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Continental GP5000 or 4 Season for all year riding

Howdy. I've a set of road wheels that I pop on my gravel bike for days when I'll be 100% (or at least 99%) on tarmac. These will probably stay on for most of the winter time too, as off road around here in winter is a mud-filled nightmare, so while I hear good things about the new GP5000 tyre I'm a little unsure of their durability/grip for the wetter months. I've used GP 4 Seasons before and they're pretty reliable, though a little sluggish. Wonder if anyone has any opinions - anyone used the new 5000's this winter and found them good and grippy enough? I'll be using 32mm ones of either.

My wheels are tubeless compatible but I'm not sold on the road tubeless idea yet - hear the GP5000 TL are a total pig to get on the wheel, and if I needed to pop a tube in following a more-than-the-sealant-can-seal puncture I don't want to find myself with broken fingers and a long walk home. Any thoughts on that too?

Thanks.

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17 comments

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OnTheRopes | 4 years ago
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I use both GP4000 and GP5000, I would say the GP4000sii were a perfect all year round tyre and a good race tyre, the GP5000 is a better race tyre but not quite so long lasting and Im not sure if I would ride them in winter. Fortunately I have lots of spare GP4000's as they seem to be unavailable now. The 4 Season I tried and found lack lustre and wont use them again.

Edit: I see GP4000sII are still available, I'd grab some of those if it were me.

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Miller | 4 years ago
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Hutchinson Fusion 5 all season tubeless,  I've just done a second winter on the same pair with no flats at all despite a lot of km on wet and gritty roads. They ride very nicely and can be had for not that much dinero.

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jaspersdog | 4 years ago
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I ran 4 Season for a few winters and was always very pleased with their durability but less so with the grip in the wet. I ride all the absolutely shitiest little back lanes with grass growing up the middle and slivers of flint everywhere  (especially this winter). When I got tubeless compatible rims I switched to Scwalbe Ones which I loved for the speed and traction but they became quite fragile after about 8/900 miles. 

This year I switched to GP5000 and I have to say I was super pleased with the comfort, speed and grip. I've heard a couple of small puntures self seal but they showed no wear until 500 miles when a few cuts began to appear. Got my first cut that wouldnt seal at 850 miles and I would say that the rear now shows quite a bit of wear. I've booted it from the inside and I reckon the rear will do another 500 miles the front a lot more. For me that will be acceptable as long as there are no further punctures. I'll take that limited rear wear over superb speed, comfort and grip.

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Richbeck | 4 years ago
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I stopped riding "winter tyres" a few years ago and have much more fun! Vittoria Corsa 25mm on my "summer bike" and Shwalbe Ones 28mm on my " winter". Run them at slightly lower pressure for increased grip dependant on conditions

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Judge dreadful | 4 years ago
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Personally, I really don't rate any of the Continental bike tyres I've ever used, in terms of durability. I wouldn't want to run any of them all year round. I've found Hutchinson equinox to be a big surprise ( in a good way ) and a lot of the vittorias I've used have also been pretty solid, but not at the cost of ride killing performance compromises.

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Gimpl replied to Judge dreadful | 4 years ago
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It's funny isn't it; having tried Vittorias before I wouldn't go anywhere near them again and am completely sold on Continentals. I very much think it depends on where you are in the country and what debris is local to you. 

To the OP - Whilst I haven't tried out the 5000's yet I have used GP4000's throughout winter with no issues. I'm currently using a GP4000 on the front and a GP 4 Seasons on the back, both in 23mm due to mudguard clearance issues - I'm a rebel me!

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mtbtomo | 4 years ago
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Unless you're going for the GP5000's I would choose something else above the 4Season. I've found the 4Season sluggish, no better than my other tyres for puncture resistance and not especially grippy in the wet. Not a very supple tyre either.

I like all the Hutchinson Fusion tyres in the 11storm compound and have All Season, Performance and Galaktik variants across my bikes.

