Road Bike Tire Test: Continental Grand Prix 5000 TT TR 30

The Grand Prix 5000 TT TR is Continental's fastest road bike tire, designed for when you need every last bit of performance in time trials or races. Continental also offered the 30 mm-wide, limited-edition Archetype last year, which was even faster than the Grand Prix 5000 TT TR but has become unavailable over the last few months due to its limited-edition nature. The new 30 mm Grand Prix 5000 TT TR is the logical replacement if you're looking for a replacement for the Archetype or prefer more volume than 28 mm tires provide.

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The 30 mm Archetype (read our review) was even faster than the 28 mm Grand Prix 5000 TT TR (read our review), but it featured even less puncture resistance and durability due to another 10% reduction in tread thickness over the 5000 TT TR. We did measure a slightly wider tread, better sidewall puncture protection, and a increase in wet grip performance on the Archetype, and that's why we rated it the better tire over the 28 mm Grand Prix 5000 TT TR.

With the recent release of the 30 mm size of the Grand Prix 5000 TT TR, the question to answer is whether its performance comes closer to the 30 mm Archetype or the 28 mm Grand Prix 5000 TT TR. When we dive into the specifications, we see the 30 mm Archetype was specified at 275 grams, and the 30 mm Grand Prix 5000 TT TR comes with a specified weight of 280 grams, which is a first indication that there's an actual difference between these tires.

Something else that caught our attention in the specifications is the 35-gram increase in the specified weight of the 30 mm Grand Prix 5000 TT TR (280 grams) over the 28 mm size (245 grams). When we make the same comparison for the 28 and 30 mm sizes of the (heavier and better protected) Grand Prix 5000 S TR, we see a weight increase of just 20 grams (280 vs 300 grams). We're not sure what's changed, but this comparison might be more interesting than we expected.

Our test results indicate the 30 mm Grand Prix 5000 TT TR is a mixture of the limited edition 30 mm Continental Archetype (read our review) and the 28 mm size of the Grand Prix 5000 TT TR (read our review). We see that the 30 mm size offers improved wet grip, a wider tread, and sidewall strength like the Archetype, along with the higher tread thickness of the 28 mm Grand Prix 5000 TT TR. This makes the 30 mm Grand Prix 5000 TT TR the best-gripping and best-protected tire of the 3.

The obvious cost of this improved protection and wet grip is seen in the measured weight and rolling resistance tests: the 30 mm Grand Prix 5000 TT TR is the heaviest and slowest-rolling tire of these 3. The differences are close, though, and to put this into perspective, the 30 mm Grand Prix 5000 TT TR tread thickness increase of 0.3 mm (1.7 to 2.0 mm - a 18% increase) over the Archetype costs roughly 0.5 watts of rolling resistance in our tests (8.0 vs 8.5 watts - a 6% increase).

When we compare the 30 mm to the 28 mm Grand Prix 5000 TT TR, the 30 mm is an improvement for most conditions, as the rolling resistance is nearly equal. Only when you need absolute speed, the 28 mm size will be the fastest one (at least in dry conditions, and not considering aero performance) due to its slightly lower weight and rolling resistance.