Continental

I am an older cyclist with 50yrs of riding experience; racing, long distance touring, and club riding. I recently bought this Conti GP5000 (folding 700x25 tube-type) tire and only have about 200mi on it so far. As with most Conti tires in my experience, it rides well and handles quickly, but it is nearly impossible to mount on a rim the first time; this even after doing the old trick of standing on the loose tire in soft shoes and "stretching" the tire by pulling upward on the opposite side with all my strength, working repeatedly around the tire's circumference. In my experience Conti tires only become "simpatico" for mounting after stretched by many miles and much time under full inflation. Conti tires used to be labeled for safe inflation to 220psi...on a road tire!...who rides at 220psi? Is this why they are so tight? It's a good tire for fast, aggressive riding on bikes and wheels built for that, but I'd hate to sit by the road for 90mins after a flat just trying to get the tire remounted. Lucky that I never seem to collect flats.

Have been using 25mm and more recently 28mm versions of these clinchers for years - bought the 30s for northern transcontinental crossing. They measured about 31.3 on 24mm internal width rims which gave me some extra comfort over 3850 miles in 36 days, weight about matched the spec, rolled similar to the 28s, wear also similar, puncture protection seemed pretty good - one piece of wire puncture and one rough railroad crossing at speed pinch flat over close to 4000 miles (with TPU tubes).

I've been riding since 1979, and if there's one thing I know that aggravating to all riders is FLAT TIRES ! especially when touring... Fixing tires in the middle of the night ? In the middle of nowhere ? In 07 from Indiana to n.m. over 35 flats ! Been using Continental tires since 2011, I would have to say they are almost bulletproof ! Here it's suicidal to ride on the street and it's mandatory to go on the SIDEWALK... Even so people like to break glass bottles there, a few times inadvertently when distracted I've run over glass and when I examine the tires ? Not even a cut or nick ! Even though I avoid the stuff. Continental tires are even goathead PROOF.

I've been riding and racing on Conti road tires for 2+ decades. I've tried other brands but always came back to Continental tires for their superb combination of grip, tread wear and longevity. The GP 5000 S TR is their best racing tire yet. I can mount it tubeless without bloody knuckles and the traction is always dependable, no matter the speed or how much I lean into a turn. The one issue I have had with these tires, though, is they are nowhere near as puncture protected as prior models. I know there is a separate AS version, but past versions of this tire didn't force me to choose a 'beefier' model to avoid punctures. When a tire costs as much as these do, it's a bummer to not get as many miles out of them as you used to. All that said, I would never race on any other tire.