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Prosper0 | 4 years ago
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Treat yourself. Go straight to the 5ks. 

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srchar | 4 years ago
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Grand Prix GT is a bit racier than the 4S; it uses the 5000 compound but with the 4S puncture guard. It's a great tyre. I commute on it in London and can't remember my last puncture. Grip is good. I'm a tyre snob as well (Veloflex tubs on my best bike)

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The _Kaner replied to srchar | 4 years ago
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srchar wrote:

Grand Prix GT is a bit racier than the 4S; it uses the 5000 compound but with the 4S puncture guard. It's a great tyre. I commute on it in London and can't remember my last puncture. Grip is good. I'm a tyre snob as well (Veloflex tubs on my best bike)

 

I'd echo this. Only had them in 25mm so not qite the same as 32mm. No 'p' issues at all, grip in wet/dry is very good, no sketchy moments. I prefer the GT to the 4 season. I've not tried GP5000, I went for Vittoria Corsa G+ around the time the GP5000s came out, so still to try a set of those.

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Joe Totale | 4 years ago
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It depends really. If you value going fast then the GP5000 tubeless tyres are brilliant, however I'd personally use different tyres in the winter. The grip on them is better than 4 seasons in my experience. 

The 4 Seasons are noticeably slower but if puncture protection is a bigger priority than speed then I'd use them instead. 

With regards to the other points raised, I've never had any issues with getting other tubeless tyres onto Mavic UST rims, in fact they're some of the easiest rims around to get tyres onto. Mavic tubeless tyres are made by Hutchinson who also make tyres for several other brands as well as their own ones.

The GP5000's are tough to fit initially but like all tyres, once they've been used they stretch a bit and they're not issue to remove and refit.

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hawkinspeter | 4 years ago
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I've had a tubeless GP5000 28mm on my rear wheel through the winter and it's been flawless. I've just recently replaced it (something like 8 months wear) and put one on the front too.

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AlsoSomniloquism replied to hawkinspeter | 4 years ago
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Out of interest, what wheels? Myself and the LBS had real trouble putting them on a set of mavics. I chatted with a Continental guy at a Bike show later about it and he said Mavics are oversized for any Tubeless apart from their own (although I had no trouble with Shwalbe) and he said they are easier on Hunts etc. 

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hawkinspeter replied to AlsoSomniloquism | 4 years ago
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A pair of Prime RP50s. I replaced the rear one last weekend and found it quite easy to take off the old one and put on a new one with some decent tyre levers (Bar Fly Air levers). I tried inflating with my old Joe Blow track pump and it seated first time without even adding any sealant.

Yesterday I tried to solve an issue with my front wheel - it sounds like I've got some polymerised latex balls rolling around my rim. I took off the tyre and spent about half an hour shaking the wheel which seemed to remove some, but not all of the critters. Again, the tyre came off and went back on easily, but it took me a couple of attempts to inflate as I had some air leakage around the valve (I replaced the o-ring as it looked a bit cracked). I ended up using my Beto tubeless inflator to seat the tyre and then put in some sealant.

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Rapha Nadal | 4 years ago
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Four Seasons all year long!  Which is kind of the point, I guess.

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bobbinogs replied to Rapha Nadal | 4 years ago
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Yeah, what he said. The 5000s are lovely slick/fast/supple tyres with good predictable grip levels but suffer in 2 ways...durability and puncture/cut resistance. The 4 seasons trade off 'some' of the 5000 pros whilst covering off the cons.
5000s for the summer bike, 4 seasons for the winter or 'do it all' bike.

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JMcL_Ireland replied to Rapha Nadal | 4 years ago
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Yep same here. I've had very good puncture resistance from them, generally pinch flats when I've neglected to check the pressure before going out. I usually buy a batch 3-4 at a time and save for one set about 2 years ago which I've put down to a bad batch, they've been flawless. Current set have been on for about 4000km, and I think I've only had one puncture in that time, showing minimal wear also

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