Gatorskins vs 4-Seasons
 

700x32, What's the better all purpose tyre? Needs to provide good amounts of;

- Puncture protection
- Wet tarmac grip
- least rolling resistance
- good durability

It will be going on the bike for weekday commuting and weekend recreational riding.

Puncture Protection: Gator Hardshell > Gatorskins > GP 4 Seasons
Grip: GP 4 Seasons > (Gator Hardhsell = Gatorskins)
Rolling Resistance: ??? Not sure
Overall Durability: Gator Hardshell > Gatorskins > GP 4 Seaons

I'm not sure I could tell that much difference with grip between the GP 4s & Gator Hardshells, but I do thin it was slightly better.

I find the Gator Hardshells are much longer lasting tires that the other two, and was pretty disappointed when the GP 4 Seasons started showing casing threads what seemed prematurely.

I can't tell much difference in ride quality and rolling resistance between them (Usually 25mm tires for me).

That's some good feedback thankyou. I was originally considering 4-seasons due to them being marketed as a faster tyre and 100g less weight per tyre (beaded)

I ran gatorskins for awhile on the rear then switched to a 4 Season. I vastly prefer the feel of the 4 Season over the Gatorskins (smoother over bumps, more supple). I got about 6k miles on the 4 Season before I retired it because of cords showing. I put the same mileage on the Gatorskins and there were no cords showing but they wore flat really fast, like 3k miles.

Haven't noticed a difference in flats between them. I found gatorskins to have sketchy grip when wet.

Why not just get the gp4000's (or 5000's now)? That's what I did. Best balance of all these, in my opinion.

Gatorskins have a poor reputation for grip in the wet. Whereas the gp4000's have the best grip in the wet I've had on a tire. (Not as good as in the dry but a lot better than what I had tried before). 4 seasons seems like they're more like "cold weather" formulated being not as good when it's warm but better when it gets closer to freezing.

Because i'm after a 700x32, which they don't come in

I also ran Gatorskins for years but now much prefer the feel of Four Season tires. According to the rolling resistance tests I've seen online favor the 4Season too. I'm sure puncture protection is better with Gators, but 4Season isn't bad. Tread life on the Gatorskins is better than 4Season. I've had sidewall thread deterioration on Gators too, so I don't see them as superior in that regard.

I have 32mm 4Season tires on my hybrid right now. Didn't even consider Gatorskins, I'm kind of over them.

They are so close that I usually just go with what new/slightly used tires are available on local craigslist/pinkbike/kijiji websites and go with that. The last time, I got three 4 season tires for $50 - all new.

The gp4000's have a reputation for running large, the 28's might be about the same size you're looking for.

The gp5000's do officially come in a 700x32..

Official Continental Site:
https://www.continental-tires.com/bi...rand-prix-5000

Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Continental-G...dp/B07K8YDVNZ/

Though...looking at the price, I understand if you say the 5000's are to pricey.

For all-purpose tires... you can also consider the heavyweights.

Michelin Protek Cross MaxSchwalbe Marathon Plus. Panaracer TourGuardI think I've had pretty good traction with all 3 brands. But, the Protek Max was the only one that actually was ridden through slushy snow, so I can't comment much on the other two.

Anyway, as far as your criteria, they hit 3 out of 4. Grip, Durability, Puncture Protection.

But, fail with weight & rolling resistance.

Nonetheless, worth considering for commuter bikes and utility bikes.

Yeah price was a consideration. If it was going on a road/racer i would consider the 5000, but i'd hate to flat spot/destroy some 5000's on a commuter CX

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm looking for something i can get around reliably on during the week, but strip the bike back and have a blast on the weekend. want something in the middle ground

The conti GP 4 season in size 28 is my "go to" commuting tire.

no one tire can give you everything you're looking for, but the 4 season is a good compromise spot for my purposes/wants.

I'm currently running gatorskins in size 25 because I got a new set of them for free from my uncle who didn't want them.

