Conti Gatorskin vs 4-Seasons

Hi Vince

I have Gatorskins and that went on at 10,300km and now at 15,800km with the
last few months spent on the trainer, so I don¹t know how many additional
kms that has been, but I would say quite a few more.
The trainer has inflicted some damage to them but until that point, they
were looking quite useable for road (commuting/training) and I never once
had a flat. I think I could have achieved another 2-3k out of them. I weigh
about 67-68kgs - weight could be a factor in overall tyre life.

Hope this helps
Bronnie

Vincent Patrick said:

Hi,

I'm about to replace a worn rear tyre with a new Continental Ultra
Gatorskin. I was surprised that the weight of the Gatorskin is less than
the weight of the Continental 4 Seasons tyre I have on the front. Does
anyone have an idea of the typical useable life (km) I can expect from the
Gatorskin?

Cheers,

Vince

There are many factors that go into tyre life... your type of riding, pressure you run, your weight, type of roads, etc..

Conti have just updated the Gator in the last few months too. The old ones lasted a while for me (typical roadie), the new ones feel MUCH softer so I'm not expecting such a good run from them. Our of the box the new Gator feels stickier than a GP4000.

Gators are bullet proof. Just as long as there are no glass shards being used as bullets.

lama

In article <[email hidden]>,

gplama said:

Gators are bullet proof.

Don't you believe it. Maybe I was unlucky, but I had the sidewall go on
three of them.

--
Shane Stanley

In aus.bicycle on Sun, 10 Dec 2006 11:46:27 +1100

Shane Stanley said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

gplama said:

Gators are bullet proof.

Don't you believe it. Maybe I was unlucky, but I had the sidewall go on
three of them.

So who was shooting at you?

Zebee

Shane Stanley said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

gplama said:

Gators are bullet proof.

Don't you believe it. Maybe I was unlucky, but I had the sidewall go on
three of them.

I had the same problem, 2 gators died within weeks of fitting. I won't
buy 'em again 🙂

In article <[email hidden]>,

Bleve said:

I had the same problem

We're similar weight, so maybe that makes a difference. Although I was
using 25mm versions anyway.

--
Shane Stanley

Vincent Patrick said:

Hi,

I'm about to replace a worn rear tyre with a new Continental Ultra
Gatorskin. I was surprised that the weight of the Gatorskin is less than
the weight of the Continental 4 Seasons tyre I have on the front. Does
anyone have an idea of the typical useable life (km) I can expect from the
Gatorskin?

I used to use Gatorskins, typically I'd get about 3 months out of them
at 300km or so a week. I now use GP4000 which lasts much longer and in
my experience is more bullet proof than Gatorskins.
--
Cheers
Euan

Shane Stanley said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Bleve said:

I had the same problem

We're similar weight, so maybe that makes a difference. Although I was
using 25mm versions anyway.

Dunno about that, I believe I'm of similar weight (mid eighties) plus I
run with panniers loaded up to 15 odd kgs 99% of the time. I haven't
had one sidewall blow out so wouldn't say that weight is a factor.

Not that I'm interested in lab testing them ;-)
--
Cheers
Euan

In article <[email hidden]>,

Euan said:

Dunno about that, I believe I'm of similar weight (mid eighties) plus I
run with panniers loaded up to 15 odd kgs 99% of the time. I haven't
had one sidewall blow out so wouldn't say that weight is a factor.

Maybe it's riding style. Or bad batches.

Quoted message said:

Not that I'm interested in lab testing them ;-)

Tyres seem to be one area where we seem to trust our own very small
samples regardless.

--
Shane Stanley

Shane Stanley said:

Tyres seem to be one area where we seem to trust our own very small
samples regardless.

I'm happy to test more if a tire that doesn't last well is replaced for
free or pro rata! OTH I don't know how many sets of Vittoria Rubino Pro
foldings I've used in a row - when you're on a good thing ...

Donga

In article <[email hidden]>,

Donga said:

OTH I don't know how many sets of Vittoria Rubino Pro
foldings I've used in a row - when you're on a good thing ...

That's what I moved to too. And probikekit.com certainly makes the price
right.

--
Shane Stanley

My first set of Gators were 25s, I weigh 90kg and sometimes had two panniers onboard but still got 6000K out of those tyres, they were stuffed in the end.

The next set were Gator 23s and I hated the ride on the rear, rough as guts (new tyre design) so I changed to a GP4000 25mm on the rear and it rides heaps better. I just use the 23s for the front now.

Shane Stanley said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Donga said:

OTH I don't know how many sets of Vittoria Rubino Pro
foldings I've used in a row - when you're on a good thing ...

That's what I moved to too. And probikekit.com certainly makes the price
right.

ditto here.

I've done about 5-6k commuting on one rubino pro slick folder (half on
the front, half on the rear) and it still looks ok apart from a few
small cuts here and there... may need to be replaced in a month or
so... no worries, I picked up four of them at the time.

quote='Duncan'Shane Stanley said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Donga said:

OTH I don't know how many sets of Vittoria Rubino Pro
foldings I've used in a row - when you're on a good thing ...

That's what I moved to too. And probikekit.com certainly makes the price
right.

ditto here.

I've done about 5-6k commuting on one rubino pro slick folder (half on
the front, half on the rear) and it still looks ok apart from a few
small cuts here and there... [/QUOTE]
Well if we're talking kms, I put 10,000kms on a set of GP4000. I only changed them 'cause I thought I should.

quote='Bleve'Shane Stanley said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

gplama said:

Gators are bullet proof.

Don't you believe it. Maybe I was unlucky, but I had the sidewall go on
three of them.

I had the same problem, 2 gators died within weeks of fitting. I won't
buy 'em again 🙂[/QUOTE]

Me three!

Adam