Continental has added two new tires to its tubeless ready Grand Prix 5000 TR tire range, that sit alongside the existing GP 5000 S TR tire, increasing its range-topping tire offering.
Conti says that the GP 5000 AS TR tire’s increased puncture protection, grip and longevity make it a good option for training on poor roads and in bad weather. We've been out for a first ride on the new tires, so read on for our impressions.
The GP 5000 TT TR, meanwhile, is built lighter and faster rolling for time trial use.
Both tires will be used by Conti’s eight men’s and women’s sponsored WorldTour pro teams, including UAE Team Emirates, which swapped from Pirelli to Continental tires this year.
New Continental Grand Prix 5000 AS TR tire for all-weather riding
The new Continental Grand Prix 5000 AS TR tire is designed for all-weather use
(Image credit: Continental)
Conti says that the new Grand Prix 5000 AS TR tire provides the speed of its GP 5000 S TR tires, along with increased wet weather grip and the longevity and protection that are features of its longstanding Grand Prix 4 Season tire. It also offers tubeless and hookless bead compatibility, both of which the GP 4 Season tire lacks.
Conti’s Product Manager Alexander Hanke says that the brand has used a new sidewall construction to increase the GP 5000 AS TR tire’s robustness, tweaked its BlackChili rubber compound formulation to up wet weather grip and increased the tread thickness to boost the mileage potential. He says that the tire isn’t just for racers, but a good option for fast commuters and fast gravel bike users as well.
The new tire has an increased tread pattern over the standard GP 5000 S TR tire, a multi-layer carcass and additional sidewall protection. As with that tire, there’s a Vectran breaker for puncture protection and what Conti calls “Active Comfort Technology” that it says helps to absorb vibrations.
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All the tubeless ready Grand Prix 5000 range tires have 110 TPI carcasses, but the AS tire has four layers in the sidewall, rather than the three layers of the GP 5000 S TR tire.
The black tire isn't really black - its sidewalls reflect light in the dark
(Image credit: Continental)
If you prefer a non-black tire, the Grand Prix 5000 AS TR tire is available with cream-coloured sidewalls. Opt for the standard black and, although the sidewalls look black in daylight, they incorporate Conti’s Black-Reflex night-reflective tech to up your low light visibility.
The new tire is available in 700c 25mm, 28mm, 32mm and 35mm widths, giving plenty of options to fit frames with different tire clearances. Claimed weights start at 300g and the Euro SRP is €95.99.
For the moment, the new tire will be sold alongside the Grand Prix 4 Season tire, but Hanke says that Continental will assess whether the AS tire’s new tech and hookless/tubeless compatibility might eventually allow it to supersede the older tire.
UAE Team Emirates’s Davide Formolo says that it’s one of the options that the team expects to run at Strade Bianche, alongside the standard Grand Prix 5000 S TR, with the team likely to opt for the 32mm width over the standard 28mm option it uses for less arduous races.
The TT tire loses weight while still offering puncture protection
(Image credit: Continental)
As you’d expect from a time trial tire, the Grand Prix 5000 TT TR tire majors on low weight and reduced rolling resistance. But Conti says that this has been achieved without sacrificing puncture protection and tear resistance.
Conti’s Hanke stresses that the aim was to produce a tire that is fast, supple and light, but that also provides the puncture protection to always get you to the finish line. The sidewalls drop down to two 110 TPI layers from the three in the GP 5000 S TR tire, which Hanke says increases the tire’s suppleness.
The tire was previously released by Conti for use at the 2022 Tour de France as a limited edition in 25mm width only, but Conti will now add a 28mm width option. It has already notched up one notable success, with Filippo Ganna riding it to his new Hour Record in October 2022.
Conti says that the new Grand Prix 5000 TT TR tire is 35g lighter for a 25mm width than the standard Grand Prix 5000 S TR. It claims a weight of 220g for the 25mm tire and 235g for the 28mm width and suggests running a 25mm front and 28mm rear tire for lowest combined rolling resistance.
The new tire is tubeless-ready and hookless bead compatible with rims up to 21mm wide for the 25mm and 25mm wide for the 28mm.
Like the other GP 5000 tires, the Grand Prix 5000 TT TR uses Conti’s BlackChili compound and a Vectran breaker, and incorporates the brand’s Lazer Grip and Active Comfort technologies. Standard retail price is €108.95.
Both new Grand Prix 5000 TR tires are available immediately.
Continental Grand Prix 5000 AS TR tires: set-up and first ride impressions
The 25mm tires measured 23.8mm on 15.8mm internal width rims
(Image credit: Future)
Taking Conti’s new tires, in 25mm size, out of the box and unwinding them, the first impression is how stiff they are: notably more so than the Schwalbe Pro One summer tires I was replacing. Both front and rear tires weighed exactly 304g, so very close to the claimed 300g weight.
Getting them mounted on a set of (now obsolete) Shimano Ultegra RS700 C30 wheel rims wasn’t too difficult despite this and they actually seated pretty easily. I reached for a reservoir pump, but felt as if with a little more patience they might have mounted with a normal track pump.
The Shimano wheels’ rims are rather old skool at 15.8mm internal width, which affected the Grand Prix 5000 AS TR tires’ width, as they came up at a narrow 23.8mm. The narrow tyre width in turn meant that I upped my tire pressure by around 5psi to compensate.
As you’d expect, this resulted in a ride that felt significantly less compliant than on the tires I had replaced. I've subsequently dropped the tire pressure to my more normal range, when the ride has been much more pliant and comfortable, without feeling sloppy. I’ll be remounting them on some wider rims and re-measuring their width for further testing.
I was definitely impressed by the Grand Prix 5000 AS TR tires’ grip. On a selection of damp, slightly grimy back road climbs, it felt rock solid. I was unable to induce any hint of rear wheel slip even with out-of-saddle efforts on 12 per cent plus gradients. They also feel fast-rolling.
All of which bodes well for future testing on the grimiest, dampest back roads that the Chilterns can offer.
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Paul started writing for Cycling Weekly in 2015, covering cycling tech, new bikes and product testing. Since then, he’s reviewed hundreds of bikes and thousands of other pieces of cycling equipment for the magazine and the Cycling Weekly website.
He’s been cycling for a lot longer than that though and his travels by bike have taken him all around Europe and to California. He’s been riding gravel since before gravel bikes existed too, riding a cyclocross bike through the Chilterns and along the South Downs.
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