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

I have had great success with these tires. Very durable and comfortable ride. And, Bike Tires Direct makes it so quick and easy to get them. I am completely satisfied with the tires and with Bike Tires Direct.

Ride in Hawaii over littered roads, either up or downhill with plenty glass, tire wire, pig guts and the occasional discarded virus mask. Mounting them (32s) on Swiss 470ds was nearly impossible (old man in 70s) but so far (400miles) no problem. They do, however, seem taller than wider so I've taken to riding them at lowest pressure. I more concerned with comfort than speed. Hope I never have to find out if, as one reviewer stated, they loosen up with time. As usual, great deal from BTD, and black is beautiful

Been running Continental Gatorskins for years. I feel like they provide excellent flat protection without sacrificing ride quality. I run them on road bikes, single speeds and gravel bikes for high mileage, commuter, on-road riding.

This is my second set of Gatorskins. My first set lasted 10 years and I ride a lot. I have been a Bike Tires Direct customer for over 10 years. Always returned to BTD as they have great pricing, quick delivery and NO issues. I did recently run into a defective item and reached out to BTD. This (In my opinion) is where the rubber meets the road. Their Customer Service was OUTSTANDING!!!. They immediately responded and promptly sent a replacement. I will note that that the defective item was NOT the fault of BTD and could have happened with any company/product. The manner in which BTD handled this tells you that it puts its customers first. BTD is a pleasure to work with and I will continue to buy from them.

Gatorskins provide excellent protection against a large percentage of flat-causing debris on the road. No tire is perfect, but these really offer everything you could hope for. They may be slightly heavier than optimum, but really aren't that many grams heavier than GP4000s, which are a terrible tire, wear-wise.

I usually get about 2500-2800 mi on rear Gatorskin, and over 6000mi on front tire.

I'm 180# and majority of roads I ride are pretty smooth pavement.

I made the switch to Gatorskins after my first puncture with the tires that came with my TREK Domane. I have never had one issue or puncture with them over thousands of miles of riding. I don't race, I'm a self challenge riders who typically does 2 50 mile rides and 1 70 mile rider per week. I live in Chile and some of the roads I'm o are major-league chip seal with lots of stuff embedded in them and don't get me started on what is on the roadside. All this to say, I LOVE Gatorskins and BTD always has great deals.

-Longevity A+

-Durability A+

The only thing that I don't like about them, is after a little while strings of material from the tire start floating away from the tire. It concerned me at first until I read that Conti's do this. I snip them and keep going. It's just an annoying thing.

I had purchased the Continental Gatorskin "Black Edition" 700c x 25 tires when they were offered for a sale price from Biketiresdirect. I figured at that price, buy them now for the future. I recently had a chance to sell my older Trek 2300 road bike (that I haven't been riding) to a friend, and I decided to mount the Black Edition tires on the Trek before I sold it for him. It really helped make the bike in like new condition! He was very pleased to see these quality tires on the bike.

When I initially mounted the Black Edition Gators on some DT SWISS R460 rims, it was a little tough and required pretty good torque on my levers. After about a month of riding on them, I noticed the directional arrow on the side of the tire was wrong. So here was a good opportunity to correct it and see if the tires had stretched out a bit. Too my surprise, they had definitely loosened up. Now they are not only very easy to get off the rim with my wimpy levers, but I can get them back on with bare hands ! ( Just start putting the 2nd bead of the tire on the rim at 180' opposite of the valve stem and finish at the valve stem).

I have them on my rain bike and they handle very well on Portland's leaf-slop streets.

I've run original gatorskins for years as I do a combination of 40m commutes and long weekend rides. Biggest complaint with originals was sidewalls unraveling before tread wore out. Black edition seems to address that issue, at least has no visible mesh on sidewalls like original.

Beyond that, with about 1K miles, wear is great and ride is about the same (overall good). Seems the tread is less sticky, but just my visual impression - no issues with loss of traction.

When I first got into riding a number of months ago, my friend forwarded me the BikeTiresDirect email regarding this offer. Although my current tires were perfectly fine, I decided the deal was too good to pass up. This week I had a blow out in my rear tire and subsequently changed out to my new Gatorskins previously purchased. I am glad I did. Great price back then and they were easy to install. First ride is today. I am looking forward to it.

It is so nice to have some peace of mind that I will not be getting a flat. These tires are tough and still give a smooth ride. They will puncture but then it usually means it is time to get a new tire. I am a big fan of these tires.

Ive been using Gatorskins for a while now. Ive had other brands come stock on bikes and usually wind up with punctures quickly. Fingers crossed but i when switching to Gatorskins I've yet to puncture them. I highly recommend these tires. And the fact that you get the choice of two different sidewall colors is a plus too.

I commuted between 20 and 60 miles a day to work for 15 years and did double centuries for most of that time recreationally. These were and still are my go-to tires for my road bikes. You'll get less flats with these.

Great tire. For a season you�ll forget how to change a flat. This is my 5th season using Black Gatorskins and I won�t use anything else. They might be a tad slower, but unless you�re racing the Tour it�s not going to matter. Two thumbs up!!!

I do a lot of solo riding long distance, and the most debilitating thing about any ride is a mechanical or a puncture. The Gatorskin Blacks are trusted and tested to deliver me to the end goal every time. I've been riding about 1600k a month lately, so I do keep an eye on the road mileage. When the front tire gets a flat, that's when I know it's time to change them out before I do another century. I buy them in advance, so I always have a back up pair or two on hand. Note: Yes - they are heavier than racing tires, but the time I lose in climbing speed, I make up for, by not having to stop for a puncture. So if you change terrain over the course of one ride: glass, gravel, poor road quality, sand, pine needles, city garbage, etc... and you hate to change out a flat (ladies?) This tire is for you. The regular yellow sidewall Gators are also as durable, but the blacks are prettier. ;)

These are my go to winter tires for riding in Colorado. The local county here puts gravelsand down over the winters that will shred most other tires. But the Gatorskins stand up and I can normally get 2 winters out of a set, or about 2,500 miles. This year I've kept them on for the summer and have been taking them on gravel roads and dirt, without any puncture issues. I hope they keep making the black limited edition because they look so much better than the standard gator skins. I'm also 6'4 and 195 lbs so I'm on the heavier end of things.

Tire wear well and are an excellent choice for training especially for the value conscious rider.

I have run Continental tires on my bikes for over 30 years of racing & training.

Gatorskins are outstanding for training. The hard shells were good but didn't allow for the road feel the Gatorskins still allow with excellent puncture protection

As a guy who is a daily commuter in a busy growing city I love Gatorskins. I have gone years with the tires and had only 1 or 2 punctures ever. They are completely worth it. The one thing I would warn people about it be ready to fight these to be successfully installed. So install these on a hot day or using a hair dryer so loosen these up and make them more workable.

I live in an area with a lot of road debris. I found using a Gatorskin on my rear wheel significantly cuts down on flats. It is pair with a thick brutal tube and I really can't tell any difference in rolling resistance for those fast group rides or riding solo. I don't race with it but I prefer the 5000 for that.