vickster
Legendary Member
Well maybe if you need £11 of inner tubes to get you home
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mustang1
Guru
- Location
- London, UK
Yeah!
I was saying it with a hint of sarcasm as it reminded me of a few people who curse me for not buying the cheapest option of various items.
mustang1
Guru
- Location
- London, UK
yeah ditto... conti gp4000 is my go-to tyre, been using for years. 25mm. Roll well, comfortable, good reliability. IDK how long mine last, i never checked, but i guess about 1 or 2 years (6000km +/- 2000).Conti's are great, the miles i do i can't complain.
I agree, it’s not every Continental tyre, it’s the particular Ultra Sport variant that is poor.
I too have being using the GP4000S and had no punctures in 5k miles. Plenty of marks on tread where there were clear near misses. Only swapped to the Vittoria as fancied the gum walls.
The Ultra Sport are not in the same league as the GP4000S. Zero puncture protection in that tyre.
Mo1959
Legendary Member
- Location
- Perthshire,Scotland
I didn't have any better luck with the GP4000S. 2 punctures within a few weeks which put me off them. Shame, as I liked the way they felt on the bike. It's probably more down to luck than anything, but I've had less deflations with Schwalbe and Vittoria tyres on my bikes.
raleighnut
Legendary Member
- Location
- One of the 'Elite'
For real zero protection Conti tyres you need these,
https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/continental-gp-supersonic-folding-tyre/
I think the innertube weighs more.
Levo-Lon
Guru
Well you cant claim false advertising ?. It says ultra sport 2 and he had 2 punctures.
Not a good choice for this weather..in fact not a good choice for most things
OP
OP
Rooster1
I was right about that saddle
My negative review was published
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/continental-ultra-sport-ii-folding-road-tyre/
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/continental-ultra-sport-ii-folding-road-tyre/
Very nice!
SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
This is partly a by-product of the recent road cycling obsession for weight reduction at any cost. When I used to cycle a LOT of miles, i.e. before I owned a car, I used to run no-nonsense Michelins in 26" x 1 1/4" and 26" x 1 3/8" sizes and I was not plagued by punctures. I still got the odd one, and they were highly irritating, but generally the tyres held up well.
However, I bought tyres based on functionality. I didn't think I must save a whole half an ounce of weight by buying the skinniest and lightest constructed tyre in the shop. The roads are also arguably in a worse state of repair than they were, and are not kept swept as efficiently, so if anything, cyclists should be beefing their tyres up for increased reliability - not trying to slim them down for marginal gains in weight and rolling resistance. That 0.1 mph speed gain is going to be right out of the window if you then spend 10 minutes doing a roadside puncture repair that you would have avoided needing at all if you'd fitted sturdy tyres not flimsy ones.
However, I bought tyres based on functionality. I didn't think I must save a whole half an ounce of weight by buying the skinniest and lightest constructed tyre in the shop. The roads are also arguably in a worse state of repair than they were, and are not kept swept as efficiently, so if anything, cyclists should be beefing their tyres up for increased reliability - not trying to slim them down for marginal gains in weight and rolling resistance. That 0.1 mph speed gain is going to be right out of the window if you then spend 10 minutes doing a roadside puncture repair that you would have avoided needing at all if you'd fitted sturdy tyres not flimsy ones.
I like Skol
A Minging Manc...
- Location
- Sunny Ashton-under-Lyne
I have argued this exact point vociferously in the past when people have come on the forum to decry a particular model of tyre. I always maintained that the frequency of penetration punctures is down to several factors, including the following;
- Conditions of use. If you regularly ride through glass strewn subways, behind the hedge trimming tractor or past the pin & tack factory then your odds will increase.
- Paying attention. Regardless of where you ride, if you watch out for patches of broken glass, other larger debris like screws & bolts and keep out of the gravelly bits around traffic islands and other no-mans land areas that the cars don't go but always seem tempting for a cyclist to keep out of the way of the traffic, then you will reduce your chances of suffering.
- Luck. For any given tyre there will always be someone who claims to have ridden for years, covering XX thousands of miles on a certain tyre model without ever experiencing a single puncture. Rider B who covers the same area with the same tyres may curse the tyres very existence due to repetitive deflations on an almost daily basis! While some of this may be down to non-penetration causes or installation errors, statistically given a large enough sample you would expect a few of these strikingly polar experiences due to the pure randomness of the puncture event. Neither extreme is a true indication of the tyres robustness.
- Tyre choice. Thicker, tougher tyres will be less likely to puncture than a gossamer thin racing tyre, this is an undeniable mechanical truth, but unless you are operating at the very ends of the spectrum of lightweight-solid you might not actually be able to notice much difference between tyres spread across the middle ground due to the massive variation in the other points above.
OP
OP
Rooster1
I was right about that saddle
I have been through many many sets of tyres and I pay great attention to their wear and tear and what I ride on.
For example:
- I check tyres for nicks and holes, no matter how new they are - a cut in a tyre will be no end of trouble.
- I (try) and buy decent inner tubes that don't perish
- I look after my wheels and rim tape.
- When I get a puncture I take time to figure out the cause - I don't just slap another inner tube in and hope for the best
- I avoid potholes (although I got a double blow out one time as it was unavoidable)
- I try and buy decent tyres, I read the reviews.
Last year I had hardly any punctures using
Mavic Yksion 700c Folding Road Tyres (25c) for the summer and some. 4000 miles of wear.
Schwalbe Marathon Plus Smartguard Rigid Road Tyres in winter (25c) 1000 miles of wear. These are HEAVY and add about a KILO to my ride.
I saw what I thought were decent tyres in a sale but they have turned out to be a nightmare.
For example:
- I check tyres for nicks and holes, no matter how new they are - a cut in a tyre will be no end of trouble.
- I (try) and buy decent inner tubes that don't perish
- I look after my wheels and rim tape.
- When I get a puncture I take time to figure out the cause - I don't just slap another inner tube in and hope for the best
- I avoid potholes (although I got a double blow out one time as it was unavoidable)
- I try and buy decent tyres, I read the reviews.
Last year I had hardly any punctures using
Mavic Yksion 700c Folding Road Tyres (25c) for the summer and some. 4000 miles of wear.
Schwalbe Marathon Plus Smartguard Rigid Road Tyres in winter (25c) 1000 miles of wear. These are HEAVY and add about a KILO to my ride.
I saw what I thought were decent tyres in a sale but they have turned out to be a nightmare.
confusedcyclist
Veteran
To add ancedotal evidence to the thread, I have ultra sport IIs and don't recall any punctures at all, it's fair to say I've ridden more than 3 leisure rides on them too. That said, they wouldn't be my first choice for harsh winter roads, just a budget tyre for commuting in semi-decent conditions. I have also had similar experiences with Schwable Luganos which usually get the same complaints.
Globalti
Legendary Member
It must be down to luck or where you ride. I use Veloflex Open Corsas, which have a file pattern tread and soft compound so are unbelievably grippy in dry, wet or even on ice or snow and they are super-lightweight with cloth sidewalls, so they ride really smoothly. I'd be more than happy to exchange the amazing grip and comfort for a few extra punctures but I don't suffer more than 2-3 punctures a year. I ride entirely on quiet rural roads and always stick to the clean part of the road so maybe if I lived in a city the story would be different.
