Continental Goes Tubeless With New Grand Prix 5000

Michelle Arthurs-Brennan rolls out on the tubeless version of the GP 4000’s successor

After 14 years and multiple different remakes, the Continental GP 4000, favourite tyre of a generation of riders, finally has a successor. What’s more, as the entire industry suspected it would, the new GP 5000 includes a tubeless option alongside the standard clincher. The German brand invited us out to Tenerife to take the tubeless set for a spin.

Finding the sweet spot

The relationship between grip and rolling resistance is something Continental focused on with the new tyre, with tests carried out both on drums in the lab and on the road to ensure real-life transfer.

The elements of the compound such as the Max Grip Silica and Carbon Black were tempered in the search for the Holy Grail.

Head of R&D, Edwin Goudswaard, said: “When we talk about grip, hysteresis — the memory effect of rubber compound, like a memory foam mattress — is an extremely important property. It needs to be high, to have the optimal grip, and it needs to be low, to not lose too much energy. You will lose watts if the hysteresis is too high, but you need it for grip.”

Goudswaard said the newest version of the Black Chili compound hits the optimum balance.