After years of riding Conti 4000's with infrequent flats, I was excited to upgrade to the 5000's. But after less than 200 miles on the 5000, what started as a small sidewall puncture turned into a 3" long tear in the sidewall, separating the bead from the sidewall and making the tire unrideable, even with a section of old tire placed beneath it. Resulted in a very long walk to a nearby bike shop. Happened on a pretty clean country road, probably caused by a goathead, with the puncture hissing slightly for several revolutions before failing catastrophically before I could come to a stop. A failure like this should never happen with a top of the line $60 tire. Very disappointed.
I had these installed at a local bike shop. The tires provide excellent grip to the road, and with more than 250 miles of use so far, I am very satisfied with the tire!
These tires seem to hold up just as well as gator skins that friends use. Good gripping, and easy to change tubes.
Mounted these tires on my race bike. They roll fast and have good grip. However, they are fragile and I've had a couple flats in the first 200mi. The durability isn't there for me. I will look at other options next time
Just mounted them up on my bike. Been riding the 4000 series for the last two years. The firs thing I noticed is the tire, 28mm version, is skinnier than the previous versions sidewall size. With a calipers, I've measure the 4000 series 28-622 tires at 32mm, and the newer 5000 series is indeed what the sidewall says, 28mm. Time will tell if I get the same mileage, great wear, by the way, as what I used to get, and performance. Stay tuned for updatews!
My review is short and sweet. I have ridden a bicycle for over 50 years and that includes, road bikes, mountain bikes and hybrid bikes. I have ridden a variety of tires over decades of change and development. My current bicycle is a hybrid (road and mountain). I put on about 7 to 10 miles a day over smooth and rough terrain (sidewalk with some nasty big roots punching through). I have never ridden on a better tire ever!
I have put around 100 miles on them so far and really like the tires. They have enough flex to take a little bit of the rough roads in town here and hood road grab but still provide minimal rolling resistance. They have also rolled over a couple of sizable angular gravel pieces with no puncture of the inner tube.
Conty's are my go to tire. Just a great tire gif training and racing.
I've taken 2 pretty good with this tire and I think they're really good. I will send more comments about them soon.
Great tire. Sidewalls only weak point and latest version is better. I use these year around.
These tires I use on my tri-bike and have for years...excellent overall for handling and wear.
I installed these early in the year, and they've done well until now. I live in the mid-south, so no truly cold temps, so I cannot speak to their effectiveness when cold. However, through all of my training (they did not get subjected to a trainer, though I've got a different wheel with an old Gatorskin for that), daily rides, and races, they were great. I've got around 3200 miles (I do ride more than one bike, but my road bike is the only one with these tires) on the pair now, and they are worn out due to chinks and cuts that I really didn't notice until recently. I'm replacing them with new GP5000s I see no need to revert to GP4000s. These have better rolling resistance and traction than the GP4000s, at least to my perception, and ride nicely. These put me on the podium several times this year, including state crits in three different states, but alas, never the top step. Just like my bike, they make up for a lot of my weaknesses, so I'm sticking with them they're worth the price, even with a lower endurance of the GP4000s, based on my experience.
If you are using clincher tireswheels and would like more speed for the same effort or the same speed with less effort, then strap a set of these Continental Grand Prix 5000's on your bike, air them up to recommended psi, and enjoy a more comfortable ride, more speed, a positive 'stuck to the road' feel, and a confidence that your old tires may not be giving you!
I started riding again almost a year ago, after being off the bike for many years. I bought a new left over TriTT bike from the a local bike shop, and put a few hundred miles on the bike, reintroducing myself to the joy and pleasures of riding and training to do my best. Like most of you out there, I strive to improve my set up for best all around performance and speed, within a realistic budget. After many hours hooked to the trainer and logged miles on the road, my fit to the bike was complete. It was time to reduce the weight, rolling resistance and all around performance of the tires that came on the bike so I did my homework on the internet, and the Conti GP 5000 were a clear choice for me, WOW! WOW!!
