Purchased these Continental Gatorskin 700c Road tires to replace similar ones. I don't race so I am not looking for the lightest tire to minimize weight.
However, my rides may take me 25 miles or more away from home/car so I am focused on tire durability and reliability along with reasonable ride comfort and handling. Having peace of mind that I've minimized the likelihood of getting a puncture is more important than the aspect of pure speed.
I have used these tires now for over eight years. I have never been disappointed with them. I get about 3,000 miles on them. Their low rolling resistance, strong anti-flat barrier and long life lead me to continue to use them year after year.
I commute regularly between Ashland and Medford on my trusty 80's-era Eddy Merckx. I hate having to deal with flats, especially if I have a time deadline. I've used the Gatorskins for years, and have found
them to be fairly sturdy, even if not bombproof. Also, I've noticed a couple of minI-pits developing on one of my newer tires, something I haven't seen before. I'll have to see if these become a problem.
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 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 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!
Continental seems to have the best quality control on their products of the various cycling tire manufacturers. The Gatorskin model lasts and resists punctures. It's not the lightest or supplest tire out there, but it works for most of my everyday riding.
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.
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.
exercise rides 15 - 20 miles
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Myself and my riding buddies have used these tires for years. I don't know of another tire that's as tough. The only negative is they can be a challenge to change even with the flexible bead.
GatorSkin are the only tires I've used for many years. They are the best! I ride 100-125 miles and 700-to 10,000 ft per week! Less in the winter! no flats for several years!
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 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.
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 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.
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......
