dramiscram

I've been recommended continental gatorskin on this forum by few people for his lasting quality but, since I got my brand new tire, I had 4 punctures in 500 kms. With my previous tire (cheapest available Michelin I paid 13.95$ + taxes at my LBS) I got 1 puncture in the whole tire's life (about 2000 kms) on the exact same route ( rural road, lots of small pebles and pot holes) What good is there in a long lasting tire if I get that many problems? I lost all confidence in the tire, won't dare go anywhere near ridind this sh... First thing this afternoon on my way back home: stop at my LBS and buy a cheap MICHELIN Tire. Am I the only person having that many puncture with a gatorskin? Riding 61 kms every day I want more peace of mind!

silent_chief

Before you blame the tires, are they inflated enough? I find I always forget/ under inflate... which is often the cause of flats. When I'm consistent, I pretty much never flat on my Gators.

dramiscram

Yes I do check for Proper pressure every morning or two (never more than two days between pressure check since my flat last season was due to an underinflated tire, got my lesson there) and I alway keep 105-110 psi in the tire. In fact I got 5 punctures but one was my fault because I left debris in the tire after the first puncture so it punctured 10 kms further. For the rest It's alway small pebles that I find in the tire. I can't be THAT unlucky !!!

groovestew

I find it hard to believe that small pebbles could work their way into a Gatorskin. I've had that happen with other tires with tread where the pebble gets stuck in the tread and gradually works its way in, but Gatorskins don't really have tread for pebbles to get stuck in.

billyymc

I've had 3 or 4 flats in the past couple of weeks on gatorskins. Surprised, since I've been riding them for a couple years (~7k miles) and have only had that many flats total before this. I've checked my tire and rim carefully - no apparent issues causing the flats. If I get another in the next week I'll trash the back tire and replace it even though the tread still seems fine -- can't have more than 1k miles on this particular tire.

emveezee

Anyone getting a series of flats should really take a close look at the tube to determine the cause. Failing rim strip is often the cause.

dramiscram

3 of my flats were defenetly pebles,the one this morning I don't know yet because the bike is in the back of my van because I ran out of motivation this morning.

Seattle Forrest

I don't know that I'd necessarily blame the tires here, and you should inspect the tubes to see if they have any clues.

But Gatorskins are mediocre as far as tires go.

alexaschwanden

I have had my first Gatorskins for over 4600+ miles, every tire can get flats, just ride them.

Wolfwerx

Take a cotton ball and run it around the inside of the tire. See if it snags anywhere. May be a tiny sliver of wire, or something.

No tire is flat-proof, especially in the commuting world. And, sometimes, the evil flat-Gremlins like to mess with us repeatedly, just to show us.

muu

Gator Skins, Marathon Supremes, etc... with the tires that don't have insane protection belts the big pieces of debris WILL stop you. After hearing great things about Supremes I swapped out Vittoria Randonneurs (which have been generally bulletproof) on my winter/commuter, and proceeded to get 3 flats going 4 miles. Generally flat-free ever since though.

I think the only real 'definitive' solutions are things like Marathon Pluses and Durano Pluses... I'm going to try the latter on my road bike to see if they're fit for speedy long-distance riding.

dramiscram

I'll try the cotton ball trick just to make sure. I never had that kind of streak in the past and I've been commuting 5000 kms/year for the last 2 years so that's why I'm not so confident with a tire I had 4 puncture in the last 500 kms

Digital_Cowboy

I've been riding on Gatorskins for a almost 6 months now and the only flat that I've had was when I was at my LBS and topping off my wheels. I developed a hole in the tube at the base of the valve stem.

However I have not had any hole in my tire/tube from anything I've run over. And sadly, there are a lot of areas that I ride through that have all sorts of debris that one has to ride through.

Are you sure that they're inflated properly? I'm running mine at 120PSI (8bar).

Digital_Cowboy

Where exactly in the tube are the holes? Are you sure that as has been asked that it isn't a bad rim tape?

When I first got my Giant Seek 2, I kept getting flat after flat when riding on the stock tires. I switched first to Specialized Armadillos. And I think that I got a bad batch or something because I'd never had a problem with them before. But I did, and I've switched to Gatorskins and so far I haven't had a problem with them.

So as has been suggested before you go blaming the tires maybe you should be looking at what you're doing. Before you mount the tires do you inflate the tubes just enough to give them some "body?" Are you sure that you aren't causing your own pinch flats?

Before blaming the tires, look at what you're doing. You might be causing your own flats and not even realizing it.

rex_kramer

+1

Nothing worse than fixing a flat only to give yourself another one because you didn't check the inside of tire well enough.

benda18

how many different ways can you get flats? road debris, bad rim tape, burr on rim, pinch flats, separation at valve stem etc. the tire only prevents flats from road debris. so if you're getting flats from something else, it's not the tire.

haste makes waste. make sure you know the reason for your recent flats. gatorskins are one of my favorite tires and for good reason.

chefisaac

What do you mean by this?

chefisaac

I run gatorskins on both my commuter and long distance bike. I have had only three flats since I started last july and have well over 3000 miles on them so far.

I ride through glass central on part of my ride to and from work. Glass ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL over the place. They tires do great but I always check the tires about once or twice a week when I get to work and find any slashes from the glass. I make sure the glass is removed an "patch" up with krazy glue. Prevents reentry.

On rainy days, I will stop after glass central and brush the crap off the tires.

drbenjamin

4000 miles so far on my Gatorskins. I got a series of 3 flats (slow leaks, flatted o/n) in quick succession, turned out to be a sliver of glass just barely poking through. I figured it out by carefully matching the hole in the tube to the location on the tire, wish I'd known about the cotton ball trick. When I removed it I went over the whole tire and could not believe how many other glass and metal shards were embedded (but not poking through). I am extremely happy with Gatorskins, can't believe any other tire could be much better in terms of flat resistance.

Seattle Forrest

I mean there are worse tires than Gatorskins, but there are much better ones, too. I'd give them a 3 or 4 out of 10.

drbenjamin

Which would you recommend? We bike in the same area so your experience is highly relevant. Are you rating on flat-resistance or other criteria?

billyymc

SF - yes, please give us your opinion on tires - I've seen you dis gatorskins a few times, and I've been pretty happy with them. But if there's something you're like better I'd really be interested in checking them out. My criteria in order of importance for me - flat resistance, rolling resistance, longevity. I know some people don't like the road feel of gatorskins...but I've been ok with it, but not much to compare it to. Most of my riding is commuting, weekend rides, and a triathlon or two. Speed is important to me as my commute is 28 mile RT.

Thanks.

MVclyde

I love my Gatorskins. I switched after suffering many flats on Armadillos. I haven't had a flat yet with the Gatorskins. Most important for me is flat resistance and longevity.

bubbagrannygear

four flats in a little over three hundred miles is not the tire - no matter what brand you are riding. As other have said look at your rim tape (if it is a plastic or rubber strip replace it with tape like Velox fond de jante) if you feel the slightest "bump " when running your finger around the inside of the tire, look very closely, it is probably a piece of wire.

Bottom line is that gaterskin is a quality tire.

FrenchFit 

If someone were to invent the perfect tire one poster would complain about flats and another would give it a 3 out of 10 stars.

Gatosrkins are fine tires; if you want something lighter get GP4000s.