Death of a continental

no but i'm german :P

I fucking knew there was an ulterior motive! You've got shares in their shizzle too I bet.. :P

Australia don't make tyres to my knowledge.. we just like to ride.

So.. Conti are shit. Good, glad we cleared that up. :)

Fuck I love a good tyre thread.. makes me moist..

^just about to post that^

tyre threads ftw.

I use these

We need a poll, then GA2G to put the findings in a list format.

I found the cheaper Michelin a bit skatey for my liking.. similar to the Rubino (non-Pro). Pretty good life though.

^just about to post that^

tyre threads ftw.

I use these

I've got a pair of those on my winter bike. They are ideal for what Neil is after, pretty good grip and robust as fuck. I rode a pair all winter and there isn't a single cut on them.

They are rarer than hen's teeth though. I bought mine from Decathlon in Surrey Quays.

[quote=andyp;750159]Diamante's are cheap shit. Hippy is on the money, cheap tyres are usually shit, either for puncture protection, grip or ride quality or a combination of all three./quote]

Just checked the price for the Diamante's- they are RRP £37, web price around £32.

Not that cheap?

Fuck I love a good tyre thread.. makes me moist..

*heh them conti rubbers perform well in moist conditions, still :P

To answer your question..

It depends!

I change tyres based on what I'm doing and what I think the road surface will be like.

Eg. I used the Paves for Tour of Ireland because I was expecting shit roads (and they're green!).
I used Rubino Pro for L2P because I was used to them and was not expecting to be going balls out all the time and wanted extra puncture protection because I didnt' know how the follow car situation was going to work. In hindsight I should've used lighter Corsas since for any mechanicals the follow car would do a wheel swap.. losing me very little time.
For club runs I use Rubino Pro.. cheap and cheerful with no concern for speed and the CHilterns are littered with sharp bits of flint that will fucking EAT contis for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
For TTs I've tried the super duper Open Corsa Evo blah blah 320tpi bollocks and I've also tried skinnier (20mm) Diamante Pros. I didn't really get on with the skinnier tyres.. out west the roads are rough as guts and at high pressure you get beat up a bit.
If I was racing crits I might go back to Pro Race.

In summary, for general non-race, lots of mileage, long riding cheap, reliable and actually pretty light tyres.. Rubino Pro. ANd before someone chimes in with "ooh they're slippery".. If you stack it in the wet you were going too fast/can't handle your bike so suck me. :)

noice and comprehensive, oi loike that! just based on that, i might even have come to a diff buy. well good to know and i'm curious to how a tire change feels like after i destroyed mine. honestly the flint stone bit made me giggle a bit, like prehistoric hunter spear heads lurking out of the surface for a kill.
... i have yet to do longer club riding or longish touring, well but summer's on, innit.

Sam, your Contis will explode and kill a bus load of orphan children.. I've seen it in my dreams..

Already looking forward to it.

[quote=andyp;750159]Diamante's are cheap shit. Hippy is on the money, cheap tyres are usually shit, either for puncture protection, grip or ride quality or a combination of all three./quote]
Just checked the price for the Diamante's- they are RRP £37, web price around £32.
Not that cheap?

They 'were' cheap.

All Vittoria prices went mental after xmas :(

Lucky I have enough pairs to last a fucking lifetime :)

... i have yet to do longer club riding or longish touring, well but summer's on, innit.

So, what you're saying is, Contis are fine if you have a train/bus/taxi available to put you bike on when you p-nct_re 13 times in 30mins? :P

Vittoria FTW

I can see a flaw with this one though...
http://www.vittoria.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8074&Itemid=116

So, what you're saying is, Contis are fine if you have a train/bus/taxi available to put you bike on when you p-nct_re 13 times in 30mins? :P

Never had a p_nctr with a Conti- just large sections of tyre lost :(

Vittoria
Puncture resistance - fail
Ability to withstand cuts - fail
Daft 'computer modeled tread pattern' - fail
Grip - fail.

Conti
Rolling resistance - fail
Comfort - fail

Pays your money and takes your choice

So, what you're saying is, Contis are fine if you have a train/bus/taxi available to put you bike on when you p-nct_re 13 times in 30mins? :P

mostly, i can't effort $$$taxi - i hate trains in london - i rode 1500 ... wait 1600mi by this week since feb and the last 600/900 on conties minimum 22mi during work days - NO bad cut ups or shit stuck in my rubber (in contrast to the previous generic shitty ones before) ZERO punctures and running. i don't know the roads on the west, the south easts are ok as it seems then, i do avoid separate bike paths though.

... or, wait, did you got stung by carped tags at that ride up in Scotland?

but waaaaaait, i really don't wanna flame around, as i am curious to the vittorias (and/or other tires) really and open ... just through my experience with them as i find them rather good. *thinks: for flint stone rallies you may want to stick schwalbes marathons on anyways. no?

Does anyone have experience of Schwalbe Ultremo's on a road bike?

^they where in my to choose from llist too, found em rather expensive though. sry no exp :S

Vittoria
Puncture resistance - fail
Ability to withstand cuts - fail
Daft 'computer modeled tread pattern' - fail
Grip - fail.

Conti
Rolling resistance - fail
Comfort - fail

Pays your money and takes your choice

Your research = fail

I just tested my research again. Same I'm afraid.

1. Put an Evo CX near to a speck of glass and watched it turn into a mass of cuts
   
2. Tested a Rubino vs a Banana Skin for grip. Result - Banana Skin more grip
   

It just goes to show that different strokes for different folks. I've seen more cut Continentals than any other tyre, to the point where I sometimes wonder if they come out of the factory pre-cut.

If you look at the picture that I took of my rear tyre from the left you can see a 1cm cut on the main body of the tyre.

There are quite a few just like it on the rest of the tyre, and it probably has approx 1,000 miles on it, the majority of which were outside London miles.

They don't seem to lead to Sudden Deflation Incidences (SDI's) however.

ha! DSI's *giggle

I've been using the same set of GP4000S on my road bike for the past nine months and still going strong, previously used Pro Race 2 - cut to ribbons in three months and Evo CX - cut to ribbons in two months.

Just bought some of the new Evo CX tubs for my track bike which seem a lot nicer than the previous Conti Sprinters. Don't expect them to last half as long though