Gator Hardhell puncture

joelsim

First one yesterday in over 2 years of riding most days. Pouring with rain, me and my boys were caught in t-shirts and shorts about 5 miles away from home (one of them is only just 6). Cycle route 20 which goes from Tooting to Morden Hall is a great route which we only found the day before, so we decided to do it again yesterday.

Suffice it to say it is mainly tracks and gravel, not so good on 23 and 28 tyres. Anyway to cut a long story short we could have just thrown ourselves into a swimming pool we were so wet, got back with my eldest riding my Boardman with the Gators, this morning I went to take all 3 bikes outside for a thorough clean as they were filthy and noticed that I had a flat. Surprised to say the least as he didn't say anything on the way back.

Not bad for several thousand miles I would say, and was very easy to fix (unlike trying to get a 23 Rubino from a packet onto narrow rims which I did a couple of months ago.

Gators - highly recommended.

Mr.Duck

I'm new to this skinny road tyre thing, but I don't like them. Low grip. Felt very unsure from the front wheel going round a bend in the dry that was a bit bumpy. In the wet I would probably want to slow right down. On a flat, smooth, dry road, they fly along though.

I was thinking about trying some Rubino Pros next.

joelsim

I like the Rubino Pro too, certainly coped with some very testing ground over the last few days. Should have been using an MTB on the terrain that we were on but they held up perfectly. I would be concerned if they were to puncture though especially if I was out as it took me the best part of an hour and a half to get the things on to my rims in the first place, whereas the Gator this morning was a 10 minute job in total including mending the old tube.

gbsahne001

I also don't like them and found that they don't cope with the amount of flints we get on the road, 3 visits this year; I also found they cut up very badly. I've switch to Rubino Pro's and they seem to be coping much better and haven't cut up nearly as bad

Mr.Duck

Yes, I've noticed mine has lots of little cuts in it too! Only in the Gator Hardhell. Continental seem to be too highly regarded. More than they deserve considering the competition.

Joelsim wrote:

I would be concerned if they were to puncture though especially if I was out as it took me the best part of an hour and a half to get the things on to my rims

Have you seen this video showing you how to install a Marathon Plus tyre with out even using any tyre levers? You have to push the bead down into the rim. I assume you can use the same technique on any tyre.

Bustacapp

I opted for the specialized armadillo all condition tyres over the gatorskin hardshells as after looking at all the reviews the gatorskins didn't seem as puncture resistant.