Anyone with real life experience with these tyres?

Was sick of getting punctures in winter on Gatorskins so got some Conti GatorHardshells, had them on for less then 400 miles & got a big split in the rear tyre yesterday.

Fortunately it didn't blow out & fortunately I was round the corner from home but it's very disappointing for a tyre that's supposed to offer increased puncture protection.

I'll probably get another as maybe I was just a wee bit unlucky but it's frustrating nonetheless.

Don't tempt the fates! After 9000 punture free km since I started riding again; I then had five punctures in as many months.

I've decided against tubeless for the time being on my new wheels as I'm not convinced the faff is worth it.  I struggle enough to fit non tubeless tyres as it is (it's taken me over 30 minutes to get a tyre on once in the pouring rain!), as I understand it, tubeless are generally worse.

I generally ride Conti GP4000SII tyres, though I've now switched to gatorskins on my winter bike as I found the Conti's were getting really cut up after only a short time.

Have ridden 3k on Hutchinson Sector 28s - mixed riding - B roads, tow paths and back lanes). Had a couple of small punctures in that time though they both self sealed (stans tubeless sealant) with minimal air loss.

I did get a nasty slash on the side wall - about 10mm in length which obviously did not seal. It was on a ride from Cambridge to London and needed booting and an inner tube to get me home. Suspect it was a glass shard and the tyre was a write-off but that would have been the case with pretty much any performance tyre.

Highly recomend the Sector 28s - really lovely feel to the ride and good grip - only drawback is that they seem to kick up a lot of spray in the wet.

4 seasons are definitely overrated I think
Michelin Pro 4 would be better for punctures

tried out my new Gravel King 32's  

far better on muddy tracks than S-Ones, but I don't think as fast on the road. Have to get some more commuting miles in to really know about the road, but they've handled great off-road in some fairly sloshy conditions. Not slow on the road, just not as fast as S-Ones

Had an abolsute hoot on Friday.  Went geocaching off-road with the boys from Stolen Goat.

Rode the Tifosi TK7 Gran Fondo fitted with the S-Ones.  https://www.facebook.com/BikeSwanky/posts/456445177812561

Up to 6" of mud in places, slippery roots, ice, frozen hoof prints, slippery roots.  More importantly, plenty of gorse bushes around!  The S-ones handled it with no issues!  No punctures!  Running with tubes.  Who'd have thought?!?!?

Also, the TK7 Gran Fondo was designed before Gravel Road became a thing.......who knew that it could handle it so well?  LOL

(It was fitted with a steel fork)

So, if you were wondering if the S-Ones would work well as good Winter on the road tyres, then I'd have to say "I'm sold"

my first set of S-ones (30mm) went for 4k miles without punctures, then they gave in to the huge holes I managed to get.  I got another set, and managed to get a double puncture on one of them within a week!

they do fix up, and are generally awesome but do be aware they aren't invincible. 

having said that, the bike they were on isn't very happy - every bearing is broken, and Specialized have just replaced the carbon frame for free - well, they will call the Diverge "a go anywhere Adventure bike!"

Schwalbe S-One Tubless for me too on the winter bike. Best winter tyres I've ever used. They have/are changing name to G-One Speed though as you say. No difference in the tyre though as far as I'm aware. They offer a wired non tubeless version of the tyre too  and they're only £20. Run tubeless though if your wheels allow.

Using Schwalbe S-Ones (with tubes) on one of our Winter bikes here:

https://www.facebook.com/BikeSwanky/posts/452245341565878

Winter tyre choice is more than avoiding punctures, although that is obviously a critical factor.

GP4000 S2 don't have a compound that works very well in very cold weather.

4 Seasons has a better cold weather compound than Gatorskins for example.

Vittoria's new Graphene tyres perform very well against punctures it seems.  The Rubino Pro Control has a good rubber matrix too for cold weather grip.  The older and non Graphene ones are frankly shite!

28c and above gives you lots of contact point with the road.

Larger volume tyres run well at lower pressures without necessarily having the issue of pinch flats.

The Schwalbe S-ones roll very well for a wide tyre with nobbly bits

I ride in sub zero temperatures on these tyres and have no issues.

