I use these tires all year round because I ride out near the wheat fields where there are the spikey weeds on the roads. I have gotten a few flats even when using these tires so they aren't fool proof, however, i ride in confidence that chances of getting a flat are minimized.
Very happy with the tires, put them on right away made a few trips with them I'm very very happy with him thank you
I had Gatorskin on the rear wheel of my fixed gear road bike and when the front tire finally gave way, it was a no brainer to get another Gatorskin for the front. Solid performance.
Tried regular gatorskin and hardshell, but the black edition has better puncture resistance for whatever reason. Maybe it's because they are handmade in Germany......
I usually try to ride on Continentals for my road bike. I like the look of the blacks and had to replace my usual Gatorskins due to the tire was worn down flat on the riding surface. I was going to change it after my ride anyway and had a rear spontaneous sidewall blow out for the first time with Gatorskins. I have had tire chunks disappear on top of a Conti before noticed after a ride too. I purchased these to go with my replacement after the blowout. I feel they are smooth and hold in the corners with speed. I also like how they look an it's about confidence in the product. So far so good!
I like to have a fresh set of tires every year when I do the Seattle to Portland ride. This was my 35th year and I have used Gators for many of them.
They have been flawless and it's one more thing I don't have to worry about when I ride from Seattle.
I leave them on for training the following year, them change out again. However there would be no problem leaving them on for several years I'm sure.
I now have a lot of spares.
I have tried SO many different tires over the years and keep coming back to Gatorskins because they last. So much longer than other tires and they are very flat resistant. If you are a weight weenie they probably aren't for you because they are a little bit heavier but if if you like to mount'em and forget 'em, these are awesome!
Definitely fewer flats with this tire. Seems to have traction and lasts 2,000 miles or more.
On our Tandem we were riding on 28mm Gatorskins'. Because of their puncture resistance we had not had any punctures. This year, for comfort, I switched to another brands 32mm supple tire. After getting 2 punctures with the supple tires, I switched back to Gatorskins' size 32mm and have not had any issues. As you can expect with 32mm tires, they ride smooth and have the Gatorskin protection. I figure the weight of us on the Tandem is over 330 lbs. Yet I can get a 2000 mile season out of a set of Gatorskins.
I discovered the Continental tire brand while living in Germany. I typically use them on road bikes due to their reliability and durability. In most cases I have ridden Continental tires for hundreds if not thousands of kilometers until the tread is no longer safe to ride on in which case I mount another one.
There is no downside to choosing Continental for cycling and this company has a long history. Check the Wikipedia page about the company history.
I've used this tire on my tandem bike for years and had great service. However I had an incident recently that shook my confidence. I installed this tire on the rear of my tandem and put only a few hundred miles on it before the sidewall blew out at the bead. The casing tore without being damaged by road debris. I am currently working with Continental to resolve the issue and they are being very responsive. It's a relatively expensive tire and touted for having strong sidewalls so I was surprised at this. Nothing is perfect and maybe this was just an outlier. I'm still using them on my tandem and regular road bike.
There were several complaints about Gatorskins not having a full width flatproof tread belt. I considered this and despite the fact that I've had VERY little problems with Gatorskins, I tried the flat proof tires from the major manufacturers. Well, the very first time out on a Vittoria armored tire I got a flat. Then I replacement innertube somehow got a pinch or something and exploded knocking the tire off of the rim. Luckily a group came along and had a spare CO2 cartridge. I made sure that it was a spare because I wouldn't want to have this happen to anyone else.
Now
I've ridden on these for years. They are puncture resistant and durable. When I commuted I typically got over 2,000 miles of city riding.
I have been using these tires for years and hundreds of miles. Tried other brands, however, always came back. Not entirely flat proof, but close.
I've used gatorskins on my tandem bike for years with good results. I rode on a mix of gravel and paved roads without any major damage to either tread or carcass. I decided to use them on my road bike after a series of flats with another tire. So far they have been very reliable, handled well and returned good mileage. My rear tire is about worn out so I am ordering a replacement. They are reasonably priced too. This will probably be my go-to tire from now on. I ride about 600 miles per month.
Perfect for a street fixed gear!
Excellent tires for desert southwest riding. Reasonable price when on sale
The Continental Gatorskins are a good durable tire for the money. I usually get about 6k miles out of them with very few flats.
I run these things on my road bike all the time now, because there's a lotta glass on the roads and paths (Portland, Or) these days. These things are heavier than race or training tires, yes they are, but I do like getting about 80% fewer flats. I stretched a pair of these to 4000 miles once, not one flat, but that was in Europe where there's far less glass & crap on the bikeways. I usually retire them at about 2000 miles, which is about 3 times longer than the training tires I used to use.
I was using another brand that claimed they were bulletproof, but after 3 flats in a week I'd had enough. Tried out the black edition gatorskins and not only did they give me confidence, but they look great on my bike. Tough as nails
