It's been a long time coming. After years and years of resisting, German tyre giant Continental has finally converted and launched its first set of tubeless tyre, the Grand Prix 5000 TL.
Every road cycling tyre and wheel brand worth its salt has progressed in the last few years and introduced a range of tubeless-ready rims and tyres for those looking for an option between clincher or tubular.
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Continental was the last big player to hold out.
Why did Continental hold out for so long? Well, it's a collection of reasons.
People convert to tubeless for a few reasons but they mainly revolve around the appeal of doing away with an inner tube that allows you to, firstly, run lower pressure in the tyre, therefore increasing the contact point with the road helping grip and comfort, while also completely doing away with the worry of pinch flats.
However, the German brand often argued that while this was very useful off-road - where tubeless has ubiquitously been accepted - there wasn't a significant enough advantage in terms of performance to justify the development of tubeless technology on the road.
Continental has also been wary of the lack of an industry standard when considering tubeless tyres and rims. Widespread are reports of tyres being too small for rims, making it impossible to seat or vise versa, a tyre to slack that pops off the rim when inflated, all because the industry fails to work to an agreed standard. It was a big deterrent for the German brand.
Finally, with the GP4000 SII, it had the world's best selling tyre, universally accepted as the best all-rounder on the market, offering just the right mix in terms of rolling resistance, weight, puncture protection and mileage.
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However, having long worked on the development of its newest clincher tyre, Continental believes it has developed four technologies that finally allows it to release a tubeless tyre that will reach the company's gold standard.
As Continental's head of research and development puts it, 'after 14 years of the GP4000 being the best all-round road tyre on the market we have developed four new technologies that have not only improved the best clincher wheel in the world but also enabled us to release the best tubeless wheel on the market,'
'Continental wanted to do it right. We developed tech for the new clincher first, using our experience from the GP4000, before then transferring this across to tubeless.'
You see, Continental is not only releasing a tubeless tyre today but also a clincher model too, the GP5000, which is key in the development of its tubeless sibling.
Improving the best
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The brand new Continental GP5000 clincher is claimed to improve on all aspects of the GP4000 SII, the world's best-selling road tyres, as Continental explains.
‘We have worked for a long time on this. We had to turn the entire system inside out and go deep into the physics of what makes a great tyre as we already had the GP4000 that, while old, is still regarded as the best all-round tyre out there.'
Thanks to the development and improvement of four individual technologies within the tyre, Continental believes that its latest iteration has 12% improved rolling resistance, 20% more puncture protection, is 10g lighter a tyre and is also more comfortable.
'The big step in this process was not so much the development of tubeless but the improvement of technologies to increase the entire package. Not just rolling resistance, grip or mileage but the entire package,' says Continental.
'We assessed all different compounds, puncture protection tech and also developed a system called Active Comfort.'
The first of these technologies is fairly familiar, Continental's trademark Black Chili compound, the combination of rubber which it attributes as the reason for 'excellent grip, higher mileage and efficient rolling'. It says that this compound has received a minor overhaul, improving all three aspects slightly from its previous GP4000 tyre.
Continental has also developed 'Lazer Grip'. A brand new lasered micro profile structure that has introduced a rougher pattern tred for increased contact with the road that then spills over the shoulder of the tyre to improve traction in the corners.
Next is 'Active Comfort', a layer embedded within the tyre that Continental promises absorbs road shock and smooths road surface although it seemed particularly coy in revealing what makes this so.
Lastly, and arguably most importantly, is Vectran Breaker. A material we have seen before in Conti tyres, it’s synthetically-produced 'high tech’ fibre that provides a final layer of material between the inner case of the tyre and outside forces looking to cause punctures. It’s also the material that Continental attributes as a key factor in producing a ‘market-leading’ tubeless tyre.
‘With Vectran Breaker, we believe that Continental tyres are ready to go tubeless on the road because we will not just be relying on sealant to prevent punctures but now also this extra material’ says Continental.
Continental concedes that this does add overall weight to the tyre leaving them at 600g for a pair, around 50g heavier than a set of Schwalbe One tubeless tyres, he believes that the added puncture protection more than makes up for the deficit. He also routinely reminds that this is an all-round tyre rather than a race tyre, therefore, demoting weight away from a primary concern.
