Anti404

I'm interested in buying some new tires and found the Continental Attack/Force set with the "Black Chili" compound available for under eighty dollars. If I plan on light commuting and three or four two hour rides a week, would these be good value tires? Also, would their be compatibility issues with their size (22 front, 24 rear) and my current (Shimano WH-550) or planned (Fulcrum Racing 7) wheels?

However, I've also found Continental GP 4000S(with the same "Black Chili" compound or just the standard GP 4000) tires in a local cycling store. With shipping and discounts taken into account, I don't think their is any price difference.

So, which do you think would be the better choice for light commuting and a few two hour a week rides? Durability is the key concern, as my current tires don't seem to cut it.

cedricbosch

You should ONLY get the attack/force set for racing or racing/light training. They are fantastic tires but wear very quickly because they are so grippy. For commuting, you should consider nothing other than the Conti Gatorskins. These things last forever and are so puncture-proof you start to wonder if they aren't made out of cast iron.\

Edit- Fwiw, I had the RH-550 wheelset and found conti tires very hard to mount on them. Not impossible, but definitely harder than usual.

Anti404

I'm not a fan of this wheelset, and it seems difficult to mount my current tires(Conti. Ultra Sport) on them; however, I've never used any other wheels so I can't use any sort of relative example.

Are https://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Triathlon/...et/5360028016/ the Gatorskins you speak of?

intence

I recently mounted Michelin Lithions on the RH-550 with similar results, lots of cursing, yelling, and sore fingers. Not sure if it was the particular wheelset, but it was definitely NOT easy to mount tires on it.

So if the Gatorskins are great for commuting and the Attack/Force are for racing, are the GP4000s a good all-round tire?

merlinextraligh

IMHO, there's precious little difference between 4000s and the Attack/Force (except some ugly ass lettering)

The Force is 24mm wide, and the Attack is 22mm. The 4000s is 23mm. In my experience 2 4000s perform pretty similarly to a set of Attack/Forces.

superslomo

Your idea of what constitutes commuting vs. all-around vs. racing/training etc. has a lot to do with the kind of conditions/roads/miles you are likely to encounter.

I am a decent sized dude, and encounter sufficient potholes and glass everywhere I go that I wouldn't chance the attack/force combo, and just ride gatorskins both for the utility beater and the fun bike. Haven't had any complaints as of yet... but if you have clean and smooth roads, and you weigh 150 lbs, your decision would likely be very different from mine.

Rob P

I think it comes down to your preference. Some people like a wider rear tire, and in some cases this makes a lot of sense - mostly for racing. More of your weight is over the rear wheel, more tire leads to better power transfer.

Some highlights

Continental Attack & Force - Wider rear tire, and sticker front. Double vectran puncture strip on rear tire for reduced flats (this make sense - a majority of my flats happen in the rear). Official Site

Continental Grand Prix 4000 S front/rear the same (700x23), one vectran puncture strip each. Can replace one tire at a time. Official site

I personally would go for the 4000S in your case. If you are using this for commuting then you are likely going to need to replace one tire. Say you blow out the rear with a nice 2inch gash. You can put the new tire on the front and rotate the older to the rear. It's hard to get your hands on just one of the attack/force tires.

If you were just racing, the attack/force set is great to use, the front is sticker.

Hope that helps,
Rob

Anti404

So apparently Attack/Force is the less viable of the two.

However, is GP4000S, Conti. Gatorskins, or GP4S the best for my needs?

As I'm living in a college town commuting is fairly bicycle-friendly, so take that into account. It is also very hilly/not flat; I'm not sure if this piece of information matters, but I figured it may so there it is.

merlinextraligh

And this is based on what, other than marketing? All 3, Attack, Force and 4000S use the black chili compound. And any tread difference is just window dressing.

johnvale

I had a set of Attack/Force tires. After about 800 miles, long cracks developed in the sidewalls. I was told that this was a common and well known problem

Quiz Man

I have some GP 4000 doing this. What was the reccomendation?

531Aussie

Attack/Force are slow. On this test they rated slower than the Ultra Gators:
https://ddata.over-blog.com/xxxyyy/0/...her-specs.html

With the GP4000S, it looks like Continental has finally made a clincher which is half-decent, but I bet they still square off, like the GP3000 did. On this test, the GP4000S tested about the same as Pro Race 2s and 3s:

https://www.biketechreview.com/tires/...sting_rev7.pdf

merlinextraligh

^ dated. The Attack/Force have been improved since that test . Essentially the same tires and the 4000S, just that the front is slightly narrower,and the rear slightly wider, and different tread (which is meaningless)

StupidlyBrave 

I have all three (two bikes, three wheelsets). Based on what you are saying, I would recommend the Gatorskins.

531Aussie

oh, when did they 'fix' the Attack and Force? They were one of the worst 'race' tyres I've ridden. One of them -- I can't remember if it was the front or back -- handled so crappily that I thought there was something wrong with my wheel.

Ya know, I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't even make the grade on this test: https://www.biketechreview.com/tires/...sting_rev7.pdf

The bottom of the list is the sluggish GP3000, and it wouldn't exactly amaze me if the Attack/Force tested even slower than them

Anti404

I'm probably going to go with Vittoria Rubino Pros, actually.

MONGO!

I wouldn't, my wife has had the Slick and the Pro both sets developed cuts in a matter of weeks.

Vredestein makes great tires, the Ricorso is cheap and durable, the Fortezza Tricomp is more expensive.
Both will last thousands of miles with good puncture protection ( I average 1 flat per thousand miles)

yogi13

I'd opt for either the 4000s or gatorskins based on how messy/trashy your roads are. I'd also recommend checking prices and availability on probikekit.com vs. buying from your lbs. Last I saw the 4000s were around $33 per, no tax and shipping charged to the US.

RichinPeoria

I really like my Conti Ultra Race tires. The rear is wearing flat looks like it will last about 1000 miles. The front maybe twice that. I ride mostly rural and subdivision roads. No flats since I switched from Ultra Sports at the beginning of the season.

BHBiker

I am happy with my ATTACK/FORCE on my HED3s. I might try the ULTREMOs next though.

Flemz

Love my Attack/Force combo

merlinextraligh

2008 they added the Black Chili compound, and a vectran belt. https://www.all3sports.com/product_in...c4ebd7edc1da9a

I believe they are very similar now to 4000S, just the 4000s is 23mm, while the Attack is 22mm, and Force 24mm.

All the front/ back optimized tread is marketing huey.

Rolling resistence for the GP4000S is quite low. I would expect you would see similar numbers for the Attack/Force.
https://www.conti-online.com/generato...winner_en.html

nagsheadlocal

I switched from Hutchinson to Conti last year on the strength of the recommendations I read here. That turned out to be good advice - I have the Gator Skins on my commuter (Mavic wheelset) and the 4000s on a pair of Campy Photon wheels for weekend rides. Man, these are some smooth-riding tires and they seem to be wearing like iron - hell, it took me a couple rides to even wear out the little flash bead on the center strip!