My wife and I have used Continental Gatorskins on several long tours , including a ride across the U.S. I have to agree with Brad about the degree of puncture resistance. during the 3700 mile cross country tour we had 13 punctures on 28 mm tires; about half of these were due to goat's heads (puncture vine). We have also used 32 mm Continental tires. However, on a 4 week tour where we were using 32 mm Schwalbe Marathon tires, We had 4 punctures in the last 4 days of the tour. All were from puncture vines.

While I believe the ride handling of the 32 mm Continental are really good, the Schwalbe Marathon has better puncture resistance. I don't think changing out a tube is a big deal, and often go with the Gatorskins. The tradeoff seems worth it. I prefer the Schwalbe when I don't know the conditions I'll be riding in. For me a good compromise is to use 32 mm Continental tires, and carry a folding spare. I believe the combination is close to the weight of a pair of Schwalbe Marathons.

The 28 mm Continental Gatorskins handled the 5-miles of gravel road construction easily. It was also a long and fast downhill.


Puncture vine