Continental Gatorskin Wire Bead Road Bike Tire

by Continental

Product Features

• Kevlar belt under the tread for cut and puncture protection
• DuraSkin fabric makes this one long lasting tire
• THE only tyre for your winter / high mileage bike
• Aramid belt under tread
• Quality German made natural rubber tread

Product Description

Designed as a high mileage tire with excellent flat protection. Many refer to the Gatorskin as "Bullet Proof". A layer of Duraskin and an extra layer of Kevlar under the tread keeps flat protection to a maximum. Low rolling resistance tread design excells in both wet and dry. 280 grams - 23mm Wire bead, 300 grams - 25mm Wire bead, 320 grams - 28mm Wire bead, 350 grams - 26", 340 grams - 27"

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B000NGT2VY
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (112 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,205 in Sports & Outdoors (See Top 100 in Sports & Outdoors)
  • #2 in Sports & Outdoors > Bikes & Accessories > Components & Parts > Tires

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nearly bullet-proof, roll great, and stick like glue. Awesome tires., March 2, 2010

By 

N. Olsen - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Continental Gatorskin Wire Bead Road Bike Tire (Misc.)

I ride fixed in an urban environment and was infuriated with constantly having to deal with small pin-hole flats. I eventually had to start carrying around a flat-repair kit in my bag (patches, tube, levers, mini-pump), which definitely helped in terms of not getting stranded, but it was still a hassle having to take 10-15 minutes out in public fixing a flat or two a week, plus the weight of all the extra kit.

After doing some research on puncture-resistant tires and asking around town I finally decided on the Gatorskins and I have to say I love 'em. The day after I put them on I had to do some riding around town and after all the snow we've had recently the roads have been in less than stellar condition. In addition to the ubiquitous threat of broken glass, I also was dealing with tons of gravel, pot-holes, and left over road-salt, conditions where, with my old tires I'd have flatted out no question. The Gatorskins took these conditions like a champ and provided better rolling resistance than my old tires at the same time. I think the real moment that converted me to the Gatorskins was when I came to a stop at an intersection and a second later heard a good sized rock come shooting out from under my tire with a loud "Pyooo!" Just a day before that sound would no doubt have been a quiet, defeated hiss.

As I said before, the puncture resistance isn't the only benefit to these tires, they roll great and they stick like glue. If you're trying to pull out long skids these tires are definitely not for you, but if you're trying to get from going to stopped in a hurry then I can't recommend them more.

To sum it all up, great tires, they'll handle all the nastiness that torn-up city streets can throw at you, roll with little resistance, and stop on a dime. If you've got the money it'll be hard to find better.

EDIT: 1 Year Update. With one year and countless miles of daily riding behind me I never had a single puncture flat with these tires, and that's not for the road's lack of trying. A quick visual inspection shows a slew of pock-marks, gouges, pin-holes and long, deep scratches in the rubber, but not a single thing managed to get through. In fact, the reason I'm updating this is because I'm back to buy another tire, I rode the back one down to the kevlar.

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pricey but worth it, July 18, 2008

By 

CD (Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Continental Gatorskin Wire Bead Road Bike Tire (Misc.)

I've been commuting for years and have thousands of miles on my bike. I've been through about every tire out there and have settled on the Gator Skin as my number one choice.

I ride on city streets with lots of debris. I've never yet flatted with the Gator Skins. Also, they are pretty light weight for having such good protection from flats. Finally, they grip very well in rainy conditions. OK, they are rather pricey but they are the only tires I buy now.

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great commuting tire until it failed., May 15, 2010

By 

G. Powell (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

I love and hate this tire. The love is because it's grippy even on wet roads. It has not allowed many flats. I had a few last season of commuting but I'm attributing it to crumby tubes. My current dislike is cheap Chinese tubes. The seams seem to fail after a mere 500 miles or so. The tread on this tire is very nice. I'm running 700x28 which keep my 220+lbs of commuting bike/gear/me from pinch flats on the railroad tracks and bridge joints.

The hate is that the sidewall failed without notice. As in with other tires, it's the tread that wears out and then you can see that's time for a new tire. Or the sidewall fibers start to break and you can see it's getting brittle. This tire exhibited none of those warning signs. From my photos you can see how much tread is left.

What happened on this tires last ride is that I had a car start to pull out into the street in front of me and I hit the brakes in a panic stop from 25mph+. (I had the right of way, but there is no point in being dead right.) The front wheel locked up or nearly so, the tire started to skid, the sidewall failed, the tube popped and I hit the curb and went over the handlebars, as I wasn't able to control the bike. Fortunately by that time I was doing less than 5mph and so sustained no injuries other than a mild scrape.

On other tires in a similar panic stop I've had the tread fail, as it in peeled off the tire but without a blowout. This tread is tough and held on. After the accident I spent some time looking at the tire and I think that the thick tough tread puts a lot of stress on the sidewalls of these tires. So that anyone who regularly commutes with a load should inspect those sidewalls and replace the tire if they show any signs of wear and not wait until some minor casing failure occurs.

So what next? Well I bought another set of these same tires. I could have switched brands but in general I like they way they ride. They are very responsive and I like the wet weather performance.

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