ContinentalGatorskin Black Edition 700c Road Tire(Return to Product Page)

Continental Gatorskin are my go to tires these days. I like the puncture resistant focus and the build quality. I have noticed over the last few years that I have fewer punctures for longer period of times as compared to Michelin Pro Endurance which were at one time my tire of choice until they were no longer available. The Gatorskins are a bit heavier but a good trade off for peace of mind. I especially like the Black Edition as it complements the titanium color of my bike. I ride daily for pleasure and appreciate a dependable tire. I change my tires at about 2500 miles even though the Gatorskins probably have some life left. I prefer to do so in order to minimize potential punctures as the tire tread starts to wear down. I rotate my tires at around 1200 miles to balance the wear between the front and back as the back usually wears faster.

It's a toss-up between Continental Gatorskins and Vittoria Randonneur (old style, original 110 (?) PSI casing) for everything except the number of miles I can will out of the Gatorskins seems to be a bit lower. My first set of Gatorskins came to a premature demise when I ran through a day-old automobile accident site and sliced the casings on some plastic debris. I didn't get full life out of that set, so it remains to be seen if my lower mileage predictions are correct. The positive tradeoff is in wet road grip. The Gatorskins are much safer in the rain. As I'm an all-weather cyclist, that is a trade I'll gladly make if it costs a few extra dollars a month to replace the tires more frequently.

Gator Skins have been my go to tires for a number of years now. These black version of the tires are not only cheaper than the gold label version but I was also able to get the bigger size for my e-bike. Just like the version I have used on my regular carbon fiber road bike, I expect to get many miles on these tires without flats.

I was using the Grand Prix 5000 tires and though I loved the smooth and supple quality of the ride they provided, I was getting too many flats. I was concerned that the Gatorskins would be too harsh of a ride. They are heavier and stiffer but, honestly, not that bad. I find the ride to be pretty comfortable and, after many rides, I am still free of flats so definitely worth the switch. I think this is the only tire I'm going to use from now on, year round.

While the traction is a little less than real racing tires it is half the cost and has great training wear.

Mounted these on a Bushnell tandem last month and rode 500km with 12000ft of climbing in Morocco. Tires handle beautifully especially on descents. Only 20 minutes of showers to test road grip but all went well

Outstanding tires� I have ridden Continental tires for over 25 years.

The Gatorskins are an excellent tire for serious training, high mileage, and puncture resistance.

A little more work to mount but worth the effort

After riding Gatorskins on my road bike exclusively for the past seven years, I have had three sidewall blowouts so far this year. The last, which was yesterday, after only 280 miles of use. In each example, I could not find a specific cause. Up until yesterday, I had loved these tires. So I�ll be switching to another brand because I�m tired of being stranded miles from home.

I've used Gatorskins for several years. Since our city (Portland, OR) no longer seems to care to maintain its bikepaths and bikelanes, I need a tougher tire than the Rubino Pros I used to rely on. Only drawback with Gatorskins was that when they were brand new, they often didn't seat in the rims at first, causing unexpected blowouts a few minutes after inflation. Sometimes it took several attempts to get them to seat properly. These new black edition tires -- for whatever reason -- did not have that problem. I've installed several, all perfectly on the first go. They are hard to mount/dismount, especially when new and/or cold, so unless you have hands of Hercules, pack a couple tire levers in your repair kit.

This tire will give you confidence to ride through most road debris. Goat heads,glass and most garbage!!! I ride So Cal desert and mountain roads which can have a lot of goatheads. Had a piece of glass make its way into tire which is rare. Black version looks better than old version. These tires have noticeable resistance and weight but overall well worth it. Great protection and longevity!!!

I race on other tires but I train on Gator Skins. They are puncture resistant and long lasting. The larger sizes of 28 and above are easier to put on and off wheels which is a huge benefit. I highly recommend these for training purposes.

If you're a road bike rider used to lightweight all-season or racing tires, these will have a numb road feel initially. But the added protection will give you peace of mind in the fall-winter-early spring commutes or training rides, and without adding excessive weight or rolling resistance. Traction on wet pavement is excellent and puncture resistance is impressive if not bulletproof. These tires cost more, but they're worth the extra cost if you do a lot of riding and need a tough, reliable tire that performs extremely well in all conditions.

Hi - been riding on the Continental Gatorskin Black tires for the last three months after a piece of metal destroyed my 6-month old Vittoria Rubino Pro back tire. I liked the Vittoria, but felt they didn't "roll" as well as other brands that I've used.

The Continental Gatorskin Black's are amazing. There seems to be less resistance than the Vittoria, I like the tread, and the traction is very good, since I've been using these tires in the cold mixed with snow rain soaked Pacific Northwest. Like all of the other "million" reviews, buy with confidence. And like always, Bike Tire Direct is my go to vendor...

Thought these tires would be heavy and stiff but haven't found that to be the case. I love them. The ride is more supple than I thought and I find them comfortable to ride on...so much so that I think I'll be using them year round. So far no flats and I've gone through some really bad road debris. Fingers crossed that I don't get a flat because the one thing I don't like about them is that they are extremely difficult to get on and off the rim.

I do a lot of shopping around for everything I buy and these were rated the best tires for my fixed gear application. I found the best price at bike tires direct online. The black edition gatorskins look great on my bike thanks to them not having yellow lettering that I was absolutely not going to allow on my red and chrome bike. The tires are still going strong and would recommend them to anyone looking for a lighter weight ultra durable tire.

Mostly a road bike rider averaging 135 miles per week on the typical trash and glass strewn roads in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles. My previous tire of choice was the Continental GP5000. If I lived outside of a big city I likely would have stayed with that tire. While the GP5000 had a slightly smoother ride and may have even been slightly faster (emphasis on slightly), I eventually became tired of getting flats. I would estimate that I easily get 60 to 70% fewer flats on the Gatorskins than on the GP5000. The evidence is anecdotal, but that's all got. I went with the black edition strictly based on appearance.

I�ve been buying Gatorskins for awhile now and really like them. They are durable and well made. Knock on wood, I have not had any flats with these. These are the first Blackwall versions I�ve owned and they go well with my Cannondale Bad Boy Disc.

I got these for their resistance to blowouts. I read many reviews that rated them highly for that. I live and ride in Florida, so "cold" weather use is the low 40s. Thus far I've put 1,375 miles on these tires. The rear one is just showing signs of wear, but it looks only about 1/3 worn. So my estimate right now is 3,500-4,000 miles. Not bad.

These ride well and corner well in wet conditions. I've had no indication of slippage at all when the roads are wet. I do ride on some roads that have been sealed, and I've previously slid out on other tires when they were wet. These hold tight.

I've run over road glass, not on purpose, but the recycling truck near me dumps little piles of glass here and there and I've hit a few. The tires show no signs of being cut or punctured. Previous tires would have been flat on me.

I replace my Bontrager R3 tires that are crazy speedy but often flat so tried Gatorskin and only one thing they feel like they are connected with magnet to the ground super safe hope flat would be less with them but only disadvantage is speed, they are totally lazy comparing with R3 if you can compare those two tires. Very happy with my purchase traded speed for comfort.

I'm the type of rider that is very used to GP5000 (mounted on my campys wto 45)and after reading reviews about gatorskins tires I decided to click the button, this tires are tough!, I chose this tires for my winter/rough roads to prevent flats and they haven't disappointed me , I mounted them on a spare wheel set (bontrager aeolus 35)which was not difficult, they rolls good , they are not as fast as GP5000 but the intention is prevent flats and keep me training on winter.