Stuff Reviewed: Continental GP4000S

Great tyre, shame about the fit.
by Nigel Dalton

It's hard to love a tyre after a frustrating 60 minutes spent vandalising a precious Campy neutron rim to wrestle one on. But 3 months after this purchase, and one further puncture (split valve seat - aaahhh!) I'm getting there.

Make no mistake - for tyre wear, stickiness, speed, ride quality, all the usual tyre characteristics, this is my top tyre choice. Getting it on and off my Campy rims? Give me a sandpaper chammy to ride any day.

Now first things first - yes, I finish with the valve. A habit of a lifetime, for which I've copped plenty of good-natured 'advice' from experts and I will still argue my point that it enables you to push the tube up and away from the rim should you be reduced to using a lever for the last few inches. Try that on the other side.

Picture 1 shows the result of the first 30 minutes of effort - hands only, having stretched the carcase like an old-school tubular as much as I could. It is nowhere near done. The next picture in the series represents a further 15 minutes effort, but it shows so little progress I've left it out. The next picture here is actually Picture 3 in the series!

Nothing to do but call NZ and the R+R helpline. 15 years ago I can recall actually abandoning in disgust a marriage of a Campy rim and a Conti tyre, and receiving the wisdom of ages that the Germans and Italians really just don't get along.

This time having parted with 22 quid each to Ribble and having drooled over how damn fine-looking these tyres are, I am not giving up!

All the time I am wrestling these things onto the rim, I am thinking one thing - what do I do on the road, knackered from the ride and needing the strength of Atlas to get it off, let alone back on again?

Robbo comes to the rescue with key tip number 1 - which to be fair I should have remembered from the motorcycling world where tyre changing involves huge levers and rack-like devices. Put some detergent on the bead!!

This one trick gets me to photo #3 featured above. It might not look like much, but it's a moon-shot away from the first result.

Thanks to some painful thumb dislocations while mountain-bike racing on filthy North Island mud-baths in the 1990s (temporary clicked in and out I'm pleased to report, but turning me into a grip-shift devotee instantly), I am very wary of using these digits to put tyres on these days. After 55 minutes of thumbs on these tyres I have used every trick I know - it now has to be the thing every cyclist dreads, the tyre lever to finish.

The yellow Topeak lightweight jobs fail instantly. It's down to the trusted Park Tools, and with a grimace the bead pops over the rim with a crack that sounds like a rifle. A neighbourly head pokes over the fence immediately - "you ok?" she asks. "Dunno yet" I respond - "if she doesn't pump up first time, I'll probably be quite ill indeed..."

Review Score:

Function: 6+ (10 on the road, 1 point for ease of assembly)
Form: 10 (big white type, minimalist black tread, little wear holes like a race motorcycle tyre, phwoarr...)
Price: 10 but only if you buy on the net. Expect to pay 3+ times the 22GBP I bought them for if you shop in a Melbourne bike shop.

Postscript: a blown valve seat forced the reluctant tester to have to remove the front tyre again 3 months after the initial fitting, and it was easier the 2nd time. The author is still puzzling over the right container to carry dishwashing liquid on the road however...