The gatorskin is not a bad tire, but it feels slower than the 4 season. When they wear out, I'm going right back to 4 seasons (unless my uncle has another set of tires he's looking to get rid of).

I ran Gatorskins on my old commuter for many a mile, wet or not. I don't remember getting any flats on them. Maybe one in several thousand miles. I felt like the traction was fine, wet or dry. I did not lean into the turns as far when loaded with commuting stuff in the wet. I got a good number of miles on them. I felt like they also threw less water up in the rain. I have not ridden the 4 seasons. It was a cyclocross bike with gatorskins... pretty fast all the way around.

I'm having this debate myself. I'm thinking of going down to a 28 or 25 from a 32, and I haven't decided between 4 Seasons, Gatorskins, and GP4000s (or something wild like going tubeless).

In terms of rolling resistance, the Gatorskins have roughly twice the resistance depending on PSI compared to GP4000 RSs and about 15% more than the 4 Season (22W @ 80 PSI vs 12.3W and 19.8W, respectively). The GP4000S II is 13.7W @ 80 PSI, for what it's worth.

My commute has some pretty crappy spots with lots of gravel and debris, so I'm tilting towards something tougher, but the temptation to pick something faster is there for sure...

Gatorskins are the sweet spot for me, especially for commuting. Lots of miles over rough pavement, occasionally with flat-causing crap on the road, the Gatorskin ride isn't bad, rolling resistance is tolerable, tire wear is acceptable, and it only flats when it's about to wear through to the threads.

Grip? Call me chicken, but especially on a commute I'm more focused on arriving safely than arriving early. I've had no problems riding across road paint, rails, and steel construction plates, although I do try to avoid the plates when they're wet.

I bought a 4-season a while back (got to an out-of-town ride and found my tire was down to threads!), but I was disappointed; it wore out in 2,000 miles on the front.

4 season is basically an updated improvement over the Gatorskin. The 4 season is lighter, rides better, has minimally lower rolling resistance, and probably has better traction. It’s a great summer tire (don’t let the name fool ya).

I have used the Gatorskin in high power situations, and it refuses to wear out. Seems to last forever (apparently, I don’t skid as much as some around here, lol). 4season wears well if that is important to you but doesn’t seem to last as long.

For me, its easy to choose 4 season, but the Gatorskin is pretty tough. I like the 32mm size – where the differences are a bit more noticeable.

The 28mm GP4000 (measuring 31mm) (or 32mm GP5000) are great tires and the latter is even tubeless. They ride better, have less rolling resistance, and are lighter. The sidewalls are not as tough.

Oddly the 28mm GP4000 is about 4mm wider than the 28mm GP4season or Gatorskin. I have a 10-year 32mm old Gatorskin that is slightly smaller than the 28mm 4Season. Go figure.

Continental feature ..
 

Gatorskin is a sidewall to side wall tire casing reinforcement layer.. ..

I'm not a fan of the Gatorskins. It's a slow tire with bad grip, a bad ride, and overrated flat resistance. The 4 Seasons has better grip, a decent ride, not bad flat resistance, and can be used for all around riding. The GP4000S has better grip and ride than the 4 Seasons, but has noticeably lower flat resistance.

If your roads aren't bad, the GP4000S is a great all rounder. If you get too many flats, I'd go with the 4 Seasons.

A number of flat resistant tires are out there, the Marathon Plus being the most flat resistant that I've tried. However, the tradeoffs with weight, speed, and ride are such I'd much rather change more flats.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I couldn't find 4 seasons in the size i wanted locally, and ended up ordering from Merlin in the UK with a 5-8 day turnaround for cheaper than local prices anyway.

either one is fine, but, personally I like the GatorSkins

For some years, I've been riding 4 seasons on my main road bike and Gatorskins on the bike I ride under adverse conditions (rain, dark, early spring, late fall, etc.). In my experience, the Gatorskins essentially never have a flat, even riding on the trashy surfaces of Minnesota just after the snow melt (tons of pot holes and lots of the sand/gravel/broken glass of the winter are concentrated on the shoulders. The 4 Seasons seldom get flats, but roll much better. On my weekend club rides, must people are running GP4000s or equivalents from other brands and they seem to get many more flats than my 4 Seasons.

