today I got a call from my LBS informing me that my gatorskins have been delivered. My bike is a bikes direct bike and it has been great so far except for tires. The stock tires were some cheap kenda 700x28c which after having 4 flats in a week I replaced with some hand-me-down 700x25 cheng shin tire brand tires. I noticed a marked improvement from the 28's, but that same day I went an ordered some gatorskins.

Tonight I just put the gatorskins on my bike and went for a quick test ride and, holy crappola! Why didn't I just get these to begin with? Now, I know that there are better tires out there for speed but seeing as these are the first "high-end" tires I have ever owned, I am truly surprised at how much better the ride was and how low the rolling resistance was.

Just thought I would share.

I switched to Gatorskins on my road bike a year ago and on my wife's bike last March. They ride nice and only one flat so far between us.

Can't really comment about ride quality (I don't have much experience with a variety of expensive tires) but I bought a bike with Michelin Dynamic tires (what I now consider a "training tire") and was getting a lot of flats on my back wheel (like every 50 miles) (BTW I'm around 210 lbs, which I think is relevant, a lighter rider might do fine with the training tires on back). I got a tougher tire for the back (probably overkill for my roads) a 700 x 25 Marathon Plus, heavy but I don't notice it anymore. I still have a Michelin Dynamic tire on front (at least I don't have a boat anchor front and back), I think I probably average several hundred miles without flatting the Michelin Dynamic on the front. This combination works okay and I get the use of the tires I have on hand. This might work for others who are mainly having problems with rear flats - tougher tire on back, lighter tire on front.

Don't have any experience using the Gatorskins, but I've been using SMPs on all my bikes(I've got 3) for a couple of years and have had 1 flat and one slow leak in well over 14,000 miles now. What's that quote about price, quality and regret?

Continental makes some excellent tires. I use Gatorskins in the warmer months, but for cold weather, 4 Seasons are better . . . a little heavier and slower, but better gripping. Also, the sidewalls are a little stronger, allowing you to run at lower pressure without greatly sacrificing speed. I've found Gatorskins really need max pressure for optimal performance.

I did much the same thing - got sick of flats on cheap stock tires and tubes, went for nice Continental tubes and Gatorskins. Have not looked back, or had a flat, in the 6 months since.

Spending some extra cash on quality tires is worth it IMO.

I am currently liking Schwalbe, have had good experience with Contis, but have heard they can suffer from sourcing from different regions. Schwalbe have had couple of recalls too. In the past have had good experience with Michelin, but mostly on cars and motorcycles, don't know how they are for bicycles.

One thing I like about Schwalbe, if you read up on their website, you can get a good idea of what tradeoffs you get with various tires. Grip/Wear/Puncture Resistance/Ride/Price.

Please note, if you select for good results in the first 4 categories, do NOT expect the last one to be kind to your wallet!

I put a new set of Gatorskins on my new bike back in February - 700c x 25.

I changed out the back one after about 4700 miles when I noticed that it was cut through to the threads and it was slightly buldging at the cut (but the tire never flatted). I probably could have gotten another 1000 miles out of the that tire had it not been cut.

The front tire is now approaching 6000 miles.

Neither have flatted and I ride some rough roads/shoulders with plenty of junk on them.

Max sidewall pressure is 120psi, but I find that running the front at about 90psi and the back at about 110psi gives me a great combination of performance/ride. I weigh 185lbs and ride with rack/bag loaded with another 10-15lbs of stuff.

Hope you have as good of luck with your tires.