sidewalls on several. This is a much better tire IMO and a better price. Supple enough to use as a daily road tire as well.
I'm 140lb and the 25mm work well for me - I don't like the ride/feel of wider tires. Zero punctures, flats, or tears after many miles of rough gravel.
An noticeable performance improvement vs the 700c x 23mm OEM setup. Very durable & grippy under wet, loose, crappy conditions. I'll keep buying this mod.
I run 28s on both my winter training gravel bike (CX) as well as a tandem. I've ridden on all kinds of gravel roads and even on a few MTB trails with them. On the tandem we've recorded descending speeds of over 60mph and find them totally trustworthy. Logically, they are slightly heavy, but otherwise great handling, super durable, and hard wearing. My go-to tire.
Have always had good luck with Continental tires, and I especially like the GP 4-Seasons for my winter bike due to its nice ride quality, excellent grip on wet pavement, and decent flat resistance. The tread compound does seem fairly soft, which is undoubtedly why they grip so well, so they may not last as long as tires with a harder compound - but for me that's a worthwhile trade-off. I'm happy to get 1,500 - 2,000 miles on a set of tires and the GP 4-Seasons will do that easily.
I have ridden on many different makes of tyres over the past several decades and I always come back to Continental. The Grand Prix tyres are excellent for the tarmac I ride on in all four seasons. Wet or dry, I feel confident riding up and down hills, straight aways and switchbacks.
I use this tire on my gravel bike (on roads or paths) and use it all winter in WNY. I never get flats with it. I am careful about picking flint or glass off after rides, but these are worth a little more weight and price.
Have been riding in these for years. They are light enough to race in and tough enough to go thousands of miles without flatting. The few flats I have had usually occur because I waited too long to replace a worn tire. Love the brown sidewalls. Great tire for bad weather rides as well. You can't go wrong with these tires.
I'm 76, ride for distance, solo, 5000 miles per yr, lots of centuries.
I used many, many different tires and have come to rely on the 4-Season as my go to REAR tire.
I know this can be very subjective, but in my experience is this is the most reliable rear tire to get me home w/o flatting. Or worse, cutting/blowout. There are a lot of bad roads and debris out there.
You will notice I specify rear. I have found different behavior/types of flats between front and rear, and use different tires on the front..
I'm happy with these after switching over from Gatorskin. Obviously some durability is sacrificed in that switch, but these still feel substantial and less sluggish.
I've been running Continental tires back to the Grand Prix 4000 days and always had good luck with them. Fast, grippy and very few punctures. I tried a set of 4-Seasons for winter riding and had several flats over the first month of using them. I switched back to the GP 5000s and am no longer having flat issues. Maybe I have bad luck or I ended up with a bad batch, but these tires just didn't work for me. It's my fault for straying from the GP 5000, which I think is the best tire out there. YMMV of course.
I have tried a variety of tires over the years - Michelin, Vredestein, Vittoria, and several other Conti tires too, but these Grand Prix 4 Season strike the perfect balance between grippiness and durability. I do about 3 rides a week, 20-40 miles., usually in mild dry weather, but often on wet roads. There is often debris ranging from rocks to glass, and these tires are the most resistant to flats of any tire I have ever ridden.
As for mileage, I have squeezed over 3000 miles from them, but that wasn't a good idea. After 2000 -2500 they do start to feel less grippy to the point that even with some decent tread left, it makes more sense to change them. Not unsafe, just less grippy than you'd want.
They are expensive, but if you buy on sale and hold them until you need them, they are not unreasonable.
I've been using Gator Skins for years. The name changes a bit sometimes, but these are basically Gator Skins with a little more flatting protection. That's why I use them! No one wants to get a flat, even if you're a Pro. I usually go for about 3000 miles before changing them and sometimes without getting even one flat! I just check to see if they look like they could use changing or 3000 miles, whichever comes first. They're not the lightest tires on the market but I'm not racing with them either. So all good!
Have been riding, training and racing on tubular road tires for the past few decades. 1st set of road clinchers since the early 80's. Picked up a set of 25mm for the FGSS bike. Running relatively low psi (85-90psi for my 58kg mass) for the last 2000km over gravel to smooth roads. Tires after 4000km are fine. A bit square and tread worn. Not the high level of performance (cornering, rolling resistance, supple ride, mass) of a high quality tubular. But for my specific use the tire is more than adequate. Liked them enough to purchase a set of 28mm. Sort of enjoy gravel grinding&128539,.
Recommend these tires if in need of a durable, decent performing, easy to mount training or general use tire. Bit pricey off the shelf. A good value considering wear after the number and type of km. put on these tires.
I bought the GP 4-Seasons (28mm) to use on my '92 De Rosa for general riding, which includes solo training rides, club rides and medium touring (rear rack & panniers). I've put 1,000 miles on them since June, with zero flats. Hit a few rain pockets and traction was excellent. Loved them so much, I bought the same set for my Moots, which I just built-up at the end of July. I have 600 miles, with same type of riding (training & touring), and they've been nothing short of perfect.
Like many other reviewers I am a big fan of these tires. The only improvement I'd like Conti to make is to go one size wider. If I could I'd ride a 28 on the front and one size wider in the rear during the winter months when I'm commuting in the dark.
I ride in unpredictable weather on sometimes rough roads. I need a flat-resistant, excellent road feel tire. This tire is the perfect all-rounder. Great road feel; robust construction; and resists pinch flats. I ride often on older roads with wheel-eating potholes and this tire absorbs direct pothole hits well.
Tires ride comfortably, provide confidence when cornering and I've had zero flats in 6000 miles. The best combination for training tires.
650 miles a week on roads, long lasting for 6 months (with some life left if willing to take risks)
The Grand Prix 4-Season tire was recommended to me by another triathlete competitor, so I thought I would give them a try. I had previously used the Continental Gator Hard Shell which is great for being puncture-proof, but a little heavy. Now, I absolutely love the 4-Season tires! I ride about 150 miles a week through town and on the bike trails. Some roads can be a little rough, but I have yet to get a flat. They seem lighter and faster too. I have raced 2 Half-Ironman competitions with these tires and am very happy! I would highly recommend these Grand Prix 4-Season tires for both training and racing.
I have used this tire on my rear wheel for maybe about 3000 miles, and it still has some life left in the treads. I haven't seen a flat on this bike for over 6 months over 3000 miles, and I often ride on sketchy roads with lots of debris, cracks, and potholes. It's also pretty light and handles well as far as I can tell. I would keep on buying this tire. That said, the weak point of this tire is the sidewall. The sidewall still is strong, but not as strong as the tread. I used to have this tire on the front wheel as well, but retired it after a sidewall slit from hitting a rock; the rest of the tire is so strong that I didn't get a flat (though the tube bulged out) and safely made it home after 50 miles. Recently, I retired the rear one after 3000 miles again because of a sidewall puncture; I FINALLY got a flat after hitting a super gnarly pothole with sharp edges. The tread held up, and upon inspection, I can see many scratches and dents that would have resulted into flats in other tires. The sidewall was damaged, and a slit formed near the beads probably after I rode on the flat tire for 3 miles on sketchy road to the train station. In the end I'm not sure whether it was caused by the pothole or riding on the flat tire.