Admittedly, the issue of rim and tyre standards is far from a solution, with Continental labelling the issue as ‘chaos’ - as ongoing discussions continue between brands - but believe that all of its tyres, after testing on most of the industries rim options, will fit on every tubless-ready rim.
Sizing for the tubeless and clincher GP5000 buck no trend with the former available in 25mm through to 32mm and the latter ranging from 23mm again up to 32mm. Both will also offer a 650b option in 28mm, too. Pricing is also on trend at ¢74.99 a tyre for tubeless and ¢65.99 for clincher although, like most tyre manufactures, expect this to be lower when hitting shelves, which will be as soon as Friday 9th November.
There will also be Continental sealant available, adapted from its existing mountain bike range, but details on this also remain light.
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Notably, and something Continental kept somewhat under wraps, was that as of now it will be ceasing production of all GP4000 units in its German headquarters. While this may seem minor considering it has produced a GP5000 clincher which is likely to be all but indecipherable from the GP4000, this could produce a collective moan from the thousands upon thousands of riders who religiously ride on the GP4000 SII.
The final question seems to be: with Continental finally making the switch to tubeless, is this the watershed moment in which tubeless tyres on the road is finally accepted.
Personally, I think it’ll be another nudge but not the tipping point in making tubeless ubiquitous on the road as the road cycling industry is a market that is suspect for being resistant in adopting new technology - just look at the furore 1x has caused!
Continental is also wary and Continental's head of research and development, who admits he is also still to convert over to tubeless, is not convinced the road market is fully ready to make the switch. He does admit though that he hopes ‘Continental converting to tubeless would be enough of a move to create a major shift in road tyre purchasing, as it would prove their place as the best road tyre manufacturers in the world.’
Earlier this week, Cyclist Magazine visited Tenerife for the launch of the Continental GP5000 clincher and TL. While there, we got the chance to put the tubeless version through its paces up and down the stunning sloped of Mount Teide. Click through to the next page to see our report on this latest set of rubber
Continental GP5000 TL first ride
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How much can you tell from a new set of tyres in just 44km? Honestly, not a lot.
Continental promises a lot from its new GP5000 TL and Cyclist was lucky enough to see if the German tyre giants were true to its promises on a recent ride on the Canary Island of Tenerife. The largest of the Canary Islands, you're likely to spot Chris Froome (Team Sky) and Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) out riding on a winter training camp thanks to a peak that dominates the landscape, Mount Teide.
A monumental mountain, the now-dormant volcano soars above 2,500m at its highest peak combining the thin air, a handily place hotel and permanent sunshine to create the altitude camp of choice for many of the WorldTour’s biggest and brightest Grand Tour general classification contenders.
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From the bottom, you can rarely see the mountain’s peak as its wrapped in a soft layer of cloud spun around the former volcano’s entrance. This creates a ride of two halves with the bottom, below cloud level, often overcast and chilly with damp roads while the top is a sun-blessed affair that is quite surreal if you have never been above the clouds before.
The slopes of Teide, especially near the top, are pretty barren reminiscent of the landscape seen in Enzo Morricone spaghetti westerns with cacti and hardened trees the only things sprouting from the scorched earth.
If you start at sea level, the climb of Mount Teide can be a whole day affair, totalling over 40km of riding. Thankfully, Continental drove us just 12km from the summit before dropping us off with our bikes to complete the climb on two wheels.
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The Continental GP5000 TL tyres that I was set to test had been attached to a brand new and unridden Cannondale SystemSix - the American’s first exploration into the aero bike market - fitted with mechanical Shimano Dura Ace Disc and Knot deep-section carbon wheels. Ultimately, a stiff race machine that would likely profit from the added comfort provided by tubeless although struggle with weight with its heavy deep-section disc wheels and thicker tubing.
Unfortunately, for the first 12km uphill, little could be said for the tyres due to a silky smooth road surface that had been laid out across the entire climb.
Teide is a steady climb and its gradient of around 6% causes little dramas if you ride within your limits. The occasional few hundred metres out of the saddle to stretch the legs was taken but besides that, a smooth tempo was more than enough to roll you along quite quickly.
