Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Specialized Armadillo vs Conti Gatorskin vs other

I ride a mainly on paved country rodes. This time of year they start to "chip and seal" all roads that need repairs. Chips and seal means they pour oil on the old asphalt then cover it with locally mined limestone that has been crushed. This results in VERY sharp little piece of gravel. Saturday I was out and had about 200 miles into a set of Conti 3000's I bought on sale. Went through a patch of newly chip and sealed road and sure enough a piece went right through and cut the threads for 4-5mm. Last year on the local MS 150 my son and I had 3 flats on a five mile stretch of fresh "chips and seal"
LBS recommended the Specialized Armadillo but I've read some good things on the Gatorskins. Anyone with any experience with both or one or some other solution? (Tuffys are out used them in the past and didn't like the ride). I was using an Avocet Cross II/K 700/28 when I had the two flats last year on one stretch.

Doc Tom

Last weekend, we were out on a ride when a friend of mine had his Gatorskins punctured. He even had Mr. Tuffies liners. He said the tyre has around 500 miles on it and suffered numerous punctures over its short life. The puncture on the last ride caused the casing to rip so badly that even the dollar bill trick didn't work well. We ended up having to overlap several pieces of Mr. Tuffies on top of one another along with placing a patch over the ruptured area so he could make it back. This of course caused a pretty noticable bulge.

http://www.neebu.net/~khuon/albums/whidbey_island-20040516/PICT0083.jpg


Curiously enough, I run Conti GP3000s and even though they're lightweight racing tyres, I hardly ever get flats even when riding over the same crappy roads. The last time I flatted on them was after I stretched out their mileage to well over 4000 and they were paper thin. That blowout resulted in a casing rupture too.

Last weekend, we were out on a ride when a friend of mine had his Gatorskins punctured. He even had Mr. Tuffies liners. He said the tyre has around 500 miles on it and suffered numerous punctures over its short life. The puncture on the last ride caused the casing to rip so badly that even the dollar bill trick didn't work well. We ended up having to overlap several pieces of Mr. Tuffies on top of one another along with placing a patch over the ruptured area so he could make it back. This of course caused a pretty noticable bulge.

http://www.neebu.net/~khuon/albums/whidbey_island-20040516/PICT0083.jpg


Curiously enough, I run Conti GP3000s and even though they're lightweight racing tyres, I hardly ever get flats even when riding over the same crappy roads. The last time I flatted on them was after I stretched out their mileage to well over 4000 and they were paper thin. That blowout resulted in a casing rupture too.

My messenger pal "11" runs cheap conti sport 2000 tires, and hardly ever flats out. Also of interest are the conti 'sport contact' series ( both 26" and 28" ) which most of the MTB riding messers use. Amazingly solid. I'v also had good success with Victoria Pro Tech Aramid tires, in 25 and 23 c

I run the Conti Sport Contacts 1.3" on my 26" fix (commuter bike) and they seem to be tough as old boots; I run the front at 85psi and the rear at 90. Despite skidding a fair bit, and riding through glass and what not - Nottingham (UK) cycle lanes and roads - the rear has very little wear, and no slits or deep cuts. The best bit is that I got a free conti tube with each tyre! - I think that deal is (unfortunatley) UK specific though.

I also run 28mm, 700c Gatorskins on my geared road bike and they are pretty tough, after about 1000 miles they are still taking a beating, and have only punctured once as I remeber (that was when I took them off road though - its a cyclo x bike after all, who cares if it's out of season!)

Olly

Don't know about those two, but for what it's worth I've been riding glassy Chicago streets with Victoria Randonneur Cross with a double shielding. No problems whatsoever. Although, they hella sucked to get on because of the double beading.

I'm running 700 cc Conti contacts and haven't had a problem as yet.

I run the Conti Sport Contacts 1.3" on my 26" fix (commuter bike) and they seem to be tough as old boots; I run the front at 85psi and the rear at 90. Despite skidding a fair bit, and riding through glass and what not - Nottingham (UK) cycle lanes and roads - the rear has very little wear, and no slits or deep cuts. The best bit is that I got a free conti tube with each tyre! - I think that deal is (unfortunatley) UK specific though.

