Continental Grand Prix Classic Tire Overview 1

The 2012 Continental Grand Prix Classic Tire is considered the little brother of the Grand Prix 4000 S and closes the previous gap in Continental’s Grand Prix Tire line. The Continental GP uses the same Black Chili compound found in the 4000 S. This compound takes as many tiny carob particles as possible and jams them into the tread of this tire. Due to all the carbon particles in this tire, the continental gp has a dramatically reduced rolling resistance and improved grip. In fact, it’s a full 30% more grip and 26% less rolling resistance. Together, the grip and lower rolling resistance allows this tire to be among the fastest clincher tires on the market.

The Continental GP uses the exact same puncture technology that Continental uses on their car tires. The technology is called “Poly-X Breaker” (the breaker just means there is a layer of Poly-X) and as you can guess, uses polyester. The polyester fibers have been very tightly weaved and crossed. This tight weave creates a very dense and impenetrable surface. You could ride the cobbled classics without worry of a tire puncture. You could also ride over gravel or broken glass and not have to worry about getting a flat.

It has been very popular over the past few years to bring back the classics. This is true for saddles and other manufacturers both in and outside of the cycling world. Continental gives the classics a node with a brown layer around the bead and Grand Prix Classic written in an old-style cursive. It is based on the Newcomer (which also had a brown sidewall) and the original Conti Sport-Profile from 1982. The thread per inch count is 180, so it’s not as high as the Continental Grand Prix 4000 S Clincher Tire. The tire is composed of three layers of material, the bas later, the Poly-X Breaker and the finale Black Chili compound.

Since it is a throwback to the classic (and it’s not the Conti Grand Prix 4000 S), we can expect this tire to weigh a little more. It weighs 230 grams and has a recommended PSI of 95 pounds with a max PSI of 120 pounds. It comes in the 700X25C size only, with the black tread and brown sidewalls. Thanks to the Black Chili compound, the continental GP does have the same estimated tread life of the Conti GP 4000 S (it’s at least 2500 miles and up to 4000 miles). The casing used is also less expensive and is not weaved as tightly as the 330 threads per inch count. It doesn’t need to be woven as tightly since they aren’t trying to pack as many threads per inch into the tire. The lesser thread count results in a less puncture resistant tire, but worry not! This tire can handle most road conditions, but we wouldn’t recommend riding over broken glass (try to avoid that if you can!) These tires, just like all from Continental , are handmade in Germany.