ContinentalGatorskin 26 Inch Road Tire(Return to Product Page)

Great road tire option for my 26 inch wheeled Santana tandem. Fast and very puncture resistant. I dont like the short life of the sidewall mesh though. Do not last nearly as long as my road GP 4000s2s.

I ride these on my street bike until they wear down. I had forgotten that they have a steel bead (not kevlar) so they're pretty hard to get on and off the rim.

I am the mechanic for a tandem bicycle club. We have used these tires for years now--experimented with others, and always came back to these as best value.

Great riding and long lasting tires

I am using these tires a on my tandem. They are doing a great job with the weight of two adult riders plus a 40 lb bicycle.

Use for my Bacchetta Giro on the back, doesn't break the bank, and got almost 3000 miles out of it.

difficult to install on my ritchey rims and the ride is a little harsh but rolling resistance is good and so far so is durability.

I purchased these tires for a folding mountain bike that I travel with all year. Previous tires I had were ok, but I got too many flats. Plus running them at 115 psi makes keeping up with my roadie friends much easier. These tires are fast and durable.

You wont be disappointed.

I bought this tires solely for their reputation of protecting against flats. I live in city where the streets are pockmarked and those pockmarks are filled with broken glass and gravel. Serious tires are needed. I had Gatorskin Hardshell's on my old bike and did not get a single puncture flat in a year. This was after getting three or four flats a month with cheap tires.

I could not find 26' Hardshell's. I figured the regular Gatorskin's would not be too much of a downgrade. I was concerned when I pulled them out of the box and saw how much thinner the tread was compared to the Hardshells. It might be worth mentioning this is the hardest to install tire I have ever experienced. If I did not have a tire jack I don't think I would have been able to mount them.

I rode for about fifty miles before I hit something that cut a serious gash in the sidewall.

I will credit the customer service of Bike Tires Direct. They gave me a discount on a set of Marathon Plus tires. So far, knock on wood, no flats.

My wife and I have a Santana tandem and finding a tire that can handle the added load and still ride smooth and fast has been difficult. After trying several different tires from Specialized and Ritchey (Tom Slicks don't hold a candle to these,) the Conti Gatorskins are a revelation. Great tire, reasonably quiet, feel supple with good feedback from the road, and able to handle high pressure and load. Good in both wet and dry conditions. Buy these!

This is my 3rd set of these tires. They are extremely puncture resistant, have low rolling resistance, excellent traction in the corners, and long life. I've had other puncture resistant brands that did not hold up nearly so well. Great tires.

I go one 500 mile trips once or twice a year, as well as, participate in 60-100 mile one day events throughout the year. Of course there are a lot of training miles to prepare to do these things. The Gatorskin tires have proven to be the longest lasting, most durable, and best ride of the tires I have tried.

Got these on sale, so the price was right. Love how they make my mountain bike handle pavement, especially hills and turns. A little tougher to mount than others, as the wire bead is quite strong. Also, make sure you get the high pressure rim strips to go with them (sucks to have super tough tires only to get flats from the inside).

I have Continental Gatorskins in the 700x28 size on my tandem and on the rear wheel of my Goldrush long wheelbase recumbent. I purchased these in the 26 inch size for a Specialized mountain bike w Alex rims w disk brakes. I replaced a thin, plastic rim strip with 16 mm Velox rim tape that was a bit thicker. Big mistake! It made the tires nearly impossible to mount. I had to take the wheels to my local bike shop. They mounted one successfully. A different mechanic worked on the second wheel. He replaced the Velox rim tape with an FSA plastic rim strip that was thinner (and cheaper). The tires and tubes are a full pound lighter (each wheel) than the knobby mountain bike tires and tubes they replaced. The bike rides like a road bike now. I'm just afraid if I get a flat, I won't be able to fix it on the road with the plastic Park tire levers that I carry. If you plan on mounting these tires on Alex rims, consider yourself warned that they are extremely difficult to mount.

I use these tires as everyday tires as well as touring tires on my recumbent bikes. I use these 26 x 1-1/8 on two of my recumbents and the 650C size on another recumbent. This size is fairly easy to mount compared to the 650C size. I can do it without using a tire lever. These tires give me about 2500 miles on the rear, and about 4000 miles on the front. It pays to rotate them every thousand, or so. The tread grip is good, wet or dry. I almost never flat from road debris through the tread, but I have blown out several sidewalls on these and the 650C tires. If the sidewalls were stronger I would have given them 5 stars.

I use these for commuting in San Jose, CA. Seasonal hazards include thorns and goatheads, perpetual hazards are drywall screws, glass, and staples. (you know, typical urban flotsam). I think a case could be made that these tires protect from thorns and somewhat from glass, but they aren't perfect. They are good, solid tires, I just don't think they are worth extra money (got a good deal on them on BTD).

Second day, i have a glass puncture. Not really what I expected

I ride a 2007 recumbent trike and it felt like the wheels were glued down. In Arizona we also have small thorns shed from certain local plants that are EVERYWHERE. The 26 X 1-1/8 Gatorskin, along with two other narrow tires improved my cruising speed about 2 miles an hour. I have not had flats either, even after riding over 100 miles in the last few weeks.

The joy of riding has been restored.

Im in Phoenix for the winter and im using 26 in gatorskins because of the thorn issue. last time i used contis, and i believe these flat less. mounting (at least on my rims) i believe would be much easier with a stretched folding version.my bike is and old r.m. altitude with a rigid fork, (all road riding).i really wish schwalbe still made a 26x1 folding slick,the best overall road mtn. tire ive ever used.STELVIO

I use this tire on my handcycle, I am in a wheelchair and race marathons in the handcycle division. Theses tires are reliable, light and roll well.