Cycling UK Forum

One of my daughters rides a Cannondale womans synapse Sora 2016. https://www.rutlandcycling.com/bikes/ro ... ade%20Fork

It currently has full SKS mudguards and is fitted with Schwalbe Durano Plus Etape 700C x 23 tyres which are fairly worn.

I recently received a small unexpected bonus so was thinking of treating her to a pair of similar size Continental GP5000 tyres. Wider tyres would be more beneficial but wouldn't safely fit under the mudguards. Would anyone have any experience of whether these tyres would be a worthwhile upgrade, especially regarding the fairly narrow width.

I recently fitted a pair of these GP5000's (in 700C x 28mm size) to my fixed gear commuter bike and the difference was extremely beneficial - astronomically so! However, they replaced a pair of Schwalbe Winter 30mm studded tyres, plus I removed the bottle dynamo at the same time hence the 'before/after' contrast was perhaps a little dramatic!

So, would you reckon she'd appreciate the upgrade, or would say a cheaper Vittoria Rubino Pro (or suchlike) be almost as good?? Any comments welcome.

Yes they would be a good upgrade perhaps not as dramatic as yours were! Robin pro are a good mid level tyre whilst the gp5000 are top drawer tyres imho.

Could she run it without guards during summer and the switch back to the older / smaller tyres for winter

Cheers James

I've run Rubino Pros 28mm for years, they are very good, roll and wear well, usually cheaper than Continentals.

Rubino Pro tyre width tends to come up a bit narrower than other brands. If you have P35 SKS guards, you may be able to run 25mm tyres on them, I ran 2 commuting bikes on P35/25mm Rubino Pro in the past.

I run Durano Plus on my winter bike, and GP4000's (predecessor to 5000) on the summer one. The Conti's are lighter and roll (much) better. Grip is very good, wet or dry and they last quite a while if looked after. This bit's important, as they are quite fragile - side walls in particular - and they can get cut VERY easily. Smooth, grit and debris free, roads are great, but anything other than that and you have to be careful how you ride them. So, so long as you are careful where you ride - they will be a great upgrade.

I recently asked a similar question and was advised to get Conti Grand Prix GT’s, which I did. They have better puncture protection than GP 5000s and are quite a bit cheaper - I paid £27 per tyre and the cheapest GP5000 I could find was £37. Not ridden them much yet, but they roll better than the Gatorskins I have on my winter bike. I’ve also ridden Rubino Pro’s in the past and have been quite impressed by them.

Jamesh wrote:Yes they would be a good upgrade perhaps not as dramatic as yours were! Robin pro are a good mid level tyre whilst the gp5000 are top drawer tyres imho.

Could she run it without guards during summer and the switch back to the older / smaller tyres for winter

Cheers James

Or even with clip on mudguards. I recently replaced the tyres on one of my daughter's Trek road bike. I have used GP 4000s for years on my road bikes and now use GP5000s. I opted for Conti 28mm Ultrasports for her as this is her everyday bike for use in London and I figured she'd be better off with something a bit more robust. However they seem to be a good quality tyre and she's delighted with the performance improvement (although that might have something to do with me giving the bike a good service at the same time ) I fitted a pair of clip on mudguards that I had going spare at the same time, hence my above comment.

chris_suffolk wrote:I run Durano Plus on my winter bike, and GP4000's (predecessor to 5000) on the summer one. The Conti's are lighter and roll (much) better. Grip is very good, wet or dry and they last quite a while if looked after. This bit's important, as they are quite fragile - side walls in particular - and they can get cut VERY easily. Smooth, grit and debris free, roads are great, but anything other than that and you have to be careful how you ride them. So, so long as you are careful where you ride - they will be a great upgrade.

100% agree. GP5000s are stunningly fast. Round me though the geology is flinty and winter rides will write off a tyre rapidly from cuts. I use them for summer only, when they are a delight.

