# Warranty info for Conti GP 4000 S?



## Swiper (Apr 22, 2012)

Who do I contact to get a warranty replacement for a Conti GP 4000 S tire? I bought a set from Amazon about 4 months ago. Now, barely 250 miles later one of the tires has a tear in the sidewall. The tire destroyed three tubes for me before I was able to locate the tear. Amazon tells me they can't help me and that I must call the manufacturer. I have been looking but can't find any info? Please help. Thanks.


----------



## froze (Sep 15, 2002)

Your not going to get it warrantied because the sidewall tear is from hitting an object on the road and not a flaw in manufacturing. This is typical of Conti tires due to their paper thin sidewalls. Welcome to world of listening to others who claim Conti tires are next to God. I too was once an idiot, I tried 3 different models of Conti, they all, except for one, suffered from sidewall failure due to something tearing them. And Conti tires are expensive, too expensive to be blowing wad of cash for new tire every 500 to 1200 miles! 

But Conti MTB tires are great and I swear by them...weird, but their road tires suck.


----------



## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

froze said:


> Your not going to get it warrantied because the sidewall tear is from hitting an object on the road and not a flaw in manufacturing. This is typical of Conti tires due to their paper thin sidewalls. Welcome to world of listening to others who claim Conti tires are next to God. I too was once an idiot, I tried 3 different models of Conti, they all, except for one, suffered from sidewall failure due to something tearing them. And Conti tires are expensive, too expensive to be blowing wad of cash for new tire every 500 to 1200 miles!
> 
> But Conti MTB tires are great and I swear by them...weird, but their road tires suck.


It would be more accurate to say that your experience with Conti road tires sucked. Many riders never experience the problems you have had. To generalize your experience to every rider on Continental is incorrect.


----------



## TT-CX (Aug 25, 2011)

I've put thousands of miles on Conti GP 4000 S always with good luck (just MY experience). The end of last summer I purchased two new tires from REI and had all kinds of sidewall issues with only a few hundred miles on them. 

REI gave me a refund no questions asked... 

Tires can have manufacturing issues, I've had team tire buys that had flaws. Its tough to argue when a buch of people all have the same flaws with the same modle of tires that most likely rolled out of the factory together. 

T


----------



## UpHillCrawler (Jul 14, 2004)

This issue has been detailed several times before. All you need to do is a google search on GP4000s sidewall problems to see all of the people that have had problems. It seems to be if you have good luck with the tires, they're great! If you have bad luck, they suck (and can be down right dangerous).

Anyway the detail on how to warranty the tires is in the thread below. Even if you bought them off AMAZON as long as they were purchased from a brick and mortar shop they should be able to warranty the tire for you. If not you're kind of screwed.

Also, there are a lot of Conty fanatics that will insist that you are at fault (because of brake rub, running over road debris or whatever) but don't believe them. Conty has a real QA problem with their road tires and if you get a defective one the sidewall will split all on it's own and it's not your fault.

Good luck with the warranty claim!

Here's the detail and the link from my experience with the GP4000s sidewall issue...
_
I called Conty today and they referred me to their US distributor, a company called Highway 2 'http://www.highwaytwob2b.com/contact.aspx'. When I asked them how to warranty the tire (after all it was used for barely over 10 miles) they told me that THEY don't deal with the customer, they only deal with the dealer that sold you the tire. Since I bought them from PBK (as most people know usually the best price) I sent an email to PBK indicating what my problem was and hoping that they will handle the warranty. _

_http://forums.roadbikereview.com/wh...sidewall-problems-297382.html?highlight=4000s_


----------



## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

Swiper said:


> Who do I contact to get a warranty replacement for a Conti GP 4000 S tire? I bought a set from Amazon about 4 months ago. Now, barely 250 miles later one of the tires has a tear in the sidewall. The tire destroyed three tubes for me before I was able to locate the tear. Amazon tells me they can't help me and that I must call the manufacturer. I have been looking but can't find any info? Please help. Thanks.


250 miles? good luck w/ that warranty...via the internet. the tire wouldn't have 'destroyed 3 tubes' if you'd inspected it properly after the first flat.


----------



## UpHillCrawler (Jul 14, 2004)

*Like I said...*

Swiper,

As you can see by my thread I had a similar issue that happened barely 10 miles into the first ride. I also went through a couple of inner tubes because the rip in the sidewall was not that noticeable until the inner tube was replaced / inflated and when you use a CO2 cartridge this happens in a couple of seconds before it pops. It wasn't until I was pumping up the tire by hand that my riding partner noticed the inner tube bulging out of the rip and we knew the tire was ruined.

