Weight Weenies

The latest from Continental: GP 4000 RS.

http://www.conti-online.com/generator/w ... rs_de.html

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From guessing the German it looks like a it has the casing of the 4000S including the Vectran belt, so the tread must be much thinner...? Maybe the same as the SS only with a Vectran belt.

Summary:
- Weight 175g!
- Claimed 15% less RR that the current GP4000S
- Same puncture resistance
- RRP 59.95 Euros
- Designed specifically for racing use
- Expected wear (life) is approx half the GP4000S
- 110TPI
- Limited edition only available in Black
- Available from June 09 onwards in stores

I can't read german well and this is their german website but near the bottom it says "Handmade in Germany" and then 2 lines below it "Black only!" What gives?

Stats wrote: Expected wear (life) is approx half the GP4000S

IMO this is a no brainer and I'm surprised that more companies don't do this. Just make the tread half as thick and sell twice as many tires...

Might be good to have an RS version Tubular.... seems a little strange for a clincher. But then maybe my german translation was poor.

Tyre shoot-out needed! Ultremo R versus G4000RS.

Ultremo R is being recalled and should not be ridden

Not all Ultremo R, only some http://www.schwalbe.com/gbl/en/homepage ... 568bfb6ef5

So I've always wondered... why not create the RS tire by starting with the S for a good 1000 training miles. When the tread's worn down a bit then it's magically transformed into a lightweight racing tire!! Just switch front and rear a few times to keep the wear even.

(ok, I know there are good reasons, but tire weight is certainly a moving target)

spiffomatic wrote:When the tread's worn down a bit then it's magically transformed into a lightweight racing tire!!

Truly. I could do this with my old front tires since they wear nicely. After about 5k miles the tread is pretty thin and the tire quite supple. Unfortunately the sidewalls look a bit frazzled too.

I've searched all over the internet. Where can I buy a set of thes 4000 RS?

Tour Magazine tested a bunch of tires lately. The Conto 4000R and 4000RS were among them. Their answer to this question is that the RS is just an R with a thinner thread. Better buy the R for improved puncture resistance and a solid 'light' weight @ 201 grams a piece.

Stats wrote:Summary:
- Weight 175g!
- Claimed 15% less RR that the current GP4000S
- Same puncture resistance
- RRP 59.95 Euros
- Designed specifically for racing use
- Expected wear (life) is approx half the GP4000S
- 110TPI
- Limited edition only available in Black
- Available from June 09 onwards in stores

The Conti website does not say the 'RS' has the same punctue resistance as the 'S'. On the contrary it says GP 4000 RS has less puncture resistance than GP 4000 S:

ausgestattet und erkauft sich seine Schnelligkeit durch einen etwas geringeren Pannenschutz im Vergleich zu seinem Bruder GP 4000 S.

... 5 months later

Sorry, I can't read or speak german... i just used google translate for the post i made and based it on this sentence from the webpage that was linked...

"Der minimierte Rollwiderstand des GP 4000 RS liegt ca.15% unter dem des Serientestsiegers Grand Prix 4000 S – bei gleicher Haftung!"

just trying to help people who didn't want to have to go to the effort of translating everything...

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