S-Works Turbo mounted to my awesome ENVE 45 clinchers
I have trained on, raced on, recommended Conti GP4000S tyres for the past 2-3 years with great all round durability, relatively good handling and speed to their durability. In my opinion no other tyre I had tried ticked all 3 boxes as high as these Clincher tyres.
I had tried the previous edition Specialized S-Works tyres last year and managed to get 2 different punctures in 2 days on a brand new pair. Not what my faithful Conti's had ever done. Hey it might have been bad luck, but they definitely werent going to be for me for an everyday tyre. Sure the S-Works seemed to handle better than the GP4000S's but I wasn't keen on changing tyres every 1000kms or so.
My 2012 S-Works Venge came with the Specialized S-Works tyres as standard on them and I just figured I would ride them until they cut up and wore out. Hey who throw's out new tyres?
I was really impressed with how they handled again and their feeling to me, of low rolling resistance and speed whilst still being comfortable to ride on. I had put in 1000 odd kms and was surprised to see they were still cut and nick free both front and rear and hadn't missed a beat. This through the wet weather that Melbourne had through winter, that usually destroys my tyres.
2000kms in and Damo and I were both commenting on how much better they were than the last time we tried them. So I did a little research and remembered meeting a German guy last year at a Specialized launch and that he had previously worked at Continental as their R&D guru. the penny dropped, these were his new tyres for Specialized. Wolf Vorm Walde is his name so I googled it and came up with this interesting little interview that Jared Gruber did with him at Peleton magazine
Place http://pelotonmagazine.com/Chatter/content/18/849/Wolf-Vorm-Walde in your browser if the link doesn't work.
Now almost 3500kms in, still no punctures, the back tyre is starting to show signs of debris having a go at the tyre and is starting to square off a bit. Super impressed with them thus far and have absolutley no hesitations in recomending these to anyone wanting a high performance Racing tyre that you can leave on to train with.
The 2 items on my bike that I am most attached to and would never thought I would change are my Specialized Romin saddle and what were my GP4000S.
With these new tyres -No more GP4000S for me.
Leigh
700x23c standard.
Suppliant 220 tpi with Blackbelt Puncture protection is working for me.
The biggest cut in the tyre and its still didnt puncture!
Hard to show the squaring off.
These babies RRP at $99 each but at Hampton Cycles we are doing introductory pairs at $140. Come in and give them a try. You wont be dissappointed.