ContinentalGatorskin 700c Road Tire (Folding)(Return to Product Page)

Love my gatorskins. Often go months without a flat. I often hear how hard they are to get on and off. I too struggled til I learned the lessons to doing it more easily and quickly.

A quality tire that rolls well and resists puncture

I've rode many miles on many different tires. I bought four gatorskin tires recently, three of which had sidewall failures, the other I'm removing right now because I'm fearful of another failure. With the last failure, the tire still had the Nubs. A sad waste of $110. I was fortunate though, just before the failure I was traveling nearly 40 miles an hour on a 10% grade. When you ride, you need to have confidence in your tires and for that reason I'll never buy a gatorskin again. Please note this is no reflection on Bike Tires Direct.

I'VE BEEN RIDING ROAD BIKES FOR OVER 15 YEARS, AND HAVE DISCOVERED THAT GATORSKIN TIRES ARE THE BEST AND ONLY BIKE TIRE TO BUY, FOR RELIABILITY AND DURABILITY. I RIDE ABOUT 125 MILES A WEEK, ON CITY ROADS AND BIKE PATHS OF VARIOUS GRADES AND QUALITY OF ROAD CONDITIONS. ALL THE GUYS WITH WHOM I RIDE ALSO SWARE BY THE RELIABILITY OF THIS TIRE. I DON'T THINK I WILL EVER CHANGE UNLESS SOMETHING BETTER COMES ALONG!

I live in an area that has a lot of goatheads and thorns. I tried RhinoDillos but still got a flat, and with all that added extra weight and a very hard ride. So I switched to Gatorskins decent weight and softer, though still pretty hard, ride, due to the belting to make it puncture resistant. I still got another flat, but nothing will completely stop these thorns. I got 5,000 miles out of my Grand Prix 4000's and hope to get similar results from these Gatorskins.

I'm retired, so I usually bicycle when convenient for me, and not with a group. I've owned Continental Gatorskin tires in the past, and they've been very reliable. Having to repair a tire on the road isn't impossible, but it saves a lot of stress not to worry about flats when I ride. I even had an incident where a piece of wire went through the edge of the tire, but was apparently deflected by the Kevlar from getting to the inner tube. I simply pulled out the wire, and continued on my way. The Gatorskin likely isn't the fastest tire available, but speed isn't my highest priority when riding.

I use Gatorskins on my road bike on paved trails, city streets and sometimes rural roads. I can reliably get 3000+ miles on the rear and 4000+ on the front. I've had an occasional flat tube (generally when I hit a terrible object) but I have never had the tire itself fail. I ride about 3000 miles per year and I've used these tires exclusively for about 6 years.

Awesome Product. Almost puncture proof and Gator skins last a number of seasons. Superior to any other product that I have purchased in the past!

I got these to use on my gravel turned commuter bike as it seemed like everyday I had a flat on my Panaracer slicks. So I got the toughest tire I could think of. Bullet proof to be sure just a bit harsher on the ride but no more flat tires!!! I do commute along an area of road that does not get swept often and they have been awesome!

I went from a 38 to 28 to get the feeling of a bit for finesse on the road but still able to ride on light trails if I wanted. And these tires did just that. Plus, delivery was super fast with great customer service.

I have been using Gatorskins for many years mainly because I get very few flats. I have worn through the rubber to the fiber/cored and still no flats. FYI - I'm weigh over 230 pounds and ride 3 to 4 times a week. I basically wear the tire out.

I was fed up of getting blow out after blow out on my road bike, so I had to do something about it before I would wipe out and kill myself!

From the rock salt, to minute pieces of metal shrapnel, it seemed like my road bike tires were more flat than inflated!

I purchased these Gatorskins and my blowouts finally disappeared!

I admit, there's a little bit of rolling resistance, but there's a ton of relief knowing that I'm not going to get a blowout while riding my road bike on the highway where I live! It's bad enough the motorists where I live don't give two hoots to cyclists on the road, let alone worrying if my road bike tire will blow out while driving amongst them!

I recommend these to cyclists that are tired of getting flats on their road bike and I highly recommend them for those cyclists that do long rides and touring.

This is my second set of these tires. Got a good season and a half out of the last set and probably could have squeezed the remaining half season but I never like to push road tires too far for safety reasons. Awesome tires and great cornering as well.

I use these on my road bike. I have been very lucky using them. I think they hold up to what they are about, few if any flats.

I use the tires on my 2019 Trek Domane SLR. Used them on both my previous Madone and Domanes. Not much I dont like about them. Wear well but still pretty grippy. I have very few flats and have pulled out goat head stickers without going flat. I gone over small fragments of glass without significant cuts. I use them for training purposes on asphalt and concrete road surfaces. I typically put at least 1000 -1500 miles on the rear tire before looking at changing it out.

Continental Gatorskins have been my go-to winter tire for years now. I still consider these the gold standard in flat protection. I'm always glad to be running these on miserable, cold winter training rides where stopping for flat repairs would be a miserable, hypothermic experience.

Pro

Flat protection while riding unswept winter roadsshoulders in foul weather. The FEW punctures I've had with these were always wire pieces, not glass or sharp gravel.

Cons

Wet pavement grip lacking. Not terrible, but I'll spin the rear occasionally on a steep, wet hill if riding out of the saddle. I've had the rear slip out a bit going through roundabouts, although nothing that caused a spill. If I'm on a group ride I'll occasionally run a Conti 4-Season on the front for slightly better grip. Solo, I run Gatorskins FR.

Can be tough to mount, but that depends on the wheelset.

Slightly heavy, but that's the nature of this type of tire. Worth the trade off.

Overall, my favorite off-season training tire.

The Gatorskins have proven time and time again that a well designed 'tough skinned tire' can keep you riding longer and more often. These tires have the perfect trade-off for weight to strength. Running them for years on 7 different bikes and I would never buy anything else.

Tuns out REI sells the tires for the same price and members get dividends with purchases. Previously, Bike Tires Direct were less expensive but not now.

I replaced my 25mm with these 28's to get lower pressure and still fit the tires into the frame space. They went on well and are an excellent, softer ride. I went from 100PSI to 80 PSI on the rear, 80/60 on the front, and the bumps are significantly lessened. The rolling resistance is near equivalent. And, I've unfortunately ridden in glass-strewn areas, yet never had a flat, nor anything stuck!

I run Gatorskins on rear on my Merlin Cielo. Excellent flat protection, good durability and decent ride. Yes, I realize it's heavier than the 5000's, but lets be honest- most of us should loss 10 lbs before worrying about tire weight slowing us down.

Love these tires. Always use them. When they arrived, there was a slight manufacturing defect in one of the tires. I called up bike tires direct and within 2 days had a new tire. Excellent customer service!