I just did the stupid thing and ordered a pair of the new GP5000s for my weekend club ride bike. They are not going to make the difference so that I win the city limit sprints, and I'll probably get a bunch of flats. Then I'll go back to the 4 seasons, like a sensible person.

Have you considered a non-Continental tire? I've been riding Panaracer Paselas for just that kind of riding for years. My winter/rain/city fix gear has the 28s on all year. (Portland, serious winter doesn't happen often and is sometimes pure ice when it does.) I don't get nearly the mileage you and Cliff expect, but I love the ride,. Traction is decent. Not winning in the wet, but not awful. Rolling resistance isn't high performance but is quite decent as is general feel. Flats happen but they are not flat magnets. Easy to mount and remove. Very straightforward tires. Only weak point you need to stay aware of: the sidewalls are thin - the secret to the ride. Keep them away from curbs, brake shoes and fenders and they are not an issue.

Rode in town today. 20 mile round trip. On and off rain, wet roads. Never thought about them other than being quite aware of road debris on outside curbed corners. (My permanent paranoia. I watched the rider I was following in a race move over into the curb to avoid contact with another rider. His scream and and visual I heard later from a race buddy are seared in my memory.)

Paselas are not the rain tire of say a Vittoria Open Pave but they are not treacherous. Just a good, very well rounded compromise for ~$35 in a bike store. Any size from 23 to 38.

Ben

I recently started riding GP4000-SII tires, the predecessor to the GP5000. I am super impressed with the ride. I don't give a hoot about puncture protection, as I'm good enough at fixing flats. I don't get many. These tires feel (in a good way) as if they are underinflated. That's how supple they are. I got the 28mm version which measure to 29mm. I inflate them to only around 80 or 85 psi.

I know the OP has made a decision, but thought I would add my two-cents for others that may be making a similar decision. Especially since I just went through this decision making process literally just hours ago.

I've been riding Gatorskins on my road bike for the last 4 years, probably 3500-4000+ miles, not including the trainer miles during the winter. I switched over to Gatorskins because the first 6 months with my new road bike I had 3 flats with the original tires. Since then I've ridden thousands of miles on my Gatorskins, and have only had one flat which was avoidable. I was going downhill probably at about 28-32 mph, looked down to switch my computer display and hit a pothole...hard! I felt lucky because the flat was the worst thing that happen, it could have been worst. Just this past weekend on a group ride, one of the guys commented that over the years everyone in the group has had a flat except me. Thank you Gatorskins!

For the bad, when I first put them on years ago (still a newbie) I didn't realize the rolling resistance was higher, heck I didn't know what rolling resistance was! Anyway, on my first ride with the gators I kept complaining something was wrong with my bike, felt like my brakes were rubbing the rim, something was pulling me back, it was going slower, etc. Until finally one of the guys told me it was my new tires, the Gatorskins! So I learned about rolling resistance on the fly, well on the roll, during my first ride with the Gatorskins. And yes, Gatorskins are definitely slow!!

Anyway it's time for them to be replace. I luv the puncture resistance of the gators, but I was looking for something with a lower rolling resistance. I was considering Conti 5000 and the Michelin Power Endurance. Last night, I decided on ordering the Michelin. Mainly, I couldn't justify spending the additional $$ for the conti's versus the Michelin.

However, about 9 months ago for my commuter (hybrid bike), I put 32mm Gatorskins on it since speed isn't a big concern but puncture resistance is.

Obviously, I luv Gatorskins for what they are built for since I put them on another bike. But for my weekend road bike, I wanted something a little speedier, but with above average puncture resistance because I really hate flats. Hopefully, the Michelin Power Endurance delivers on my expectation, if not I have no problems going back to the gators!