I've been riding Gatorskins for about 5 years now. They are my "go to" tire. Let me say, I don't race. These are the best tires for daily riding, group rides and touring! I generally ride 4 days a week, 25 to 60 miles. I hate flats! While they do weigh a bit more the light weight tires, i'll take that any day or getting a flat! In our area we have a lot of "chip seal" roads and other road debris especially during and just after winter, these take it all in stride! Most riders in our group are using these as well! They are tough to put on.
Gatorskins provide excellent protection against a large percentage of flat-causing debris on the road. No tire is perfect, but these really offer everything you could hope for. They may be slightly heavier than optimum, but really aren't that many grams heavier than GP4000s, which are a terrible tire, wear-wise.
I usually get about 2500-2800 mi on rear Gatorskin, and over 6000mi on front tire.
I'm 180# and majority of roads I ride are pretty smooth pavement.
When I initially mounted the Black Edition Gators on some DT SWISS R460 rims, it was a little tough and required pretty good torque on my levers. After about a month of riding on them, I noticed the directional arrow on the side of the tire was wrong. So here was a good opportunity to correct it and see if the tires had stretched out a bit. Too my surprise, they had definitely loosened up. Now they are not only very easy to get off the rim with my wimpy levers, but I can get them back on with bare hands ! ( Just start putting the 2nd bead of the tire on the rim at 180' opposite of the valve stem and finish at the valve stem).
I have them on my rain bike and they handle very well on Portland's leaf-slop streets.
I've run original gatorskins for years as I do a combination of 40m commutes and long weekend rides. Biggest complaint with originals was sidewalls unraveling before tread wore out. Black edition seems to address that issue, at least has no visible mesh on sidewalls like original.
Beyond that, with about 1K miles, wear is great and ride is about the same (overall good). Seems the tread is less sticky, but just my visual impression - no issues with loss of traction.
I had Gatorskins as my last tire and got 6000 plus miles I replaced the rear with one of these and it was so tight to get over the rim I went through 5 inner tubes over the last 3 weeks. My son had to pick me up 3 times. Something is wrong with the sizing on these.
I have run these tires for many years, and have no complaints. Riding in the NW United States all year around, an no problem with flats! I keep them inflated solid before every ride, and I run them until no life is left. I have run the 25's and 32's.
I had Gatorskins as my last tire and got 6000 plus miles I replaced the rear with one of these and it was so tight to get over the rim I went through 5 inner tubes over the last 3 weeks. My son had to pick me up 3 times. Something is wrong with the sizing on these.
I had Gatorskins as my last tire and got 6000 plus miles I replaced the rear with one of these and it was so tight to get over the rim I went through 5 inner tubes over the last 3 weeks. My son had to pick me up 3 times. Something is wrong with the sizing on these.
I do a lot of solo riding long distance, and the most debilitating thing about any ride is a mechanical or a puncture. The Gatorskin Blacks are trusted and tested to deliver me to the end goal every time. I've been riding about 1600k a month lately, so I do keep an eye on the road mileage. When the front tire gets a flat, that's when I know it's time to change them out before I do another century. I buy them in advance, so I always have a back up pair or two on hand. Note: Yes - they are heavier than racing tires, but the time I lose in climbing speed, I make up for, by not having to stop for a puncture. So if you change terrain over the course of one ride: glass, gravel, poor road quality, sand, pine needles, city garbage, etc... and you hate to change out a flat (ladies?) This tire is for you. The regular yellow sidewall Gators are also as durable, but the blacks are prettier. ;)
These are my go to winter tires for riding in Colorado. The local county here puts gravelsand down over the winters that will shred most other tires. But the Gatorskins stand up and I can normally get 2 winters out of a set, or about 2,500 miles. This year I've kept them on for the summer and have been taking them on gravel roads and dirt, without any puncture issues. I hope they keep making the black limited edition because they look so much better than the standard gator skins. I'm also 6'4 and 195 lbs so I'm on the heavier end of things.
40+ years of riding, training & racing, a certified master mechanic since 1978 . I can tell you this much, Try to do better. Performance+ Price+ Durability+ Hand Made in Germany= Value beyond comparison.
