Anti-Puncture Tyres At-a-glance

How do I know when my tyres are shot? Mine have lots of little cuts, but reading this thread tells me this is quite common. I don't want one to esplode on me all sudden liek.

Are you gluing up the cuts?

bussey, let some air out, squeeze the tyres to have a look inside the bigger cut to see if there's anything imbedded inside the tyres.

if not, carry on.

Only had one puncture in my Conti gatorskins in 4yrs... on a bike that was in storage. I'm not sure why they simply explode.. maybe it's magnets?

A terrible tale of woe there. A+

you need these

anti puncture tyres? conti gatorskin? negative.

Pretty much the only thing available for 27" rims is the passalea tan wall thing (I HATE tan walls), conti ultra budgets (made from soft goats cheese) and conti gatorskins.

I plumped for the later. Managed about 500-750miles before the inevitable, just about to change it to find out what caused it. But already had numerous slashs and holes punched into them along the way, some alarmingly large chunks already missing from the carcass!

You people with your puny skinny tyres...

Killed my rear Gatorskin today- just cycling into Catford when the tube exploded, as the tyre had split on a skid patch.

I could poke my index finger through the hole in the tyre, so that was a gonner.

First p_nctr I've had with them- and pretty much my fault for skidding the tyre to death.

It's been on the bike for about six months I think- I bought it from BC so Jim might remember when he sold it to me.

All this talk of Randos and Gators - just swapped out my Rando after going through it, luckily saw this coming and had a folding hardshell in my bag.

Much prefer how the rando rides, in terms of controlling skids and speed, but the Gator is faster and definitely harder wearing material. I swear Randos have got softer over the last 6 months.

Gator hardshell 23c is also half the weight of the 28c Rando.

But can't Vittoria make a Rando out of rubber similar to the hardshell, best of both worlds? i could live with the weight...

1 Attachment

love your work! especially the fact the bobbles are still on the edges of the tyre. IN the motorbike world you can never be seen with new tyres with the chicken strips still on them. pretty much as soon as you get a fresh rear tyre on, you need to head to a large carpark and get the bike laid right down in circles to scrub the chicken strips off, otherwise you become the laughing stock of the bunch :p

You kidding me? Motorbike tyres are way too expensive to waste...!

My Rando habit was getting more frequent than one a month, which is why am trying out the hardshells... didn't pay full whack though got a pair unused off someone on here for near half price.... still Randos are only £9.99 at endiburgh cycles right now.

My ratio (52x19) says I get 19 skid patch but I swear it's more like 3-4 main ones (one in particular, ^^ that one!) or maybe am just doingitwrong...

hardshells are the best.

no no no, not waste, just knock the showroom sheen and those little bobbles off. then carry on riding them like normal. I only ever had to buy one set of replacement tyres and that was because of chemical damage from things that oozed onto the bike in the barn.

My ratio (52x19) says I get 19 skid patch but I swear it's more like 3-4 main ones (one in particular, ^^ that one!) or maybe am just doingitwrong...

Slide the slack chain over the cog every once in a while. You'll get more even wear then.

I've been rotating the tyre on the rim to achieve similar effect, would rather deflate and inflate tyre than fanny getting right chain tension, also found i can place the decent bit of tyre where the worst skid patch has been...

Btw, today, maxxis refuse got a puncture!
No one else did the whole day, was ok though, guy fixed his puncture and I played with a random persons dog and ball.
Fella said it was the 1stpuncture hed hadwith them, and done about 3000 miles soo far (and didn't really look worn).

I run gatorskin hardshells here ... i ride 20 miles a day through London and have only had one puncture (from a nail!) in about 6 months

My housemate and I rode Specialized Armadillo All condition tyres throughout uni and this year. We are on our second pair each due to wearing through the first set and between us only my housemate got a puncture. The puncture was a deep slit probably caused by glass... Anyway I think thats quite impressive!

I've just destroyed a pair of 25mm armadillos in 3 months. Lots of miles, but they re still surprisingly fucked. Layers of rubber separating, funny loose patches, big cracks, threads peeling off... going back to schwalbe marathon plus

Why do people hate on gatorskins so much?

Ive ridden the same gatorskin for the past 4 years in the city and had no cuts or punctures at all. Regularly ride over glass. They also feel great for skid/skip stopping etc, very sticky and controllable.

^do you mean the same actual gatorskin for 4 years? that woud be impressive.

I'm looking for some 26'' tyres for a rigid mtb, for use on road through the winter (Birmingham, so lots of rain) 1.5 - 1.95 ideally, with decent grip and puncture proofness, nothing to heavy. I've got a pair of knobblies for when it gets snowy, so they won't need to deal with that.

I'm looking at schwalbe city jet's, but have heard bad thing about the performance in wet - any other suggestions?

Running city jets and not had any issues but feels a bit skitish in the wet but not a major isuue just dont lean.

^do you mean the same actual gatorskin for 4 years? that woud be impressive.

2 miles a day in nice weather only ;)

update on my hardshell, it's worn in a bit and is now feeling alot nicer for dem skidz... Might be convinced of them.

Seriously abused it on the ride to work today and barely a scuff to be seen, where a rando would already be wearing by now...

hmmm.

Why do people hate on gatorskins so much?

Ive ridden the same gatorskin for the past 4 years in the city and had no cuts or punctures at all. Regularly ride over glass. They also feel great for skid/skip stopping etc, very sticky and controllable.

I'm beginning to think there is maybe some serious quality control issues down at continental.
Some people sing their praises and wouldn't ride on anything else, others, exact opposite with little middle ground. Most people who hate on them state slices and gashs being the main reason for the tyres early demise. Maybe one of the rubber compounds or vulcanizing process isn't as good on some batchs as it is on others?
Mine have certainly got a few good slashs and scrapes in them already, and I can count on one hand how many times I have skidded a wheel on them. Only 1 puncture, which I couldn't find what caused it, though I do have many (5+ on each tyre) holes which have gone through the outer rubber and left a 2-4mm of rubber missing.