These new tires met my expectations and more! Although somewhat skeptical about whether i could tell the difference between the new and the old tires, that was laid to rest on the first hill I use for training..ascending, my speed was about 1mph higher than the usual on this grade and the bike just felt freer going down the pavement. The tires felt like they had a grip on the road, and the small cracks in the asphalt that made this TT bike chatter when passing over with the old tires was GONE! A smoother, more confident experience became the expected norm. SO PLEASED with these tires on that first short outing. I knew I had made the right choice in my mind and gut. But, the story doesn't end there...
My first normal jaunt out on the bike, 19 mile loop on these Tennessee hills netted a personal best (PB)! 19.1 mph average speed for this 70 retiree had me elated! This was a .4 mph trip average faster than my best before the new tires! And one last testimony, in the rain...
On my second 19 mile loop (same course) a few days later, I was caught in a heavy rain, 8.5 miles from home. It has been many, many, years since I have ridden in the rain, so it was like a new experience. The Conti GP 5000 inspired so much confidence, even in the rain, that I threw caution to the wind, and rode on home with wild abandon, faster than my experience dictated, even reaching a top speed of 38 mph on one of the down hills. On one of the last down hill curves , at about 20 mph, on broken pavement, the bike did step out slightly but recovered quickly. Whew! Looking back, a safer speed would have been in order during the rain event...maybe next time. ^)
I ride several thousand miles a year and this tires has been very reliable. I tend to get more flats, and even side wall punctures when using other tires, so this is the only tire I will use now.
I have no complaints about the tires. I think the new version of GP5000 is very easy to install, and the durability is also very good. I can ride through the potholes on the road with confidence.
I have ridden Continental 4000Ss in a 700C x 25mm size for 5 years. I typically ride about 4000 miles per year on asphalt roads & trails in Minnesota and in (2) supported one week tours somewhere in the USA. I am a large guy (250 lbs) and hence hard on tires, but find the 4000S give me a performance edge and durability which approaches Gatorskins. At the beginning of this outdoor riding season I switched to the 5000s, and have found them equal if not better in performance to the 4000s and even slightly better in durability.
purchased the 700 x 25 for my road and tri bike. Can't confirm whether or not it is significantly faster as advertising but does have a better feel to it on the road. Been running at 90 psi with the 4000sii and doing the same now. Seems to be a good psi for me (5'10 and 175 lbs). Haven't had any issues, knock on wood, flat protection seems adequate. Road raced and did an ironman and it served well for both.
The Continental GP 4000 is a great tire that Ive ridden for years. The GP 5000 appears to be a definite improvement. The rubber has noticeably more grip right out of the box. After almost 800 miles the surface still appears new. No flats as yet. Its as supple as the 4000 and, although not apparent on the bike, reportedly lighter with significantly less rolling resistance which cant hurt. The profile seems lower which helps getting the wheel on and off my bike without deflating (I have a close tolerance behind the bottom bracket). Bottom line, an improvement over an already great tire.
I waited a few months before this tire finally became available in the widest size 32mm. I am glad I did. My bike, a Specialized Roubaix Expert, is designed for the cobble roads and came factory equipped with 28mm tires. Youd think that would be enough - but these Grand Prix 5000 32mm made the ride considerably smoother - and faster! It was really noticeable as I coasted down the same streets I have ridden many times. The speedometer does not lie. I ride at 50 psi max, both the grip and ride quality are excellent. I highly recommend these tires. It oozes German quality.
I have been a Conti 4000 user for many years and finally decided to upgrade to the Conti 5000 Tire. I found it to have a very good grip and very comfortable. If one used the 4000 S series tires I would say this 5000 is better but not significantly better. The specs may be better but out on the road, it is hard for me to report that the tire is significantly better. I would still recommend it, and will most likely buy another pair.
