Continental Ultra Gatorskin-best puncture protection?

martins2463

Do the Continental Ultra Gatorskin offer the best puncture protection during the winter?, not bothered about wire on or folding what make of tyre offers the most punture protection in a 700 x 23 size? info and thoughts appreciated

tatanab

Best? In a 23? I don't think many people here would say they are.

I've not had too many deflations, but that might be simply luck. On the other hand I do not find that they grip very well; they can be a slidy.

I prefer Continental 4 seasons. They grip and I have proved to myself how hard it is to penetrate the casing from the tread. I had a knackerd one so tried pushing pins and so on through it.

JWSurrey

Arrrghh, how annoying! The GP4 season doesn't come with a reflective sidewall option, yet my GP4000 have it!
I rode GP4000 25c all last winter, without a single p*ncture (great, better take my levers after saying something like that). The extra diameter probably affords better grip, and more pressure options. I even had to ride through a pile of shattered glass once, and survived.
You'll probably find the rubber soft and easily cut, if my GP4000 and 4000S are anything to go by, but I have only once found anything to stick in to the outside of the Vectran canvas.

A number of posters have stated that they found Conti tyres not as sticky in the wet / poor conditions as some others. The Gators got quite a few negative reviews. As suggested above, Seasons are the better option.

Personally, I only had a couple of days this year where I found it tricky - though I ride slowly.... These were days where the rain was torrential on steep poor quality dirty country roads - so bad that my waterproof computer steamed up!

Michelin Krylion or Vittoria Pave (24c) tyres have been suggested as better alternatives that I've not tried... Vittoria are mooted to have less puncture protection.

giant_man

Gatorskins are better as 25s than 23s I know that much cos have tried both sizes. Michelin carbon Krylion are touted as being better too.

buddha

In the past few months I have bought the following tyres:
Michelin Krylion Carbon, (25c)
Schwalbe Stelvio Plus (25c),
Continental Ultra Gatorskin (28c).
All are available in 23c BTW.

For puncture resistance I would rate them (1=best, 3=worst)
1) Stelvio Plus - by a LONG way
Equal 2/3) Krylions, Gatorskins

For wet weather riding (again 1=best, 3=worst)
1) Krylions
2) Stelvio Plus
3) Gatorskins

Least Rolling resistance
1) Krylions
Equal 2/3) Gatorskin, Stelvio Plus

edit: as a 'best of both worlds' option I run Krylion Carbons with a tyre liner on my fixie. Which means 'no' punctures and confident cornering in the rain.

giant_man

Interesting comparison buddha, out of interest did you use all three tyres on the same bike or different machines?

buddha

Yep all three have been used on one bike (fixie)

I had a period of a few weeks around August where my tyres were getting cut up with glass (mainly in cycle lanes). So I posted / hijacked various threads in this forum and others to find a fast(ish)-rolling, puncture-resistant tyre.

Started with the Krylions. Which still managed to get cut and give me a puncture.
Moved to Stelvio Plus - no punctures yet :roll:
And only got the gatorskins as I needed a 28c tyre for my 719A rims

The Stelvio Plus' are now on my 'commute' bike - where I'm most likely to encounter glass.
The Krylions + tyre liner on the fixie - for slippery country lanes, no glass but thorns.
The gatorskins have a big cut in them

Monty Dog

I've not tried the Stelvios - some club mates did and weren't too happy. Over the years I've used most of the commonly available tyres and would rate the Krylions as the best training tyre - they're pretty tough, but run fast and relatively smoothly- I've raced on them too. The 25mm ones are as wide as the 28mm Gatorskins. Vredestein Fortezzas are tough, have slightly better fell/handling but a little less puncture resistant.

marmitecp

Gatorskins should be illegal in countries where it rains.

olr1

IMHO, tyre choice is only one factor in puncture prevention; tyres at the right pressure and not riding in the gutter are equally as important. I've never chosen tyres for their 'puncture proofness', just used older racing tyres, and I'm not plagued at all.

LangerDan

marmitecp wrote:

Gatorskins should be illegal in countries where it rains.

Funnily enough, in the South West of Ireland the one thing we do well is rain and I've run Gatorskins for a couple of years without any grip problem.

Until this morning.