That being said, you still need to amend your riding style to the conditions, as you'd expect.

P.S.

Watch out for camber when it is icy.  You can find yourself somewhat contrary to the perpendicular if you're not careful

Tannus  LOL  http://www.thesolidtyre.com/

Ok let me give you another perspective. 

I also had conti 4 seasons.  Actually I still have them.  Used them for half a year (2 years ago one winter) and never will it be on my rims again. Cant compare the tubless's comfort level.  When you can run 50 psi or less it is a god send.  The puncture proof is a plus but I get it for comfort and doesn't seem to sacrifice any speed either. 

Hence I want to go bigger to 32mm so I can dip below 50 psi to around 45. 

I'm a strict Conti fan with the experience of having tried a whole _two_ different tyres. The Schwalbe Ultremos that came with the bike peeled apart under no more than a stern stare.

I can't fault the tube'd 4000s II tyre for the riding I do - quiet country lanes which are pretty clean and dry most of the time, though often that grumbly tar/gravel dressing surface. I run 23mm at 110psi at a rider+bike weight of 90kg. These easily last me a full season - 6300km this year. I've had one puncture per year on average with them under these conditions, and only one of them might have been avoided with tubeless (a classic rock strike puncture). Whilst not knowing your roads, I reckon either I've been very lucky, or you've been simply unlucky.

Regarding the Conti 4 seasons, I can only report a single experience of a distinct improvement in grip when in super-soak conditions on a super-smooth surface over the 4000s tyres. That may also be down to running 25mm 4 seasons at 95psi, giving a bigger contact patch, but they were noticably more assured. In the dry, I can't tell the difference. Since I'm not hanging it out round hairpins at 30mph though, that's not surprising.

Tubeless strikes me as a potentially messy solution to a problem I don't particularly have, so am happy to stick with tubes.

+1 for armadillos.

I commute on a CX bike and have MTB armadillos on that as well as my winter roadie. Punctured once a week on various CX tyres: ripped to bits by shale shards, got thorns through sidewalls.

Must've done a combined 5,000 miles since without one puncture.

I'm on Specialized Armadillos.

I literally can't remember the last time I punctured, perhaps the tail end of 2014, beginning of 2015. You won't win the Tour on them that's for sure but they're bomb proof. I've done 10,000 miles plus on them over the years on 2 or 3 punctures, max. Sometimes the tread will wear all the way down to the casing and you'll have to replace the tyre but you won't have punctured in that time.

Tubeless for road is awesome.  

I've used Schwalbe Pro one for about a year. 

Then I wanted bigger tires so I am running the Schwalbe S one - changed to G one for some reason and very confusing. 

I have been runing the S One since the summer and so far they are holding up well and the best about tubeless is  you can run much lower psi than normal and it is extremely comfortable.  One of the best thing ever and since the S One I've been running at 50 psi without problems. Feels very fast but just soaks up all the road uneveness. Likes on clouds. 

Not sure what one talked about not sealing.  I was riding in regents one morning and you can virtually see the puncture happening in real time and the sealent leaking out and I thought to myself thats it I have to push the bike to work.  Guess what? two spins the leaking stopped and I didn't have to do anything about it at all and it is sealed.  Brought smiles to my face!! 

So far with tubless for two years commuting in central london and no one puncture.  The ones that seals themselves I don't consider that puncture. 

I want to go for something with 32mm but Schwable not offering any atm.  

Very interested in Vittoria Graphene + tubless but it is too narrow. If they bring anything over 30mm I will give it a go immediately. 

Hi all

Just thought I should mention that I have both Schwalbe S-Ones in 30mm (summer) and have just switched to Schwalbe X-Ones for winter and can mount both of these comepletely tubeless with just a Lezyne mini pump.  I have never been into the big soapy water compressor thing and when they were advertised as 'tubeless easy' I thought they were possibly telling porkies....I was a bit shocked when they went up straight away.  Tubeless is awesome.

Just my tuppence worth

Oh, and FWIW, the wheels are Novotec disc and I have put a layer of gorilla tape inside the rim (feels quite thick) to help keep them airtight.

