20 of 20 customers found this review helpful.
Great all around commuting, training, recreational road tire.
While there is no such thing as a bullet-proof tire, and the UltraGatorSkin is not bullet proof, it is my favorite compromise between incredibly puncture resistant, but stiff as...monsters line Armadillos, and incredibly puncture prone race tires. The UltraGatorskins are a great blend of puncture resistance and handling.
I have a pair of these tires on my commuter and another on my higher end road bike. While I commute year 'round, often carrying 25 lbs or more more of commuter stuff with me, I live in the SF Bay Area and it never gets too cold, although it gets wet and, of course, very dark in the winter. I like the traction I get, wet or dry on curves, even when fully loaded and the low rolling resistance on the straight away. I have had several flats on these tires, mainly occurring in the dark on wet roads where I have more trouble seeing major obstacles. Still, I believe that I have had many fewer flats on these tires than on other makes of tires. Further, every flat I have suffered after switching to ultragator skins has been caused by a major piece of debris drywall screws, giant shards of glass, etc.
On my fancy new road bike, which I enjoy riding in good weather and taking on longer group rides, century rides, etc, I have been very fortunate to get no flats in the 1000 miles of riding I have done on the gatorskins knock on wood. While they are not the lightest tires on the road, they aren't bad. Also, how much faster do you have to be to make up for the time it takes to fix a flat?
Thank you for your feedback.
You have already submitted a vote for this review.