I also run 28mm, 700c Gatorskins on my geared road bike and they are pretty tough, after about 1000 miles they are still taking a beating, and have only punctured once as I remeber (that was when I took them off road though - its a cyclo x bike after all, who cares if it's out of season!)

Olly

The same deal on contis is on in Finland, too

good tuff ole conti's will take a skidding...if you have the luck of finding gently used ones for 5 bucks, wow, how far did i skid?

as for flats, well, if it can tear a gash like that in there, no tires gonna stop it. i got a pinch flat the other day that ripped a cut in my sidewalls...such is life:(

i have serfas vermin front and a kenda flame rear. the rear is just because i needed a tire and had no other choice at the time.. + it was cheap. i put one of those liners in it. the sefas is doing pretty good too. i've probably done at least 300 miles on it.

Cheap assed 700x28 panaracers, works great, last long time.

the armadillo is the unofficially official tire of the nyc messenger and fixed gear community. that speaks volumes.

Need a cheap tyre liner? Get an old narrow slick, find a damn sharp knife and cut the beads off (get an adult to help :) ). Put this inside your new tyre, and mount as normal. Helps if the liner tyre is 2-3mm narrower.

Not living in the us i haven't tried the mr. tuffys, but i couldn't live without my proline tire liners. Think they are more narrow, can't feel the diffrent in riding with or without. I can recommend vitorria rubino tires 700x23c smooth ride and they are almost free so you can skid through a tire a month, without spending all your allowance.

I've had armadillo's on for the last 1K miles and have yet to flat. I too ride on country roads although I tend to stear clear of chip seal. They're not the lightest of the bunch, but they seem to be doing their job.

-mark

I've had armadillo's on for the last 1K miles and have yet to flat. I too ride on country roads although I tend to stear clear of chip seal. They're not the lightest of the bunch, but they seem to be doing their job.

-mark

ive noticed a large difference in the two sets of armadillos ive had. they look a little different and the one set (that looks older) is waaaay stiffer and a little heavier.

anyone know a good online place to get tire deals? do you go to performance and those types of webshops? is ebay a good place to find deals? i wanna stock up on tires so i dont end up settling on a crappy one from the lbs.

I ride a mainly on paved country rodes. This time of year they start to "chip and seal" all roads that need repairs. Chips and seal means they pour oil on the old asphalt then cover it with locally mined limestone that has been crushed. This results in VERY sharp little piece of gravel. Saturday I was out and had about 200 miles into a set of Conti 3000's I bought on sale. Went through a patch of newly chip and sealed road and sure enough a piece went right through and cut the threads for 4-5mm. Last year on the local MS 150 my son and I had 3 flats on a five mile stretch of fresh "chips and seal"
LBS recommended the Specialized Armadillo but I've read some good things on the Gatorskins. Anyone with any experience with both or one or some other solution? (Tuffys are out used them in the past and didn't like the ride). I was using an Avocet Cross II/K 700/28 when I had the two flats last year on one stretch.

Doc Tom


I have the Nimbus Armadillo slicks on my mountain bike and have had 1 flat in about 2,000 miles of riding... a piece of glass got stuck in the groove of the tire tread (I ran over a spot with lots of broken glass because it was night time and raining). It didn't damage the tire though, and they are still holding up. I like them, they're affordable, very solid and offer good handling. I'm going to put a pair on my Langster as soon as I have enough cash.

my only two complaints about the armadillos are a) they ride like friggen bricks! and b) the sidewalls will wear out long before the tread...but, if you get a blow-out on the sidewall, just grab an old tire and make a nice little boot to go on the inside of the 'dillo.

and oh yeah, i've been using a panaracer pasela with the kevlar for a while, and ridden through a bunch of glass and other crap and haven't had any problems with it...yet. they're also much less brick-like. and they tend to "run small," meaning if you grab a 25, it'll fit more like a 23.