ContinentalGatorskin Black Edition 700c Road Tire(Return to Product Page)

I ride the rough rides of Southern California for exercise. These tires hold up very well, although not completely bullet proof. I've had one flat over several hundred miles, which is remarkable considered some of the road conditions, which include glass, palm fronds, rocks, tree nuts, potholes, cracks in the pavement, goat heads, and every other piece of detritus one can imagine. While I'm not a super fast rider, they hold the corners well and provide a stable and secure ride. I'm 185 lbs. with a 24 lb. Bike and inflate the tires to 73 psi rear and 71 psi front. (Per the Silca professional tire pressure recommendation). I ride the 700x28 size on my Trek 3009 7.7 FX. These are a great reliable tire that keeps you on the road safely without having to fix many flats. I heartily recommend them for any one commuting or training on your bike.

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.

People tell me they're heavy and slow, but then they're bumming tubes off me when their tubeless setup fails, lol. I'll keep riding my Gatorskins, thank you very much. They last 4000 miles or more and very few flats in that time.

Continental Gatorskin are my go to tires these days. I like the puncture resistant focus and the build quality. I have noticed over the last few years that I have fewer punctures for longer period of times as compared to Michelin Pro Endurance which were at one time my tire of choice until they were no longer available. The Gatorskins are a bit heavier but a good trade off for peace of mind. I especially like the Black Edition as it complements the titanium color of my bike. I ride daily for pleasure and appreciate a dependable tire. I change my tires at about 2500 miles even though the Gatorskins probably have some life left. I prefer to do so in order to minimize potential punctures as the tire tread starts to wear down. I rotate my tires at around 1200 miles to balance the wear between the front and back as the back usually wears faster.

It's a toss-up between Continental Gatorskins and Vittoria Randonneur (old style, original 110 (?) PSI casing) for everything except the number of miles I can will out of the Gatorskins seems to be a bit lower. My first set of Gatorskins came to a premature demise when I ran through a day-old automobile accident site and sliced the casings on some plastic debris. I didn't get full life out of that set, so it remains to be seen if my lower mileage predictions are correct. The positive tradeoff is in wet road grip. The Gatorskins are much safer in the rain. As I'm an all-weather cyclist, that is a trade I'll gladly make if it costs a few extra dollars a month to replace the tires more frequently.

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 was using the Grand Prix 5000 tires and though I loved the smooth and supple quality of the ride they provided, I was getting too many flats. I was concerned that the Gatorskins would be too harsh of a ride. They are heavier and stiffer but, honestly, not that bad. I find the ride to be pretty comfortable and, after many rides, I am still free of flats so definitely worth the switch. I think this is the only tire I'm going to use from now on, year round.

Mounted these on a Bushnell tandem last month and rode 500km with 12000ft of climbing in Morocco. Tires handle beautifully especially on descents. Only 20 minutes of showers to test road grip but all went well

Outstanding tires' I have ridden Continental tires for over 25 years.

The Gatorskins are an excellent tire for serious training, high mileage, and puncture resistance.

A little more work to mount but worth the effort

After riding Gatorskins on my road bike exclusively for the past seven years, I have had three sidewall blowouts so far this year. The last, which was yesterday, after only 280 miles of use. In each example, I could not find a specific cause. Up until yesterday, I had loved these tires. So I'll be switching to another brand because I'm tired of being stranded miles from home.

For me as a German and US citizen , riding a German Canyon bike, only German Continental tires are going on my wheels.

Ordering them from Biketiresdirect is fast, easy and reasonably priced.

I've used Gatorskins for several years. Since our city (Portland, OR) no longer seems to care to maintain its bikepaths and bikelanes, I need a tougher tire than the Rubino Pros I used to rely on. Only drawback with Gatorskins was that when they were brand new, they often didn't seat in the rims at first, causing unexpected blowouts a few minutes after inflation. Sometimes it took several attempts to get them to seat properly. These new black edition tires -- for whatever reason -- did not have that problem. I've installed several, all perfectly on the first go. They are hard to mount/dismount, especially when new and/or cold, so unless you have hands of Hercules, pack a couple tire levers in your repair kit.

Durable and reliable. Have used Continental tires for many years. My biggest issue is the threads that start to develop as the tire wears. If I'm not paying attention the threads can get wound around the cassette.

Gatorskins are the way, 28mm on my 2002 steel road bike. 3600 hundred miles year round on my previous pair with only about five flats. These tires deflect everything thrown at them, glass, and more glass in the bike lanes, minor gravel, wet streets, and then more glass, and road debris. This recent pair is my fifth set.

I and my riding friends have used Gatorskins for many years. When I saw the black version was cheaper, I compared the price and that fact that it was just the same as the regular Gatorskin but cheaper, I ordered a set. I have not been disappointed.

If you're a road bike rider used to lightweight all-season or racing tires, these will have a numb road feel initially. But the added protection will give you peace of mind in the fall-winter-early spring commutes or training rides, and without adding excessive weight or rolling resistance. Traction on wet pavement is excellent and puncture resistance is impressive if not bulletproof. These tires cost more, but they're worth the extra cost if you do a lot of riding and need a tough, reliable tire that performs extremely well in all conditions.

I'm a frequent buyer of your products. I've had a hard time locating it on other websites but yours did have it and at a reasonable price compared to others.

Arrived timely for my Summer riding.