They are very nice tires, except for when they get a little age on them. They start to delaminate and start peeling apart thread by thread on the sidewall. They get tangled up in the rear and front brake assemblies and the rear cassette as you ride.
Awesome Product. Almost puncture proof and Gator skins last a number of seasons. Superior to any other product that I have purchased in the past!
California roads are so bad that there is glass and fine wires from worn out steel belted car tires that are wearing out and dropping these wires all over the place. While Gatorskins are normally very flat proof, those steel wires will go right through them. This is all due to Biden's inflation making normal food so expensive that people are putting off buying new tires, The same thing happened in Obama's Great Recession.
On asphalt trail road biking. Excellent puncture protection and sidewall protection. Gators are a little difficult to install first time but tires stretch and flex making future mounting easier.
As soon as a stock tire is done (or it sucks) - I slap on a gatorskin. Gatorskins are my go to summer tire - grips well, fast, durable, and not terribly expensive. I find them comfortable as well. I very seldom get flats running gatorskins, it happens but not often (once over multiple summer seasons). They look good, too.
The tires feel great, and made me feel absolutely unstoppable on my new bike. Unfortunately, on the third ride the rear tire punctured. I was biking on a flat road closed to cars, with no glass or debris in sight, and I got a flat with a huge gash in the tire. While I know it was bad luck, I'm pretty disappointed in the integrity of the product. I had to immediately purchase a new tire, despite investing in quality tires that I thought would last me years.
As I am living in a big city and do most of my rides in the city. I am always finding broken glass on my bike paths. And not always possible to avoid all this glass. I have learned over many years that this tire is my best flat protection !
Love my gatorskins. Often go months without a flat. I often hear how hard they are to get on and off. I too struggled til I learned the lessons to doing it more easily and quickly.
A quality tire that rolls well and resists puncture
Love my gatorskins. Often go months without a flat. I often hear how hard they are to get on and off. I too struggled til I learned the lessons to doing it more easily and quickly.
A quality tire that rolls well and resists puncture
I have been using these tires for the past 7 years while riding my bike to work in San Francisco. I put about 50 miles on them during the week with Monday - Friday riding. I'm on my fourth pair and have ridden thousands of miles all over California. In that time, I have only gotten two flats, never a blowout, just small punctures, both times I've been able to patch the tube. These tires have solid traction and I am usually able to get 1,500 - 2,000 miles per tire. These are the gold standard when it comes to durability and flat tire protection. You won't be disappointed!
This is my first experience with the Gatorskins. I ride in an area (like most everybody) where there's always debris on the shoulders, thorns, broken glass, etc. I was fed up with constantly getting flats and replacing inner tubes. So far, I've put just short of 1200 miles on the set and so far so good, not a single flat. The only downside of this tire is that it seems to be stiffer, less compliant and thus gives a little bumpier ride compared to the softer road tires with which I'm familiar. But the advantage of flat protection far outweighs the slightly awkward ride. I'll definitely be sticking with this tire for the foreseeable future.
I'VE BEEN RIDING ROAD BIKES FOR OVER 15 YEARS, AND HAVE DISCOVERED THAT GATORSKIN TIRES ARE THE BEST AND ONLY BIKE TIRE TO BUY, FOR RELIABILITY AND DURABILITY. I RIDE ABOUT 125 MILES A WEEK, ON CITY ROADS AND BIKE PATHS OF VARIOUS GRADES AND QUALITY OF ROAD CONDITIONS. ALL THE GUYS WITH WHOM I RIDE ALSO SWARE BY THE RELIABILITY OF THIS TIRE. I DON'T THINK I WILL EVER CHANGE UNLESS SOMETHING BETTER COMES ALONG!
I've used this tire for years with no failures and no flats. replacing them with the same after 4500 miles. All types of conditions, group rides, Houston Streets, country roads, and Colorado mountains.
I use Gatorskins on my road bike on paved trails, city streets and sometimes rural roads. I can reliably get 3000+ miles on the rear and 4000+ on the front. I've had an occasional flat tube (generally when I hit a terrible object) but I have never had the tire itself fail. I ride about 3000 miles per year and I've used these tires exclusively for about 6 years.
Great tires for all around commuting. I use them on mostly asphalt surfaces with some gravel/limestone mixed in. I had my first flat using these tires last week after probably close to5-6,000 miles (it wasn't the tires fault; the rim tape wasn't seated properly and caused it). I bought another set to replace the current ones that are 3 years old. Pretty good life out of a set of tires that I use year round commuting in the midwest.
This is the smoothest rolling, most puncture resistant tire you can buy, period. It can be a bit difficult to slip on the wheel, but it stays on the rim even when flat ' something that could save your life on a descent. I'm a 8000 mile a year roadie and I normally get 3000 miles on the rear tire and up to 5000 miles on the front. I'm on my 20th set.
These have been so much better than I anticipated or expected. I had heard high praise from friends and fellow cyclists years ago and finally joined the cult a few months ago. I ride to and from my office 4x a week along Chicago streets, which are notoriously littered with debris. Broken glass from lazy sanitation workers to ripped up pavement from constant temperature swings to downed tree branches from spring and summer storms you are bound to run over something. And during this Covid-19 pandemic, you are lucky if street sweepers run down a block once a month. These have taken some lumps and still no punctures nor popped tubes. I cannot be happier with my purchase.
I was looking for alternate tires for my gravel bike since I haven't been riding on gravel much this year. I was looking for something that worked great on paved surfaces as well as local trails with crushed limestone, grass, etc. So far I've ridden a well over five hundred miles and have been very happy with them. They have much less resistance than my gravel tires and because I went with a little wider (32c) tire, they work great on most surfaces. (I'm not a racer...) These tires are extremely difficult to puncture, which is nice. Glad I found the right tires for me!
These have been my go to training tires for years. I recently invested in a set of deep section aero rims (Flo) and went through 6 tire irons and 7 tubes (pinched) before getting feedback from others that Gatorskin is not a good choice for aero wheels. Really tough to get over the rim. I live in Chicago and unfortunately we are resigned to a wide range of rolling surfaces, hence the tendency toward a tough tire. I just purchased a set of Continental 5000s and they are much softer but may require replacement more often. Still loyal to the Gatorskin for my cyclecross bike. Stay tuned ...
I have been using gator skins for the past 5 years, very durable, get great milage out of them, would highly recommend them
