Active Comfort: The revolutionary approach in cycling. Embedded in the tyre construction the Active Comfort Technology absorbs vibrations and smoothens your ride. The GP4000 was never a high end road racing tyre, because it was a clincher, and the pros all ran tubulars. It's only recently that the pros are moving over to tubeless, and it's only recently that Conti have made tubeless road tyres, so it's only recently that the GP5000 has become known as a top end race tyre. Before that, both were just brilliant, fast tyres for weekend warriers. Sorry but for far too many people who have ridden the GP4S this is a complete contrast to their experiences including mine. The tyres feel dead/unresponsive and sluggish, you do not keep your "summer speed" at all as they feel really draggy, they might have some additional grip in the wet but whatever micro improvement over x tyre I couldn't tell but having some unmeasurable extra grip at the expense of how they are much less a quality ride and lower performance (over Giant P-SL2s in 28mm) would simply not be worth it at all.

Off-course, what will be won in the rolling resistance department, will be lost in the aerodynamics department. Sure, there are tyres that can boast a more supple rubber and lower rolling resistance that could save you 1.5watts - but these offer an almost-perfect ride quality coupled with a significantly reduced likelihood if spending time beside the road fixing punctures. Though not the winners when it comes to rolling resistance,research suggests that when combined with aerodynamics, at over 35kph,these might even be the fastest, thanks to the tread pattern playing a role.This could also depend on your wheelwidth, my GP5000's 25mm are 28mm on my DT-Swiss wheels and only 25mm on my old Dura-Ace 24 wheels. Not that i'm saying this is always the fact (my Challenge Gravel Grinders 38mm were only 35mm). But for me Continental were always a bit wider. The tyre does make my bike roll with a lot less effort and will continue the roll for some distance without power. Lazer Grip: To make you one with the road, The lasered micro profile structure expands over the tire’s shoulder and provides outstanding cornering. NOTE: As of 2021, we've improved the puncture resistance tests and now provide 'Total Puncture Score' as the main puncture resistance indicator. If the text below mentions puncture resistance, we're referring to 'Puncture Force Sharp Needle' which was our original test. At the end of 2018 the big news in Continental tyres was the introduction of a successor to the Grand Prix 4000 S II, unsurprisingly named the Grand Prix 5000. Not only did Continental replace arguably the most successful clincher tyre of all time, but they finally produced a tubeless version.

and models as accurately as possible. Comparing a 20C tire with a 28C from another brand doesn't give any useful data in my opinion. From a performance point of view, there’s little to fault with the Grand Prix 5000 AS TRs. They feel every bit as good as the standard S, but with the added protection to cope with poor road conditions. They’re very expensive, though, and with many other tyres on the market offering similar performance at a much cheaper price, the competition is tough. Verdict All that to say, you aren’t going to lose your local race because you have Grand Prix 4000 S II tires on your wheels. Keep this in mind when you're comparing, but I don't think anyone is going to use 120 psi in a 28C tire anyway. However, a friend of mine has had no end of issues with punctures and poor quality so maybe it's a hit & miss thing? Which it shouldn't be, obviously.

Test set up

The Road Bike section is a multi tire size section, air pressures have been adjusted to the measured casing width.

So in my view these tyres are well worth the money, not only for life span, performance, grip, reduced rolling resistance, and puncture resistance. All tests were performed with the same wheel, tire, load, speed, and air pressures on the same day. The expertly designed layer within these tyres acts as an intermediate between the sharp outside objects and the inner tube within.Puncture Force Sharp Needle: Pre-2021, this score was known as 'Puncture Resistance'. On some tires with weakly bonded casing wires, the sharp needle can split the casing wires resulting in a lower score. Between finger and thumb, you can feel that the GP 4 Season is stiffer than a lighter summer tyre because of this extra protection, but for the casing Conti uses the same thread count at 330tpi (actually three layers of 110tpi) as it does in the GP 5000s. Compared to rival all-season tyres such as the Michelin Power All Season with its three layers of 60pti, it is much more supple. Performance

NOTE: As of 2021, we've improved the puncture resistance tests and now provide 'Total Puncture Score' as the main puncture resistance indicator. All in all, I think the differences aren't that significant, in particular between the 23C and 25C tires. I'm looking forward to repeating thisChain reaction Cycles and CRC are trading names of Wiggle Ltd (In Administration) registered in the United Kingdom at 1000 Lakeside, Suite 310, Third Floor N E Wing, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO6 3EN, Grand Prix 5000 AS TR is a new all-season GP5000, adding some extra protection, grip and longevity to the fast GP5000 road tyre lineup. Even though this is the heavier of the two new GP5000 tyres, it is perhaps more exciting for those who enjoy a little speed boost in everyday conditions and not while racing. The rear tyre is a 28mm GP4000S2 so I decided a 23mm tyre would be fine for my requirements on the front. I've retested the same 25C GP4000S II I've tested in July 2014 for the 25C GP4000S II review. Results were within 0.5 watts, so I've used the data from 2014 to keep the 25C data consistent Thanks to its DuraSkin anti-tear fabric and two Vectran anti puncture strips, the Grand Prix 4-Season holds up under extreme conditions. In the Paris- Roubaix race, the "Hell of the North", cyclists equipped with DuraSkin™ enhanced tyres have the fewest tyre related problems during the race. Incorporating our special wear resistant carbon compound, the tyre is characterized by very good mileage performance as well as excellent adhesion on wet roads and at low temperatures.