Tire questions: Continental Grand Prix 4000 vs Michelin Pro Race 3

Trainer tire:
Specialized Armadillo or Michelin Gator Skin - with either one you'll just about have to try to flat and you'll stop avoiding glass.

Race Tire:
Conti GP4000S. Remember the S at the end, it's a different tire than the 4000.

the Pro3 Race tires had (have?) a horrid streak where quite a few people flatted either every or every other time out on the tires. The "Never had a flat on them" group was convincingly overwhelmed by the "every single time I went out with them I flatted" group. Yeah, I had them for about a month. I never finished a ride without a flat and when I got a flat 1/4 of a mile away from my house I got rid of them and went to the Conti tires.

I have the Conti GPs, they've worked great (knock on wood ). Got them end of last summer, probably 1000 miles so far on them. From what I read, they seemed to be more durable than the Pro Race 3 - which is what I originally wanted to get. But the reviews pointed me in a different direction.

Edited by barelfly 2010-01-24 3:15 PM

If you're flatting every time out on any tire I'd be more likely to blame operator error (underinflation, missing the cause of a puncture, a spoke going through the rim tape) than the tire. More relevant was that a numbe of people have reporting sidewals blowing outl on the P3Rs. Not sure if they've identified that as a defect and fixed it. Personally, I rode the P3Rs all last year, still ride on them and have yet to have a flat.

Yeah, I've never had an issue with my PR3's either, and I use them for training and racing.

I was riding P3Rs this morning when I flatted...but the tire was pretty worn so this falls under "user error" (and prompted my "what should I buy next" question). Anyway, I had good experiences with the P3Rs...maybe 4 flats over 2500 miles on roads that have some construction junk on them. Not bad, but not enough to make me love em! :-)

Perhaps unless the same user with the same bike, wheels, rim tape and courses don't flat with a few thousand miles on four or five other tire types. Then it might just be a bad set of tires.

I have used ProRace, ProRace2, and now ProRace3 and they all work well.   However, I get new ones every season and rotate the worn ones to my trainer.  But since I only need one tire for the trainer, I am getting a surplus of used tires! 

I had one flat when my rim tape didn't cover one of the spoke holes on my rim and the tube got a puncture.  Knock on wood, I have only flatted once while out on the road.

A small sharp object stuck in the tire  is going to cause a flat every time out. Change the tire and you won't have that object. Just one example of operator error thaat would be cured with a change of tires.

Even the worst tire is not going to give you a flat everytime out without a cause.

It's only human nature that you'd want to blame the tire instead of yourself. Logic says otherwise.

Edited by the bear 2010-01-24 6:10 PM

Yeah and that obviously never occurred to me in all the times I've told people to run a cotton ball around the inside of their tires so they don't draw blood from the staple or piece of wire in the tire,. Not once even with all the times I've found exactly that from doing exactly that. Glad you were here to straighten me out.

Always glad to help. Hopefully you'll tell people going forward that the cotton ball thingy is a good trick but not infallible. Not as easy as telling them to avoid a model of tire, but just as helpful, and probably more accurate.

Seriously, you're going to condemn an otherwise successful model of tire based on a single person's one month's experience? What exactly about the tire was causing these flats every time out? Even if it was the tire what makes you so sure it was a design flaw and not just a single bad tire you bought.

I've had good luck with PR3's...3,000 miles and 1 front flat, so not bad at all. Now...when I put a set of Conti GP 4000S tires on my bike...the first time out, I flatted 23 miles away from home. It was a direct sidewall hit (leaving a gapping gash in my brand new tire), so it likely would have done in ANY tire I was riding at the time. Despite that bit of bad luck I've had with Conti's...I certainly won't condemn them. I know plenty of riders who haven't had a single problem riding Conti's. Will I use them again...probably not, but only because I've been extremely happy using my new favorite tires - Vittoria. My current bike (Cervelo S2) came with stock Vittoria Rubino Pro Slick's and I logged over 4,700 miles on those stock tires without a single flat. I just got a set of Vittoria Diamante Pro's for Xmas, and I'm very anxious to try them out.

I've been using the Michelin Krylions for training and will pick up a set of race tires a month or so before my first race. I think the Krylions are good tires, but I feel like they cost me about 1mph vs. a standard racing tire.

I've heard the Continentals are better bang for your buck, but will research them a little bit more before I buy.

I've been riding Continentals for the past couple years and love them. Only one flat and that was a piece of glass that left a pretty good gash in the tire. Otherwise no problems at all. I also change them out as soon as I see wear on them though. Never ridden on the other type of tire so I can't offer comment on them.

I use GP and love them. Biggest problem I have is, especially when they are new, I can't get them on! I asked a guy at the bike shop for suggestions for maybe a cheaper, good tire, but he said they are the best ones out there.

I switched from the Conti to Pro race because the Continentals always seemed to have a string hanging off. This hasn't happened with the Pros

Also, if you align the markings on your tire with the valve hole you can check where the puncture is on the tube and check that part of the tire especially carefully. But I'm sure everyone knew that wasn't just for aesthetics.