conti gatorskins/hardshell

crescent

I thought the purpose of tyre tread was to displace water, although I suppose the relative low speed would limit the effect on a bike compared to a car. The centre of the Gatorskins is more or less a slick anyway.

Dorset_Boy

Crescent wrote:

I thought the purpose of tyre tread was to displace water, although I suppose the relative low speed would limit the effect on a bike compared to a car. The centre of the Gatorskins is more or less a slick anyway.

Isn't it to do with the shape of the tyre and its size.
A car tyre is flat and so needs a tread to displace the water.
A road bike tyre is oval and the shape of it displaces the water and the tread is cosmetic.
Obviously its a bit different for dark side tyres!

smoggysteve

Dorset Boy wrote:

Crescent wrote:

I thought the purpose of tyre tread was to displace water, although I suppose the relative low speed would limit the effect on a bike compared to a car. The centre of the Gatorskins is more or less a slick anyway.

Isn't it to do with the shape of the tyre and its size.
A car tyre is flat and so needs a tread to displace the water.
A road bike tyre is oval and the shape of it displaces the water and the tread is cosmetic.
Obviously its a bit different for dark side tyres!

Partiality correct. A bike tyre would need to be going at least 90mph to start aquaplaning allegedly. Some tyres do have a slight directional tread on them like Specialized Turbo and Vittoria Corsa. From what I have read in the past it helps lower the rolling resistance as the tread pattern grips better without the tyre deforming as much as a slick tyre. Whether it works is up for debate

drlodge

Gatorskins are the devils' work. Ride like hosepipes and have almost no grip in the wet. If you're with Conti tyres, get the GP4Seasons instead. Or Pro4 Endurance.

PTestTeam

drlodge wrote:

Gatorskins are the devils' work. Ride like hosepipes and have almost no grip in the wet. If you're with Conti tyres, get the GP4Seasons instead. Or Pro4 Endurance.

Or better still get some Schwalbe Duranos

Pituophis

This is a genuine question, and not sarcasm;
When people say that Gatorskins have no grip, genuinely, how do you quantify it against other tyres?
Honestly, as mentioned above, I have used them for years, summer and winter, and only ever had one sketchy moment when the front wheel slipped for an instant on loose grit on a fast, tight bend. I'm sure that this would have happened with any tyre on the market in that particular situation. I've never had any other instances where I thought that anything other than my own riding ability might have been at fault.
Is it a case that I won't understand what I am putting up with until I try a "better" tyre, or am I just too conservative in my riding to have any issues with the ones I use?

I don't work for Conti, or in a bike shop, so have nothing to gain from pushing Gatorskins, I just genuinely can't see anything drastically wrong with them. I ride with people of a similar ability, and I don't seem to suffer from any obvious disadvantage to people on other tyres?
I do see my riding pals have plenty of punctures though.

Roberto di Velo

Pituophis wrote:

This is a genuine question, and not sarcasm;
When people say that Gatorskins have no grip, genuinely, how do you quantify it against other tyres?
Honestly, as mentioned above, I have used them for years, summer and winter, and only ever had one sketchy moment when the front wheel slipped for an instant on loose grit on a fast, tight bend. I'm sure that this would have happened with any tyre on the market in that particular situation. I've never had any other instances where I thought that anything other than my own riding ability might have been at fault.
Is it a case that I won't understand what I am putting up with until I try a "better" tyre, or am I just too conservative in my riding to have any issues with the ones I use?

I don't work for Conti, or in a bike shop, so have nothing to gain from pushing Gatorskins, I just genuinely can't see anything drastically wrong with them. I ride with people of a similar ability, and I don't seem to suffer from any obvious disadvantage to people on other tyres?
I do see my riding pals have plenty of punctures though.

I think to some extent, a decent rider should be able to feel the limits of the grip and ride accordingly. I like to think that I can feel some difference between my summer and winter tyres, but it's also about how you ride the bike, lean into corners, etc. FWIW I know some decent riders (well at least 1) who swear by Gatorskins.

Roberto di Velo

This has probably been done to death, but hey...

Personally, I avoid gatorskins now and would rather use GP4s or Specialized Roubaix Pros (which is a much under-rated tyre). In my experience, and this may also be a result of rims, gatorskins are fiendishly difficult to get on and I always had to resort to using a tyre lever. I know some riders are worried about getting punctures, particularly ladies, but given that no tyre is 100% resistant to punctures I would much rather have a tyre that is straightforward to change. As an aside, I've always found wider tyres that bit easier to change too.

dinyull

Pituophis wrote:

This is a genuine question, and not sarcasm;
When people say that Gatorskins have no grip, genuinely, how do you quantify it against other tyres?
Honestly, as mentioned above, I have used them for years, summer and winter, and only ever had one sketchy moment when the front wheel slipped for an instant on loose grit on a fast, tight bend. I'm sure that this would have happened with any tyre on the market in that particular situation. I've never had any other instances where I thought that anything other than my own riding ability might have been at fault.
Is it a case that I won't understand what I am putting up with until I try a "better" tyre, or am I just too conservative in my riding to have any issues with the ones I use?

I don't work for Conti, or in a bike shop, so have nothing to gain from pushing Gatorskins, I just genuinely can't see anything drastically wrong with them. I ride with people of a similar ability, and I don't seem to suffer from any obvious disadvantage to people on other tyres?
I do see my riding pals have plenty of punctures though.

I swore by Gators for years, and then had a couple of off's and few near misses where I really started to question their grip in the wet. A front wheel sliding out is no fun, even when crawling round corners and there are 1 or 2 steep hills up here where it was near on impossible to pedal up in the wet as the rear wheel used to just spin up.

PTestTeam

Pituophis wrote:

This is a genuine question, and not sarcasm;
When people say that Gatorskins have no grip, genuinely, how do you quantify it against other tyres?
Honestly, as mentioned above, I have used them for years, summer and winter, and only ever had one sketchy moment when the front wheel slipped for an instant on loose grit on a fast, tight bend. I'm sure that this would have happened with any tyre on the market in that particular situation. I've never had any other instances where I thought that anything other than my own riding ability might have been at fault.
Is it a case that I won't understand what I am putting up with until I try a "better" tyre, or am I just too conservative in my riding to have any issues with the ones I use?

I don't work for Conti, or in a bike shop, so have nothing to gain from pushing Gatorskins, I just genuinely can't see anything drastically wrong with them. I ride with people of a similar ability, and I don't seem to suffer from any obvious disadvantage to people on other tyres?
I do see my riding pals have plenty of punctures though.

I've been riding for years. I started to question the Gatorskins I had when they lost grip on a slow left hander that has a slight off camber. It was a damp morning. I'd ridden the same corner with other tyres in similar conditions and never had that feeling before. Before some new tyres turned up I really had to scrub speed off for that corner, going round at walking pace. I had no confidence in them after this

I always use Durano's in the winter now. Loads of grip, roll well and are tough enough for winter.

rob39

Used Gatorskins for years no issues no problems. Recently tried Michelin Pro 4 enduro and they are the Dogs B.... recently rode the the Braveheart in horrible weather very greasy roads and had full confidence in them. Recently had a couple of punctures in 2 weeks but due to thorns as hedge cutting season is in full swing. Still have Gators and going to give the a bash over the winter.

bobmcstuff

GP4000s II are noticeably faster and grippier than GP4S, which are themselves infinitely better than gatorskins which are like riding solid wooden rims with a strip of rubber glued to them.

GP4S are my winter tyres but I think I'll try some of the other recommended ones such as duranos next.