Hit a double thickness layer of road paint along the hard shoulder which resulted in the wheel turning 45 degrees while the bike ploughed straight on at 20 mph. I somehow managed to keep everything upright (luck ,rather than skill I suspect) but when I got home there was a little tuft on the top of the saddle where my @rse had tried to grab on.

It's quite possible that no tyre would have kept its grip but now I don't trust the Contis.

I have some of the Stelvio Plus but they are bloody enormous. The 23mm Stelvio is bigger (taller anyway) than the Conti 25mm or Fortezza 25mm and chews lumps out of the seat-tube.

Coyote

I agree with a couple of the posters. Fortezza Tri Comps - rode them from September to April in a Scottish winter, and didn't have a single flat. They roll much better than any Conti and are more comfortable. I was using the 23mm width.

Funny how its the same guys most weeks in my bunch who have all the problems! I reckon some of them would still puncture if the rode on car tyres!

dennisn

buddha wrote:

In the past few months I have bought the following tyres:
Michelin Krylion Carbon, (25c)
Schwalbe Stelvio Plus (25c),
Continental Ultra Gatorskin (28c).
All are available in 23c BTW.

For puncture resistance I would rate them (1=best, 3=worst)
1) Stelvio Plus - by a LONG way
Equal 2/3) Krylions, Gatorskins

For wet weather riding (again 1=best, 3=worst)
1) Krylions
2) Stelvio Plus
3) Gatorskins

Least Rolling resistance
1) Krylions
Equal 2/3) Gatorskin, Stelvio Plus

edit: as a 'best of both worlds' option I run Krylion Carbons with a tyre liner on my fixie. Which means 'no' punctures and confident cornering in the rain.

I would be very interested in how you determined rolling resistance. What sort of measuring
tools did you use? Can you send me the facts and figures of your research? Reason I
ask is that my lab test don't agree with yours and I am curious about your testing
procedures.

Dennis Noward

Mapman

Gatorskins are shit Why ?because they are the slipperest tyre i have ever rode ,a disaster for winter Fortessa tricomp excellent all rounder good p resistance good roller ,wears well,good grip

Monty Dog

I ran some standard Fortezzas in 25mm a few years ago, but can't seem to find anyone who stocks them - better handling than Krylions IME. My mate's just bought some Stelvios - he's punctured 3 times on the last 2 rides, so see how he gets on.

campagsarge

Had Gatorskins and Ultra sport from Conti and both where evil in the wet. I have since switched to Schwalbe Blizzard sport (700x23) and they have been great in the wet. Not punctured either although the course of a winter will prove how good they are at deflecting punctures.

Found the Schwalbe's easier to fit as well. The Conti's were incredibly tight fitting on my Campag Vento's.

Mapman

got mine from ribble ?

off the back

A bike shop owner told me that in reality the biggest difference between tyres in a price bracket is luck !!!! A guy will come in and tell him that tyre A is legend the best ever and then 1 day later another guy will come in and tell him the opposite that it is no use.

I had gatorskins tubalors and in my first day out got a puncture. I finished a race and thought all was well - no recollection of hitting anything (as was Zipp404 would be protective enough to remember) then took them out the next day and flat as a pancake! So pays your money and takes your chance ....

dennisn

off the back wrote:

A bike shop owner told me that in reality the biggest difference between tyres in a price bracket is luck !!!! A guy will come in and tell him that tyre A is legend the best ever and then 1 day later another guy will come in and tell him the opposite that it is no use.

I had gatorskins tubalors and in my first day out got a puncture. I finished a race and thought all was well - no recollection of hitting anything (as was Zipp404 would be protective enough to remember) then took them out the next day and flat as a pancake! So pays your money and takes your chance ....

I couldn't agree more. Sometimes it seems like buying tires is a crapshoot. I think if you buy good quality rubber and use it as it was designed to be used(racing, touring, bad
roads) that you will be reasonably flat free. At least as much as everyone else is. It's
also not a bad idea to inspect, very closely, your tires if you do a lot of riding on nasty
roads and / or trails.

Dennis Noward

campagsarge

dennisn wrote:

I couldn't agree more. Sometimes it seems like buying tires is a crapshoot.

That might get lost in translation Across The Pond we would probably say risky business!

Anyhow, I agree. I have just bought some tyres for £11 each and they are fantastic. I wouldn't race on them but for winter riding/training they do the job brilliantly.