Road Bike Tire Test: Continental Grand Prix 5000 S TR (tanwall) 25

Natural colored sidewalls have become quite popular because of the classic / cotton tire look they provide, and we believe, a general feeling that natural sidewalls offer better performance. It seems like Continental didn't want to be left behind when it comes to the looks of their tires, and they've made all sizes of the Grand Prix 5000 S TR available in both a black-black and black-transparent version.

In the past, the standard vulcanized tires with a nylon casing always were entirely black as the sidewalls also were part of the vulcanization process resulting in the sidewalls getting filled/covered with a thin layer of rubber. There are many ways to retain the natural-looking sidewalls during manufacturing, ranging from not vulcanizing the sidewalls to filling them with a transparent filler or even painting the sidewalls with some yellow paint :/.

We're not sure how it's done with the GP 5000 S TR, but the sidewalls do have that classic natural look. We must add that the 25-622 version on test here is maybe not the best size for the classic sidewall look as a small part of the sidewalls that runs along the edge of the tread is still vulcanized, and the "natural looking" part is quite slim on this tire.

When purely looking at the specifications on Continental's website, we can't spot any differences between the black-black and black-transparent versions as all sizes have the same specified weight, casing specifications, and maximum air pressures. While there are no differences on paper, our tests indicate a substantial difference between the black-black version we tested last year (read our review) and the black-transparent we tested this week...

We're a bit puzzled by the transparent version of the Grand Prix 5000 S TR as our rolling resistance test indicates it rolls quite a bit slower than the black-black version. Also surprising is the smaller size when inflated (24.9 mm vs 25.5 mm wide), while the unmounted casing width and tread width are the same for both tires. The smaller size indicates the transparent version doesn't stretch as much under pressure.

Puncture resistance is pretty much the same for both versions, although we expected the sidewalls to be slightly less puncture resistant on the transparent version. Another surprise is the wet grip that comes in higher for the transparent version, which might indicate the casing is more flexible or the rubber compound is slightly different.

To sum things up, there is a difference between the 25-622 Grand Prix 5000 S TR with transparent sidewalls tested in 2022 and the 25-622 Grand Prix 5000 S TR with black sidewalls that we tested in 2021 (read our review). We can think of 2 reasons why that is the case:

1. There is a difference in the casing by use of a different material or an extra layer somewhere which is likely because of the smaller size when inflated.

2. The compound mixing is off, or Continental changed the compound specifications for the entire Grand Prix 5000 S TR range in the past 6 months to offer better wet grip.

Move over to our comparison section to compare the GP 5000 S TR (black sidewalls) to the GP 5000 S TR (transparent sidewalls) side by side.