It took some doing but PBK did warranty the tire which I will probably sell to one of the many Conty fanatics that swear that there's no way that Conty could EVER sell a defective tire (in spite of the hundreds of stories to the contrary...) 

I took a quick look on Amazon and it looks like Planet Cyclery supplies Amazon with their Conty tires, and they have a return policy so I would take it up with them. You might have to send the tire back, but if you have the original receipt they should warranty it. If they've been selling GP4000's tires for awhile I'm sure they've dealt with this before.

Best of luck with the return and don't let the 'experts' in this forum try to convince you that it's your fault! Conty has a real QA issue with this tire and you're just the latest in a LONG line of customers that have gotten burned.


----------



## bigbill (Feb 15, 2005)

Conti's could have better sidewalls, but I don't know how you'd tell the difference between a cut sidewall and a defect. I lost a tire two weeks ago to a cut sidewall, I was riding through debris on the shoulder and got a flat. The sidewall was cut up to the tread. I got home with a dollar wrapped around the tube to keep it from bulging out the cut. I like conti tires, with the exception of a few cut sidewalls, I typically ride them to the casing. The folding ultra gatorskin is one of the best all around tires available.


----------



## naawillis (Oct 6, 2004)

just take it back to your local bike sh..... oh wait :mad2:


----------



## moskowe (Mar 14, 2011)

Gotta love the whole "X brand of tyres sucks" fashion. A couple of years back it was Michelin Pro3s that had a terrible reputation, and everyone was yelling to switch over to GP4000. I used Pro3s for 2 years and never had a problem.
Now it looks like the same people who were dissing on Michelin are blowing up Contis (have personally ridden on both Gatorskins and GP4000, never had any problems). So my question is, what kind of roads exactly do you ride on ? I thought Texas roads were rough, but maybe you guys ride on nails, or glass...

By the way, one time going down a mountain my bike hit a crack and I got a double sidewall failure on Rubino Pros. I guess that means Rubino Pros suck.


----------



## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

naawillis said:


> just take it back to your local bike sh..... oh wait :mad2:


exactly!


----------



## triumph3banger (Jun 13, 2012)

Just by doing the work yourself, instead of taking it to a shop, could justify the cost of springing for a new tire! I'm not paying shop prices to do simple tire swaps.


----------



## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

triumph3banger said:


> Just by doing the work yourself, instead of taking it to a shop, could justify the cost of springing for a new tire! I'm not paying shop prices to do simple tire swaps.


the point that naawillis was making wasn't that the OP should have the shop install the tire for him, but that if he'd bought the tire at the shop he could take it back to them and they could deal w/ trying to get it replaced. since there is no LBS the OP has to do a bit more work.


----------



## triumph3banger (Jun 13, 2012)

Good point.


----------



## froze (Sep 15, 2002)

How would having a LBS install the tire prevent a blowout? The only thing that may have been discovered in doing that was finding a flaw in the tire, but if the mechanic just slapped it on and it held air and didn't inspect the tire afterwards then that would have done nothing except cost an installation charge. I don't think the tire was flawed, I think that because those sidewalls are the most fragile sidewalls on the market for non racing tires he nicked something on the road and cut it. A flawed sidewall would have presented itself upon initial air up most of the time, not 250 miles later showing a tear.

Conti road tires, except for the GatorSkin (though the Gatorskin is just a tad better then their regular road tires) and Hardshell models, are junk tires that are way over priced. I have had friends too that have had bad luck, but some have had good luck, but none that I know of have had multiple Conti tires and good luck on all of them.

I happen to like Conti MTB tires, so I'm not coming against Conti. I've used mostly Conti mtb tires for years (had one Kenda Kwest on the rear for a few years), and they have been great tires with rugged sidewalls that I never had failed even with all sorts of abrasions with rocks. But MTB'ing on paths present hazards where you can't say one brand is junk just because you caught the side of pointy rock that ripped the sidewall.

But Conti road tires sidewalls are paper thin. All any of you have to do is go down to an LBS that sells Conti and other brands and feel the sidewalls for yourselves and you will tell very quickly that Conti uses paper thin sidewalls that will be subject to tears. 

The whole thing goes back to why spend $60 for a tire that may last 1,000 miles more or less vs spending $40 for a tire that will last 5,000 miles. Of course I get $50 to $65 tires on sale for less then $35, but Contis and Specialized have price controls and rarely do they sell them on sale for more then 15% off.


----------



## SauronHimself (Nov 21, 2012)

froze said:


> Of course I get $50 to $65 tires on sale for less then $35, but Contis and Specialized have price controls and rarely do they sell them on sale for more then 15% off.


