Continental Sport 1000

Price Paid:  $30.00 at China

Favorite Ride:
Melbourne Yarra River Trail

Bike Setup:
Teschner(old 2000 aloy version)
Eurus wheels(2004rear and 2005front mix)
easton/deda/BBB/Sella Italia
Campy Daytona Group

Summary:
Just changed these tyres and my riding got really unreliable since the front tyre got punctured in the first ride...below average price

Strengths:
low road resistant, good design for wet condition

Weaknesses:
if flat in smooth road surface...then i can only say it's weak

Similar Products Used:
Bontrager Race Lite Hardcase

Price Paid:  $900.00 at RoadBikeReview.com

Favorite Ride:
Bianchi Alfana

Summary:
Got these with the bike when I purchased it used from a dealer rep in Oklahoma. They are fine for commuting, but have been using them for training lately at very high pressures and they just don't hold up. 110-115psi and the tread is breaking off and wearing quickly. Already need to replace them. Commute on them at lower psi (90-100) and they were great, but not suitable for too much more.

Strengths:
Handle great in wet or dry, on all road surface including dirt and gravel.

Weaknesses:
At high psi they wear too quickly and fall apart.

Similar Products Used:
I had an old pair of Vittorias that came with my last Bianchi stock from the shop. In over 5000 miles over 7 years never had to replace the front.

Price Paid:  $18.00 at LBS in Beijing

Favorite Ride:
Out to the Great Wall

Bike Setup:
Merida Extreme 903 frame built as a street fixie, Mavic Open Sport rims, IRO hubs, Brooks B-17 saddle, etc.

Summary:
I needed tires for my fixie and picked these up locally. I have been through all kinds of gravel, dirt roads, and construction sites, and still haven't had a flat in about 1500 Km. My rims are still true, but I don't know how much of that is due to the tires. They do okay in the wet, and fly on smooth pavement, when you can find it in Beijing. The whole city is a construction site right now.

Strengths:
Available in China, high-speed, low-drag, no flats (yet)

Weaknesses:
Paid a bit too much? They were a bit difficult to get on the rim.

Similar Products Used:
Armadillo, lots of MTB tires

Price Paid:  $20.00 at small local shop

Bike Setup:
Old twelve-speed set up for commuting/rain.

Summary:
Got those tires for my commuting/rain bike with old 27 wheels. It was disappointment. I had a flat tire after almost every ride. It couldn't be just a one with a defect, since both were sucking glass easily. I was very upset with the quality. This is definitely not what one could expect from Continental. I have to say that I have better experience with cheap generic 27 tires which I got after about a year of constant flats.

Strengths:
They are 27"

Weaknesses:
Avoid this model. Poor quality. Flats every other ride.

Similar Products Used:
Coninental Top Touring, Panaracer, WTB Allterrainasaurus, Bontrager.

Price Paid:  $10.00 at nashbar

Favorite Ride:
Highway 1 on Central California Coast

Bike Setup:
1982 Centurion Omega
steel frame with lugs
Suntour Super 7 gruppo
Suntour Power Ratchet shifters
self-built 27" wheels with Shimano 7-speed hub on the rear (126 mm dropout spacing)
north road handlebars with Sakae-Ringyo stem
60 mm fenders
Avocet Touring saddle
Dia Compe direct-pull brakes and levers
SRAM chain
Specialized cyclocomputer

Summary:
I am very happy with all of my Continental tires. I run them on all three of my bikes. I am not sure if it is the gum sidewalls or what, but I like these tires.
I got these as a set of rain tires for the winter because of the aggressive tread pattern. The wear has been great on them so far.
The one recurring problem that I have had is picking up shards of glass. Because I ride in the rain with these tires, the little "road diamonds" get washed out of the cracks in the road and seem to be ending up in my tire with increasing frequency. Usually I can ride with about two flats a year. I have had 5 in the past month with these tires.
I usually don't like to blame flats on tires; but maybe for my particular application (rain tires) something with a puncture resistant belt would be better.

Strengths:
appearance
great ride
great handling
ease of putting on rim
appearance

Weaknesses:
flats

Similar Products Used:
Continental Ultra 2000
Continental Town & Country