zymphad

Hello,

Was looking for feedback on these, ride quality and durability. Riding GP4000S right now, but it's getting torn up from the glass around here. For whatever reason, been a number of car accidents and they don't clean up the glass and the bars continue to throw glass on the road, don't know why they do that.

Found a pair of Michelin Pro 4 Endurance 25 for $68, thinking of buying them. Kenda announced their Kountach Endurance months ago, but still no release, so not going to wait for those. Read a review of the Pro 4 Endurance, 225grams each with puncture resistance with similar feel to other Pro4? Tempting.

seymour1910

I like them and they do provide a nice ride. They are a durable tire but I'm not sure of any tire that would hold up to constant trips over glass.

$68 is a solid price and you will be getting a fine tire but I also think you should try and talk to someone and see if the city can do something about the glass.

zymphad

Yeah it may just that I'll have to buy tires more frequently as they get torn up. Even though I try to avoid it as much as I can. It's a shame since the GP4000S treads are still good other than the myriad of small slashes in them. It hasn't even been a full summer yet and I'm starting to worry that the slashes will increase in size and number as debris gets in them.

I also want to stay away from the full tread studded monster tires like Armadillo or Durano etc. Michelin Pro 4 Endurance I'm hoping are more durable than GP4000S while maintaining that smooth ride?

Yeah it's a weird area. Read that per population, have the most bike shops. But overall attitude to cycling is awful and no accommodations have been made for cyclists. Marblehead has, but that's about it for Northshore in MA. Few accident sites, they left entire windshields, after month and half still there. I know some have contacted city to clean it up, but they don't care. Crap fall out of trucks like pottery, so there are ceramic shards all over as well, no clean up either.

And in front of bars, don't get why people are throwing glass.

BoSoxYacht

Why are you riding downtown? There are great roads all over Cape Ann, and throughout the Topsfield, Boxford, Rowley, and Ipswich areas.

zymphad

To get there you have to ride through downtown occasionally. Also commuting. I'll be going on a group ride through Topsfield and Ipswich tomorrow. My normal route is through Manchester/Gloucester. I go through center of town for all my routes. The car accidents and debris have been on roads beyond downtown btw.

SundayNiagara

And you haven't been to Hialeah Fl., where the roads are a virtual junkyard.

zymphad

Do you ride Michelin Pro 4 Endurance through that?

SundayNiagara

No, right now, I just have a 7 speed beater. I'll get a road (Felt) bike later this year and will simply stash it in the back of my Cherokee and take it across the river into Miami Springs, where the roads are nice and clean AND there is a dedicate bike path.

zymphad

Bike paths are hazardous though. Filled with pedestrians and slow cyclists who are often morons. Dodging them sucks.

SundayNiagara

These are lightly used and I don't intend to set any records.

PaulRivers

I believe there are tires with more flat protection than the gp4000's, but without going overboard into bad ride quality like the Schwalbe Marathon Plus's or some versions of the Specialized Armadillo's. I've read good things about the Continental 4 seasons. I know there are some versions (they have a million versions) of the Specialized Armadillo's with good ride quality but good flat protection.

I think the All Condition Armadillo Elite is their balls-to-the-wall max flat protection model -
Specialized Bicycle Components

But the Roubaix Armadillo Elite is their "balance flat protection with ride quality" model -
Specialized Bicycle Components

Brian Ratliff

I've got several pair. Good tires. Better than the PR2 which was my former go-to tire. I heard enough things about the durability of the PR3 that I skipped that generation.

Standard caution about these being racing/competition tires and all though. Don't expect them to hold up as well as commuter or touring tires.

Carbonfiberboy 

Ours have held up exceptionally well on our tandem. Our streets are also nasty with glass and flints. We stopped using the 4000s long ago because of glass cuts. The PRO4E are much more resistant to cuts, the best we've found. Not impervious to flats, just maybe one order of magnitude better.

fstshrk

Specialized Roubaix Elite Armadillo would be good for the conditions you describe.

Jseis 

I've about 700 miles on a pair of 23 mm MP 4E including 200 in the recent STP. Bike and I are about 215 all up.

I rode them at 105-110 psi. They took a bad concrete chuck hole dead on (the kind with a sharp edge) and numerous railroad crossings, shoulder glass, chip seal, etc and I've no issues. My bikes pretty stiff so I always go light hands if there's a nasty hole/crossing coming up.

sbxx1985 

Pro4s are an improvement in flat protection. After 1000 miles, the Pro3s would have slices and little holes all over. You didn't flat as much as you think you would, but it wasn't great by any means.

I think the Pro4 Endurance is the old Krylion. Plenty of reviews there.

revchuck 

I'm currently using the 25c version, which measures 27mm on my Open Pro rims. The current set went on in February, and has seen a crit and a TT in February, a 103 mile road race with 20+ miles of gravel and lots of bad pavement in March, a crash (my fault, touched a rear wheel with my front in a race) which took me off the bike for six weeks, and a TT, crit and road race a couple of weeks back, plus a couple of thousand miles of training. The rear tire is noticeably squared off now; if I weren't racing, I'd leave it on until the threads show, but I'll move it to my spare wheelset in a couple of weeks so I'll have a new tire on the back for my last couple of races this summer. My guess is that there's about another thousand miles in the rear tire. The front is still in good shape. I weigh 185 and run 90 psi in the front and 100 psi in the rear.

bruin11

Why would you spend $68 for these tires when you can get them from the UK for $30 each.

Michelin Pro 4 Endurance Folding Tyre, TYRES ROAD/TRI/TRACK FOLDING

seymour1910

Not bad at all....I usually get mine from ebay and the $8 difference doesn't bother me as I get them in 2-3 days instead of two weeks to maybe a month. Great deal if someone is stocking up on them though. Thanks for the link.

revchuck 

Plus eight dollars shipping.

I bought seven last winter from PBK because the 25s were almost always out of stock there, and at that time Ribble didn't carry the 25s.

on the path

Previously on Contis, which split a sidewall, I now have about 3K miles on my Pro4 Endurance pair. First puncture last week. Still a fair amount of tread and no fabric showing through. I'm hoping to get maybe another 500 miles or so out of them. Good ride and rolling quality, I'm very happy with the Michelins. No more Contis for me..

bres dad

I have Endurance 4 tires on my '84 Paramount. The bike I think handles a little better than when I had some wire bead Performance Bike Forte's on it. I've put about 150 miles on them and they're holding up well. I'm considering getting a set for my Trek Domane.

caloso

Good tires. Training tires you can race on. Two thumbs up.

Shimagnolo

1. I've read reports that the Pro 4 Service Course in "25mm" actually measures 28mm, even on narrow rims.
Has anyone measured the Pro 4 Endurance?

2. How do these compare to Gatorskins?

Dunbar

The OP is asking about the PR4 Endurance which is a completely different tire than the PR4 Service Course. The Endurance model doesn't roll as well but is supposed to last quite a bit longer.