Continental Ultra GatorSkin - Tread Direction
Samuelo
Posts: 3
Hi all,
After getting my umpteenth puncture I've decided to upgrade to something that might protect me a bit more and have purchased some Continental Ultra GatorSkins. Going to put them on this week - however, it's a little unclear which way I should put them on! :oops:
Does anyone else have experience with these tyres? Should the triangular treads have the point or base facing forward...or does it not matter that much!
Thanks in advance,
Sam
After getting my umpteenth puncture I've decided to upgrade to something that might protect me a bit more and have purchased some Continental Ultra GatorSkins. Going to put them on this week - however, it's a little unclear which way I should put them on! :oops:
Does anyone else have experience with these tyres? Should the triangular treads have the point or base facing forward...or does it not matter that much!
Thanks in advance,
Sam
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Comments
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You might find there's a direction arrow on the side wall if you look closely. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry too much.0
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Thanks Gozzy. Yeah, looked for arrows but can't see anything. Just whack 'em on willy-nilly then!0
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There is definitely a direction arrow, though it's kind of hard to see as it's just slightly raised lettering on the sidewall. I seem to recall it's "small triangles" forward with the direction of rotation. It probably wont make much difference if you put them on the wrong way to be honest.
**edit, this raised lettering with the direction arrow is only on one side of the tyre **0 -
very hard to see!0
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fitted the hardshells last night and it's small triangles first, as the tyre rolls; there is a direction of rotation arrow but it's not easy to find.... especially when you're fitting them using a headtorch.0
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100% there is a direction arrow on one side of the tyre wall. Looked for it with a torch, couldn't find it. Under various lights in the house, couldn't find it. Went into LBS, they found it and showed me. It's on one side only, next to the MADE IN GERMANY lettering. Anyway, bottom line is if you're sat in the saddle looking down at the front tyre the small triangles on the tread should be in front of the large triangles. Rear obviously goes the same way. Regarding psi, I do 110 front and 120 rear. I'm 73 kilos (11 st 7 lbs). Hope this helps.0
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Put it the right way round to disperse the water.
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1. Dispersing water doesn't really matter because you'd have to be going very, very fast to have a chance of aquaplaning on a normal road bike tyre.
2. 120psi?! On 25mms? Is that not really harsh? Try this: http://www.bikequarterly.com/images/TireDrop.pdf I go for 70/85 and I weigh just under 70kg.0 -
Good article. If I read it right and assuming Me + Bike = 84kgs and a (rough) 55/45 front rear split then I should be running my 25's:
- On the front (38kg), say 75psi.
- On the rear (46kg), say 90psi.
Seems a little low, but am going to give it a go!!0 -
bails87 wrote:1. Dispersing water doesn't really matter because you'd have to be going very, very fast to have a chance of aquaplaning on a normal road bike tyre.
Indeed. In fact, I seem to remember reading that Conti only put the tread pattern (and the directional arrow) on their road tyres because some people felt (wrongly) that a pure slick would grip less well on a bicycle than a tyre with tread.bails87 wrote:2. 120psi?! On 25mms? Is that not really harsh? Try this: http://www.bikequarterly.com/images/TireDrop.pdf I go for 70/85 and I weigh just under 70kg.
From that chart, that's a bit low. Assuming that your bike is ~10kg, so 80kg in total, and assuming that is split 30kg front 50kg rear, the chart would reckon on 55psi front and 100psi rear for 25mm. In practice, the split is likely to be a bit less than that so 60psi front and 90 psi rear might be a better. FWIW, I run 23mm front@90 psi and 25mm rear@110 psi and find that gives a good ride without feeling draggy, though I weigh 80-85 kg.
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Sheldon Brown also says that tread makes no difference, and common sense tells me it shouldn't...then my cycling OCD kicks in telling me that the arrow's rolling backwards. I can go maximum of three rides before I cave in and swap the tyre around.
Thanks for the tips on tyre pressure chaps. Think I'll have a play on my next few rides.1 -
I know, but if the tyre does have tread, then you might as well put it the right way round.bails87 wrote:1. Dispersing water doesn't really matter because you'd have to be going very, very fast to have a chance of aquaplaning on a normal road bike tyre.
Even if you could prove to me that I could not notice any difference if the tyre was on backwards, I would still want to have it the right way round. Call it OCD if you like. It would just bother me.1 -
My Gatorskins run at 100psi.I've added a signature to prove it is still possible.0
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Mine are at 110psi and topped up at that pressure each morning.Condor Pista
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To the OP please don't run your tyres at only 60 psi. Gatorskins are excellent at preventing punctures where items pierce the tyre but at that low a pressure they will be suceptible to pinch flats when hitting pot holes etc. Get them at 100 psi and you will be very seldom ( if ever )visited by the puncture fairy!0
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The chart is a starting point, not a concrete rule. I've never had a pinch flat (possibly my MTBing means I'm better at unweighting the wheels when they hit stuff, or I just don't ride straight into kerbs and potholes in the first place) so I go with comfort and grip. And it doesn't slow me down, if 'so hard it won't deform'='speed' then racers would use solid tyres.Underscore wrote:bails87 wrote:2. 120psi?! On 25mms? Is that not really harsh? Try this: http://www.bikequarterly.com/images/TireDrop.pdf I go for 70/85 and I weigh just under 70kg.
From that chart, that's a bit low. Assuming that your bike is ~10kg, so 80kg in total, and assuming that is split 30kg front 50kg rear, the chart would reckon on 55psi front and 100psi rear for 25mm. In practice, the split is likely to be a bit less than that so 60psi front and 90 psi rear might be a better. FWIW, I run 23mm front@90 psi and 25mm rear@110 psi and find that gives a good ride without feeling draggy, though I weigh 80-85 kg.
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bails87 wrote:The chart is a starting point, not a concrete rule. I've never had a pinch flat (possibly my MTBing means I'm better at unweighting the wheels when they hit stuff, or I just don't ride straight into kerbs and potholes in the first place) so I go with comfort and grip. And it doesn't slow me down, if 'so hard it won't deform'='speed' then racers would use solid tyres.
I'm aware that the chart is only indicative and that 15% tyre drop is the rule. Note that the 15% drop has nothing to do with pinch flats: it's to do with the amount of hysteresis loss in the tyre carcass (lower at higher pressures) against the loss due to inability to conform to the road surface (lower at low pressures).
For MTB, the latter usually dominates, which is why you typically run as low a pressure as you can get away with to minimise rolling resistance.
The paper you refer to suggests that, for road riding, the two broadly match at pressures where the drop is less than 15% so you gain little or no rolling resistance benefit going for higher pressures (unless you are riding on pristine road surfaces - unlikely in this country!) but you lose out in terms of comfort. Of course, if you are a riding on rougher surfaces, going lower in terms of pressure may not result in an increase in rolling resistance but, in my experience, the pressures in that chart are pretty good for most of the roads that I ride on...
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Thanks for the information in this thread everyone. I realized that the tread on my newly-installed Gatorskin was the wrong way and my OCD also kicked in after I read it 😛0
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Isn't this thread 16 years old ?0
