You may recall I posted a quick first impressions review of the Continental 4-Season tyres back in November of last year. Since then I have covered around 1500 miles through the English winter and now into Spring. So how have they fared?
Over the past months I’ve had the pleasure (?) of riding these tyres through all types of weather and varying road surfaces. There’s been the notoriously potholed and rough Surrey Hills, mud strewn single track lanes and everything that the English weather could have thrown at me (besides snow). The tyres have performed faultlessly, offering a marked increase in confidence over my summer tyres.
There is hardly a single cut to the tread or sidewall. The logos and brown cross-hatching of the Duraskin Wrap have faded somewhat (possibly a good thing) but structurally both front and rear are still in great condition. I’ve picked a few flints out of the tyres, but so far nothing has managed to penetrate the double puncture protection later. The rubber compound of the 4-Seasons seems much less prone to cuts than the GP4000S does.
In my initial review I noted that that when pushing hard the 4-Seasons felt a fraction slower than the GP4000S tyres. I still believe this, but it’s such an insignificant difference that it is hardly worth worrying about it, especially in the winter months when your average speed is affected more by other factors.
In fact, I have been so impressed by the Conti 4-Seasons tyres that I am seriously contemplating leaving them on my road bike permanently and saving the faster tyres for my race machine. After all, they are billed as “four seasons” not just for winter! They really are that good.
Pros
- Excellent grip levels in the cold and wet
- Confidence inspiring handling
- Hard wearing yet still comfortable to roll on
- Extra puncture protection layer over GP4000S tyres
- Bolstered sidewall damage protection
Cons
- Possibly more expensive that the competition (buy when on special)
- Not the best looking tyres
Tempo Cyclist - Tasmania 
I need some new tyres, what is the price range for these?
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The going rate online tends to be around £30-ish per tyre (a bit more in store). If you wait until a special deal comes around you can sometimes snatch up a pair for £50. Granted that’s still not cheap, but they’re a high quality road tyre.
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Actually that’s sounds fairly reasonable to me, if they’re as good as you say they are then it’s worth it.
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The Grand Prix GTs are worth a punt too, at about £35 retail. Only come in 25c, but there’s a lot to be said for that. Slightly heavier than the GP 4-Seasons though….
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Just ridden the Tour of Flanders sportive on the 4 Seasons – they do comfort and grip pretty well and I use them all year round due to the terrible state of Belgian roads.
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Awesome! That’s one hell of an endorsement for the tyres!
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I got a pair in 28mm for my cross bike a couple of years ago.. the group I ride with fortnightly covers 100 miles plus.. I took my rubino pros off.. and fitted these.. grip was fine, quick enough.. but the ride was appalling.. not an ounce of comfort.. i gave them another go over a century on a different route.. they now hang in the shed.. 218 miles on them… the vittorias aren’t as quick.. but the comfort is heaven sent when you go beyond 60 miles on UK roads. . I’m not a conti hater.. I’ve had good returns off attack and force and gp4000’s.. but the 4 seasons don’t do it for me
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Interesting. How do you rate the Conti Attack/Force pair compared to GP4000S tyres for fast stuff? Considered them for my TT bike last year but the 4000’s were on super special.
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I’ve been meaning to do a review of these for a while, so you’ve saved me some typing :-) Likewise I got them for the Winter (25mm) and was impressed straight off the bat – grip was so much better than the Conti Ultras or Scwalbes I was using. I’ve only had one puncture in around 2000km riding (a sharp stone at walking pace), but unlike you, I’ve noticed they have got ripped up pretty badly (quite a few 2-3mm cuts). Still, one of my Mavic Aksions on my ‘summer’ bike has split completely across the surface after only 1000km… maybe I should just learn to watch the road closer ;-)
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I guess the amount of cuts depend on the roads you ride on to a large extent! But the GP 4 Seasons are less prone to cuts than my regular GP4000S tyres, which are much more speed orientated.
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Reblogged this on Cycling 4 Idiots and commented:
I’ve been meaning to write a review of these tyres for months and not gotten round to it… as Tempo Cyclist has done the work for me I thought I’d reblog his fine efforts :-)
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