Hippy is right Conti tyres suck arse!

Nah, not tonight. I'm going riding (what a change!).

DOH looks like im ridin Cunti's supersport.I picked these up at the herne hill jumble last year.geee they sure are weird.sidewalls all cut up from missions to Guildford on the A roads(thanks roberto) but no punctures yet.hmmm must be a good batch or they made harder waering tyre back then.

wow thanks hippy for the link just realised that zaffiros have only 26tpi! i've used one on the back and went through it within a month of skidding. it's cheap, but rubinos are obviously better at 60tpi/pros at 120. kept at proper pressure i've only had 1 puncture with the zaffiro (almost skidded thru), none with rubinos.

i've used a conti ultrasport it was much thicker than the zaffiro but didn't actually last any longer than that.

now i have a really old panaracer stradius on my hack bike it seems to last forever no matter how i skid. probably the rain is saving the rubber from too much abrasion?

I've had armadaillos on since the Southend ride (remember that hippy?), not a puncture since. Tough as old boots.

Yeah, the only Armadillo I've ridden is the one on the twatster from ddm. Not sure how old it is (I've been riding it since 2nd Dec.. maybe 1600k?) but it's been faultless.
I'm sure it's slower than other tyres but who gives a truck on a commuter?! It's all about not puncturing and having to spend 10min in the pissing rain changing a tube.

ride quality.

I do ride quality like innit guv. :P

right bruv sorted

gatorskins, 9 months and had my first puncture at the weekend which i didn't think was too bad. going to replace them with conti-4 seasons just to upset hippy

It wont upset me at all. I'll be the one riding past you while you ponder your sidewall repairs.. ;)
(Quite a few people rate the 4's and the GP's so they may well be VERY different from the shit that is UltraSport and Gaytorskins).

TheBrick(Tommy) [quote]lucky7 what conti's were they tommy?

Ultra sport

You coming out to play on sat lucky 7?[/quote]

I sure am Tommy me ol' mucker!

I am glad everyone is saying the gatorskins are good, cos I have just bought 2!
They seem a bit thin to me, but then I have been rolling bontragors the last year.
I just hope they survive the smooth streets of new cross and deptford... ;p

gator skin on front and armidillo on rear, how you like them apples!!!

lucky7 I am glad everyone is saying the gatorskins are good
I just hope they survive the smooth streets of new cross and deptford... ;p

i think most people here say gatorskins are crap? bontragers are better i have to say.

I'm really happy with the 'Slime' tire liner tape. I use the MTB width in my road width tires to get lots of sidewall coverage. Even does for a good temporary patch on tears in both sidewall and tread (at 100psi).

Double layer on my Bromton underneath Marathon Kevlar just because it doesn't come smaller than 26". Sure it weighs a bunch, but I really can't remember the last time I punctured (probably about 8 months ago) and I'm regularly picking chunks of glass the size of small children out of my tires. (I prefer Stelvios but the shop was out when I needed new tyres last)

Very unhappy with the kevlar felt stuff (I think it was Specialized brand)- didn't seem to make much difference at all (wasted money on this stuff first before getting the Slime liners).

some gatorskins last (mr smith's) and some don't (mine, hippy's, loads of other people's)

depends when they where made and in which factory

Is there a way to tell which ones are which?

only to ride them for a week! ;)

Tip: Don't buy any of them. You're not gonna curse Conti's if you're riding Vittoria or Michelin or Hutchison or Spesh or Vredestein or..

I'm going to need new tyres soon

and ain't looking forward to it..

23 or 25..?

bontis again, or vredestein..or schwalbe...
??
fuck it

ProBikeKit has Rubino Pro for £11.50ish. I only ride 23 but whatever floats your boat. Bit of extra width for winter never hurt.
Shit man it ain't that stressful.. I usually buy what's on special in the bike shop I'm in at the time. That was probably my mistake with the Cuntis :)
Rubinos have proved themselves so I've just bought 6 of 'em.

my contis are fine, and i road right through a patch of broken glass.

They probably only work riding over glass. When you ride on any other surface they act like magnets and draw the p_nct_res in..
I don't know. I don't care. Conti aren't getting my money.

Rode some Conti GP3000s until they went square - had no problems including all of Dunwich with no punctures.

Got big ideas, and replaced them with some Vittoria Evo Corsa CXs. Constantly puncturing - spent an evening a couple of weeks back supergluing up all the big cuts in the tread, only to find they already look like Edward Scissorhands meddled with them.

So I've ordered some Gatorskins from Ribble. Steel ones at about £11 a pop - they can't be any worse than the Vittorias.

Those Vitt's are full-on race tyres though. Expensive and won't last but should roll and handle like nothing else. I've never used them though.
I'm gonna step up to the Diamante (above Rubino) just to see if I notice any diff.