I'm thinking of getting the Continental Ultra Gator Skin Bike Tyre or the Continental Ultra Sport Bike Tyre and wondered about the construction - what about the bit that actually contacts the road, will these help prevent punctures? I do mostly commuting on national and city roads and may do the odd longer spin at weekends on country roads.
Any thoughts welcome and feel free to deride me for not knowing! 🙂
I found Gatorskins to be pretty good when it came to puncture protection, while offering reasonable ride quality, but if puncture protection is your number one priority, then you might wanna look at something like Specialized Armadillos, or even using tyre liners. However, I suspect the Armadillos wouldn't ride as nice as most tyres, but I could be wrong.
Choosing tyres is usually a compromise between durability/puncture resistance vs ride quality and price. You could probably get steel-belted road tyres (??), but I bet they'd feel like the old solid tyres they have on kids' bikes. :-)
I reckon life's too short to ride on crappy tyres, so I'm prepared to get the odd flat if it means I'm getting a smoother ride.