I just bought a pair of 4000S for $76.36 and then got $10 off through PBK. $38.38 per tire sounds like more than 15% off to me.

Have any of you guys ever tried super gluing a cut sidewall? If so, what were the results?


----------



## scottma (May 18, 2012)

I've seen enough of these threads to make me question the 4000s sidewalls. That being said, I've never had any issue. I put about 1000 mi on a set of 23c and switched them out in favor of the 25c version. I ran those for well over 6000 mi and had just one flat in that period (about 1.5 yr). A couple people I ride with run them and I havent heard of any complaints either. I have a fresh set of 25c on a new bike with CF rims. Ill be keeping an eye on the tires, but am not overly concerned.


----------



## froze (Sep 15, 2002)

SauronHimself said:


> I just bought a pair of 4000S for $76.36 and then got $10 off through PBK. $38.38 per tire sounds like more than 15% off to me.
> 
> Have any of you guys ever tried super gluing a cut sidewall? If so, what were the results?


Can't read? I said rarely. Almost all those deeper sales from those two names are for tires that are already 2 seasons old especially if coming from a USA distributor. But places like Ripple in the UK does have the best prices for Conti tire if a person doesn't mind waiting for it to get here, and their fresh tires.


----------



## scottma (May 18, 2012)

Tiremaniacs Webstore and Planet Cyclery have good prices (USA).


----------



## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

froze said:


> Can't read? I said rarely. Almost all those deeper sales from those two names are for tires that are already 2 seasons old especially if coming from a USA distributor. But places like Ripple in the UK *does* have the best prices for Conti *tire* if a person doesn't mind waiting for it to get here, and *their* fresh tires.


can't haz grammar?


----------



## scottma (May 18, 2012)

View attachment 274294



I buy all my tires from Ripple!


----------



## bigbill (Feb 15, 2005)

froze said:


> But places like Ripple in the UK does have the best prices for Conti tire if a person doesn't mind waiting for it to get here, and their fresh tires.


Just got an order from RIBBLE and it was three working days to deliver to TX. I buy 4-6 tires at a time (once a year) since there is no LBS within 100 miles of where I live.


----------



## froze (Sep 15, 2002)

cxwrench said:


> can't haz grammar?


cantz haz tim for grammer becaz she out in the kitchin bakin cookies!


----------



## c_h_i_n_a_m_a_n (Mar 3, 2012)

UpHillCrawler said:


> ... It seems to be if you have good luck with the tires, they're great! If you have bad luck, they suck (and can be down right dangerous) ...


Very true isn't it ... Consumers form impressions based on their own experiences with the brand ...

Had a GP 4 Season which had a bulge and contacted my local distributor and he just asked for the tyre to be sent back to them and they sent out a new one for me. They did asked where I got it from and as it was purchased brand new from ebay, I could not actually go back to the seller, so it was good customer service from Conti ... :thumbsup: ... Whilst all this was going on, I needed to ride and so just went out and got a GP4000s. So my new 4 Season is a spare now ... no problems with the GP4000s so far ... (_unsure if this will help ... but ... I avoid pot holes and slow over loose surfaces and do not use my bike for commuting_)

My MTB uses a Continental too (ableit only in the rear) ... My wife's new bike also uses Continentals.


----------



## froze (Sep 15, 2002)

moskowe said:


> Gotta love the whole "X brand of tyres sucks" fashion. A couple of years back it was Michelin Pro3s that had a terrible reputation, and everyone was yelling to switch over to GP4000. I used Pro3s for 2 years and never had a problem.
> Now it looks like the same people who were dissing on Michelin are blowing up Contis (have personally ridden on both Gatorskins and GP4000, never had any problems). So my question is, what kind of roads exactly do you ride on ? I thought Texas roads were rough, but maybe you guys ride on nails, or glass...
> 
> By the way, one time going down a mountain my bike hit a crack and I got a double sidewall failure on Rubino Pros. I guess that means Rubino Pros suck.


One time? No, my problems stem from have 6 (3 different Conti road models) and all 6 failed prematurely, and by prematurely I mean they all failed with less then 1,200 miles. And my problems are not unique, those 3 sets of tires were the more modern versions pertinent to the discussion here, about 20 years ago I had the same issues with their older series of tires! So no, neither myself or other posters, who posted here that they had problems was not a one tire failed thus all are bad thought process. Conti tires are over all are more fragile compared to most other brands. 
I find it quite "strange" that I get more problems with Conti road tires then I do with any other brand of tire that I ever use in the last 40 years of riding!!


----------

