Conti GP 4000 bead seating problem

I never had a problem with the bead not seating. If anything, I have had trouble getting the bead off the rim. I would be very leery about riding the Blue Ridge Pkwy with those tires until I had a reputable bike shop look at them.

Have fun on the BRP. It gets to be a bear on the fourth or fifth uphill. At least for me, that is when the rush from going down started to not seem worth the work of the next climb.

Mish said:

I wanted to change both tires to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway while on a retreat. 8mph going up with worn tires is no problem but 40+ on the brakes on the way down is different. I tried to install the tires and couldn't get the bead to stay in the rim. Blew 2 tubes before I could get the tube to not pop out and explode.
Fortunately because of the time wasted I didn't get out and it started to rain.
The tires are seated at 110psi now and spinning smooth. Should I assume things are ok? The tires also seem high profile compared to my old Vredestein's.

just wanted to get it above the [censored]

back to the top

You are not alone in this! I bought a brand new pair of the GP 4000s tires and had the same thing happen with the rear tire, after less than 50 miles of riding. This was witnessed by another rider and we also noted the front was about ready to pop as well. Fortunately I was climbing slowly but would have been doing close to 40 mph in just a few minutes on the next downhill.

The bead WILL NOT SEAT properly on these tires; I mounted them on another set of rims, very carefully, and within two hours the bead had come away from the rim and was bulging, ready to pop. I was concerned because I was able to mount them using only my fingers, as the bead was that flexible. I took them off and will NOT use them again.

In comparing them with the Michelin Lithion, another folding bead tire, I could see the GP 4000s bead was thin and is unable to "catch" and lock into the rim properly.

Don't buy these tires, don't use them, if you value your safety. I am contacting Continental about this problem.

Like millions of cyclists world-wide, I consider the GP4000 a high-quality tire, the safest and best all-around choice for my riding style. Have been using them for years without an problems like you've encountered.

Are you sure you got new, first-quality tires? Did you buy them from a dealer? Perhaps you got a set of factory-seconds or old tires that had been improperly stored. If you got them from an LBS dealer, I'd certainly return them for exchange. Agree you should contact factory tech-support to get to the bottom of the issue. If they have produced defective tires, I'm sure they'll want get them back and have a look.

Continental is being very good about this; I worked with two different dealers trying to get the tires to seat and we could not work it out, so Conti wants the tires back and will warranty them. That's pretty cool, but of course it's cooler that I wasn't doing 40 mph downhill and have a front go off.[IMG]/img/vbsmilies/smilies/eek.gif[/IMG]

This kind of thing really almost never happens with car or motorcycle tires because of regulatory oversight, but with bicycle tires we are pretty much on our own. Got to inspect those tires and rims every ride.

BTW thanks for the thoughtful response.[IMG]/img/vbsmilies/smilies/icon14.gif[/IMG]

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by dhk2 [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

Like millions of cyclists world-wide, I consider the GP4000 a high-quality tire, the safest and best all-around choice for my riding style. Have been using them for years without an problems like you've encountered.

Are you sure you got new, first-quality tires? Did you buy them from a dealer? Perhaps you got a set of factory-seconds or old tires that had been improperly stored. If you got them from an LBS dealer, I'd certainly return them for exchange. Agree you should contact factory tech-support to get to the bottom of the issue. If they have produced defective tires, I'm sure they'll want get them back and have a look.