"If you do puncture out in the countryside and the tyre needs topping up some are a nightmare to re-inflate. Fitting a tube means you've got to carry one, negating one of the advantages of the system."

If you get a puncture in a tubeless tyre you'd have also got it in a tubed one, you'd have also probably dodged a few thorns that would have taken out your tubes. I always carry a tube regardless of set up, I'm not going to be be stuck at the side of the road waiting for a patch to stick.

I don't see carrying a spare tube negating an advantage, after all I'm not 'carrying' tubes in my wheels.

"I recently passed a rider with just this problem, his mini-pump wouldn't even begin to put air in the tyre and I wasn't giving him my spare tube as I had another ninety miles to ride."

Don't blame you. But the same would've applied if he was tubed and didn't bring adequate kit with him.

"The sealants have a definite and short life in the tyre and will need renewing every few months. They're not cheap and the job is messy, messy, messy."

Every few months means three times a year perhaps? As for messy, what are you doing? Either remove a valve core and squirt down the valve with the nozzle many sealant bottles have or slip over the plastic pipe that others have. Failing that, pop the bead, pour some in and rotate the wheel before putting the tyre back. It's really simple.

I'm happy to do that in the comfort of my garage when I want to rather than an unplanned roadside fix in the rain.

"The sealants will also bung up your valves, making inflating tricky or even impossible."

Not in my experience with stans, nrg or bontrager sealant or indeed with a homemade mix of latex/antifreeze.

For road/gravel I've had good experiences with wtb Nanos although one of the tyres is a bit weepy in the sidewalls and for pure road I've just fitted a set of panaracer gravel kings in 32c. Only done 75 miles on them but so far so good and went up with the Bonty flash charger easily. No weeping from them.

As usual, people running tubeless tyres recommend them (based on overwhelmingly positive experience) and those who never tried them, quote the whole list of "problems"... with the technology...

I cannot fault GP4000s. I run them on my nice road bike, old Road bike and commuter.

Fast, very grippy, very rarely puncture - despite the rubbish Liverpool roads.

I haven't yet tried the 4000s II's or a 28mm version as my 4000s have lasted so long..

I've run Conti GP4000ii's for that last two winters with only a couple of punctures (famous last words now !), used to run 4 Seasons but frankly were no better and the grip was definitely poorer. I've got Schwalbe One's on my summer bike, which gets used quite a bit in the winter and they have been fantastic, wear rate has been superb.

Never run tubeless tyres, but the 4 seasons are overrated in my opinion. Have found Michelin Pro 4 endurance better for punctures, speed and wear in comparison.

I have recently changed from Vittoria Paves to GP 4 Seasons because I was fed up with punctures.  The  4 Seasons are quite amazing in terms of puncture resistance but they are awful with grip in comparison to the Paves.   The best combination I ever did was 28mm Paves with a Kevlar matting inside the tyre.  But it was ruddy costly.

I'm in full agreement that tubeless is the future and confidently expect to be using the system at some point.  But there are a couple of things that make me believe the technology is not yet ready to be sprung on the majority of cyclists.  Anyone, like me, who rides bikes for fun and never races should be aware that there are significant drawbacks:

If you do puncture out in the countryside and the tyre needs topping up some are a nightmare to re-inflate.  Fitting a tube means you've got to carry one, negating one of the advantages of the system.  I recently passed a rider with just this problem, his mini-pump wouldn't even begin to put air in the tyre and I wasn't giving him my spare tube as I had another ninety miles to ride.

The sealants have a definite and short life in the tyre and will need renewing every few months.  They're not cheap and the job is messy, messy, messy.

The sealants will also bung up your valves, making inflating tricky or even impossible.

The choice of tubeless tyres is very limited and the prices are, quite frankly, exorbitant.

Fans of tubeless make much of the fact that 'snakebite' punctures are impossible.  I do get the odd flat, about one -per-year on average, but it's always thorns or flints.  I haven't had a pinch-flat for twenty years.

But all this will change I'm sure and one day we'll all be riding tubeless.  But I'm happy to wait until the ease of use equals the tubed tyres we know and love.