GP 5000s are very fast, and very light. They are also about as resilient as a stripe of toothpaste. It’s the ‘pay off’ you get for having the ‘black chilli’ compound. If the bike is ridden on anything worse than a pretty good quality tarmac surface, they’ll be so full of cuts and holes, they’ll probably look like Swiss cheese after a few hundred miles. The same problem occurs if you ride with the bike heavily loaded. They are marginally better than the 4000 sII, but they are still shockingly fragile ( given the cost ). If you don’t do many miles / loaded miles, and in good surfaces, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, if you do lots of loaded miles, on varying quality surfaces, get used to fixing punctures, and repairing cuts.

I decided against GP5000s based on how fragile the sidewalls on GP4000s were.Brilliant tyres but the sidewalls are like tissue paper.I found I was constantly pulling off dangly bits of rubber.
I'm currently using Hutchinson Fusion 5 on my 'best' bike and they seem to be as good as the GP4000s without the downsides.

Thanks for the replies, some food for thought. My daughter is not an out and out racer and occasionally strays off road onto reasonable quality (but stony) canal paths so maybe the GP5000's wouldn't be the best choice.

I'll give it some more thought, cheers

Only have experience of the Schwalbes in 26 x 1.35" size, so not sure how relevant, but I find the Durano grippy and light and fairly puncture resistant but not that fast rolling. Also had a Rubino Pro 26 x 1.3" too for a while but it would not seat properly on the rim and the rubber perished really quickly.

Have tried Conti GP 4 season and Gatorskins in 700x28. I found lots of punctures occurred with the gators once they were part-worn, while the 4 seasons have been better (only used on the front) but are considerably narrower than the Gators fitted to the same, narrow rim, i.e. 24mm wide whereas the Gators are 26mm, fitted to a 13.5mm internal width rim.

I usually use Panaracer Pasela PTs in 700C for winter riding, they are reasonably light and puncture proof but I'm sure not as fast rolling as the tyres you are considering.

Funny how we have different experiences of the same products. I feel like I’ve fallen for the hype on GP 5000s, having treated myself to a pair of 28s - perhaps I need to ride them more, but not bowled over so far. More grippy, yes but not in a way that makes a difference. I wish if anything that I’d waited for the transparent variant. I wonder if they’re better as 25s?

My main winter bike runs Gator Skins, also 28s, which keep the P fairy away. Paselas (that gum wall look again) seem pretty puncture prone IME, but maybe that’s just rotten luck. I use some Scwalbe 23s in summer, but if I run into gravel patches at speed, I can get snakebite flats (not strictly a puncture), from hitting a stone.

David9694 wrote:Funny how we have different experiences of the same products. I feel like I’ve fallen for the hype on GP 5000s, having treated myself to a pair of 28s - perhaps I need to ride them more, but not bowled over so far. More grippy, yes but not in a way that makes a difference. I wish if anything that I’d waited for the transparent variant. I wonder if they’re better as 25s?

My main winter bike runs Gator Skins, also 28s, which keep the P fairy away. Paselas (that gum wall look again) seem pretty puncture prone IME, but maybe that’s just rotten luck. I use some Scwalbe 23s in summer, but if I run into gravel patches at speed, I can get snakebite flats (not strictly a puncture), from hitting a stone.

I just paid roughly £15 extra per tyre for the transparent ones. Madness really. Haven’t ridden them yet, but they do look nice. The 28s measure up at 27mm on my wheels, exactly the same as the “25mm” Michelin Pro 4 Endurance V1s that I was using. Only 10g lighter (232g) too.

I like pro 4 tyres but they don't fit either of my carbon bikes.

I've had them on my winter bike but took them off as didn't want to ruin them.

Perhaps they should go on my Raleigh spdu bike.

Cheers James

I've just put some on my commuter last night, after riding into work this morning, I can confirm the answer is yes.

What i had on were not shabby, 28mm Panaracer EVO D. swapped for 32mm GP 5000's.

As they are sat on 20mm Rims, and i'm 110kgs so i suspect the 4mm makes a big difference, but honestly the bike felt like it was riding itself.

I've been Panaracer on everything for ages, Unless i'm wearing out something else which has come my way for 'free'. I might be revisiting that after this morning.