Gatorskin or 4000s

mistermatthew

Which tyre is best? Putting in about 160miles a week and the odd club race/tome trial and have been puncturing a lot on old tyres with no puncture protection.

Are the gatorskins very slow or are both tyres much of a muchness?

Unregistered.

I train and race on Gatorskins. Never had a puncture.

murphyebass

Unregistered. wrote: »

I train and race on Gatorskins. Never had a puncture.

I have Gatorskins on my cheap road bike for months now. No punctures.

Decent grip imo although in wet they can be ropey.

That said I think any tyre can a little ropey in the wet.

.. That said if I had to change tomorrow I'd probably give these a go after some good reviews. A mate of mine fitted them recently reckons they're better grip than gatorskins with decent protection too.

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-track-bike/continental-continental-tyres-road-tri-track-folding-continental-grand-prix-gt-folding-tyre/conttyrf307

Seweryn

mistermatthew wrote: »

Which tyre is best? Putting in about 160miles a week and the odd club race/tome trial and have been puncturing a lot on old tyres with no puncture protection.

I use the 4000S all year and I do slightly higher mileage than you. I can count no more than 2-3 punctures per year. Never tested Gatorskins, but I find the 4000S very good in all conditions.

Beasty

OK, I'm not going to be on the bike for over a week now, so hopefully I'll not jinx myslef again, but in the past year or so (getting on for 10,000km) the only puncture I've had on GP4000s' was when hitting a nasty pothole at over 40kph in a race. But I do regularly check my tyres and remove foreign objects every couple of weeks or so ...

Seweryn

Beasty wrote: »

the only puncture I've had on GP4000s' was when hitting a nasty pothole at over 40kph

Same here (I am not racing though). Once I hit a rock laying on the road on my commute home and second time went through a pothole damaging both tubes, tyres were OK.

uphillonly

You won't find many people with bad experiences of the 4000s. I use them all year. Best wet grip I've experienced, good durability. I've been on the same pair since last June with no punctures. Looks like their Vectran marketing isn't just hype.

Like Beasty I check the tyres for embedded stones and glass every few weeks. A lot of punctures are from bits that gradually work their way through to the inner tube so it's definitely worth spending a few minutes doing this. I get any pieces out with a sharp knife or small flat screwdriver.

People on boards have sometimes said Gatorskins are a little less grippy in the wet but I can't vouch for it as I've never used them.

thebionicdude

I have wire-bead gatorskins on my about town bike and GP4000s on my training and race clinchers.

I love the grip of GP4000s but I find the compound doesn't have the same wear in the winter months, it gets pretty cut up in the cold weather. This is why you can still buy regular GP4000 tyres but these ones are not as grippy.

Gatorskins are fine but I prefer to have grip. I got a bit fed up with the wire-bead ones, they are cheaper but they can be a btch to get on/off ... maybe just my wheels. If I was buying them again I'd probably go for the folding version.

I would be very reluctant to switch from conti. I find them very puncture-resistant and I love to ride heavy roads and in the gutter.

rollingscone

I don't love gatorskins, they're puncture proof but the grip in wet conditions is in my limited and humble experience pretty shocking.

If going for armouring over performance I'd much rather Bontrager Hardcases.

The Big Lebowsky

For extra durability I would use a conti grand prix 4-season on the rear ..
(much faster than a gatorskin)

And use a normal conti GP 4000s on your front wheel

Ole Rodrigo

The Big Lebowsky wrote: »

For extra durability I would use a conti grand prix 4-season on the rear ..
(much faster than a gatorskin)

And use a normal conti GP 4000s on your front wheel

I'm sure there's a rule against mismatching tyres

Wishbone Ash

Gatorskins have very good puncture protection but woeful in the wet in my experience.

Darkglasses

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Gatorskins have very good puncture protection but woeful in the wet in my experience.

I'll +1 this. Have 1 gatorskin and 1 gator hardshell on my commuter at the moment, really don't like how it handles now. I previously had Kenda Kriterium tyres on it, very soft rubber which handled way better. Will go for 4000s next time, or possibly something from Vittoria.

alexanderomahon

murphyebass wrote: »

I have Gatorskins on my cheap road bike for months now. No punctures.

Decent grip imo although in wet they can be ropey.

That said I think any tyre can a little ropey in the wet.

.. That said if I had to change tomorrow I'd probably give these a go after some good reviews. A mate of mine fitted them recently reckons they're better grip than gatorskins with decent protection too.

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-track-bike/continental-continental-tyres-road-tri-track-folding-continental-grand-prix-gt-folding-tyre/conttyrf307

I switched from Gatorskins to grand prix gt and am very happy. Got rid of gatorskins because I experienced problems wth grip in the wet. GT seem to offer protection and grip.

cdaly_

I'm running gators for the last few years and am staying with them. No problems with grip, wet or dry.

mistermatthew

Have gone for gatorskins, 2xtyres and 2xtubes for 60 euro so that swung it for me. Hopefully wet weather grip ain't too bad, but I think they'll be fine and maybe try the 4000s next time.