The new tyres let off a mellow buzz as they comfortably rolled over the perfect road surface and despite even dropping out of the large group due to seatpost slip and climbing alone for a bit, free from small talk and deep in thought about the tyres, I really couldn’t help but feel I was learning little about the new tubeless rubber.
They felt smooth and comfortable, allowing me to glide on the climb despite just 80psi and my 90kg off-season, rugby-playing frame, but the tarmac was flawless and I wasn’t going fast enough to pass judgement on the grip at this point.
Continental will be happy to note I wasn’t rueing the extra 50g it concedes to competitors, which is a miniscule disadvantage for us weekend warriors who are far from pro rider weight, as a bike designed largely for flat and fast roads coped nicely heading uphill.
As for punctures, the collection of 30-odd worldwide journalists and Instagram influencers - sigh - reached the highest point of the day 2,100m up, 14km from the start without nobody succumbing to a flat.
Every up has a down
Luckily, for every up is a down and it was on the long and technical descent of Teide that I got to really see what the GP5000TL is all about.
The final 25km of the day’s riding would take place on a downhill that twists and turned its way down the mountainside in long, sweeping bends that begged you to keep high speed towards the top and tighter, snaking corners at the bottom that really tested the grip of your tyres as much as your confidence in handling a bike.
In this 30 minutes or so of flow down Teide, I began to buy into Continental’s new Lazer Grip technology and famous Black Chili rubber compound.
While at the beginning of the descent, I continuously feathered the brakes into the corners trying to compete with a twitchy front end, after a while I became a bit more fluid in my riding, allowing the rubber underneath me to its job.
Before our ride the head of two-wheeled research and development at Continental, had explained to me that despite tyres often being limited to ’15% of contact point on the worst surfaces’, which equates to the same size a 1p piece ‘our latest Black Chili compound has found the perfect sweet spot in terms of optimal grip without effecting a rider’s power output significantly.'
With this in mind, leaning into the corners, I was trusting myself with more speed as the tyres failed to miss a beat, keeping me firmly planted to the ground at all times without eschewing any speed. The tighter the bend, the more the tyres seemed to respond and even a few misjudged switchbacks did little to skittle the tyres from underneath me.
After half the descent, we broke the cloud line, going from blazing sunshine to hanging dark clouds that was spitting drizzle. Not ideal for most rides except, of course, when you are testing new tyres.
On the damp surface, the tyres were just as responsive and while I didn’t take as many risks I wasn’t demoted to being Bambi on Ice and felt just as planted as I had in the dry. The tyres even did the job of swerving me safely out the way of two massive (and I mean massive!) boxer dogs that had escaped their owner's farm and come to give a collection of cycling journalists a fright.
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What also impressed was that the lack of tube and lower pressure seemed to affect rolling resistance minimally. At one point on the descent, the road opened up for quite a while, completely straight and completely clear. This tempted me to let go of the brakes, crank the 52/11 a few times and tuck down onto the bars to test the speed.
It helped that I was riding an incredibly aero machine in the SystemSix that forces you into going fast, but the tyres provided no barrier at all in helping to reach a maximum speed of just shy of 90km/h.
By the bottom of the descent, as we stood roadside exposed to the deteriorating elements in waiting for our coach to pick us all back up, I realised that in terms of initial impressions, I could barely decipher a difference between the GP5000 TL and the previous GP4000 SII in terms of comfort, grip and rolling resistance, which is a compliment as the GP4000 SII was almost faultless in what it offered.
The only thing I can not relay to you reader is how the tyre performs when it comes to puncture protection and durability.
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With only one ride on Tenerife’s roads (which, at times, truly resemble the surface of a billiards table), I was far from at risk from an untimely puncture and would have been very unlucky if I had caught a flat. One ride also fails in giving you any baring in durability and mileage that the tyre is going to give you.
Give me the upcoming winter on the honestly awful road surfaces of outer London and Kent with its low-hanging trees and permanent grit, and then ask me whether the tyres are durable and whether the Vectran Breaker technology, which Continental labels as its ‘strongest and most protective material ever’, is actually any good. As of now, I don’t yet have the answer.
I could hazard a guess and say that if it shares like for like durability and puncture protection with the GP4000 then it will be absolutely fine, but that would just be a guess, so only time will tell. Maybe check back next year once Cyclist gets round to giving these tyres the proper once-over.
