Conti Gatorskins vs. 4 Seasons in 28mm
 

It's about time to set up the winter bike. Primary use is conditioning rides in the 30-40 mile range. In the winter, the rural roads I ride get tree debris and gravel (if it snows) and this year, I thought I'd try 28mm tires.

I bought a pair of Gatorskins at PB the other day but haven't installed them yet, and now I am wondering if the 4 Season tire might be better. Flats are very infrequent for me (even with regular tires I mean) but that bit of tread on the 4 Seasons is attractive... on some roads there's these slurries of rotting pine needles that drift up and get a bit spooky sometimes. A little tread couldn't hurt.

Next considerations are ride quality and durability.

Thoughts? These are going on my Novara Strada 105 bike, with fenders.

I ride fat tires in the fall and winter mainly because of the leaves. They can be tough esp. once they get icy. So yeah, go with the tire with a bit more tread.

I go with the Gatorskins Hardshell.

I would not pay extra for the 4 Seasons over the Gators, I have not found that they ride much better. Also, the 4 Seasons seems to run a little less wide.

gatorskins are the bomb!!

Yes, my 4 seasons 28s are really 26mm.

I run Gatorskins on one of my bikes;
Beware that they have very poor grip on wet surfaces, so I would not use them in the winter.

I've never used the 4 Seasons.
My winter bike has Marathon Supremes which are excellent on wet surfaces.

If true, that clinches it. Anyone else concur?

Pun intended?

No, I'm far too tired to be punny. In the last two weeks I stripped a roof to the rafters, made a bunch of repairs and mods, then re-insulated with 2" rigid (2 layers for net R26), then re-sheathed in ~22 sheets of 5/8 plywood. Solo. THEN, moving to my new construction, set trusses and sheathed with ~ 36 sheets of 5/8" ply. Had helpers with the trusses. I'm fracking WHIPPED.

Today I'm getting the premium Sharkskin underlayment installed up there at which point, knock on wood, I have a waterproof roof. Then a few days "off" to heal my body. Hopefully get a ride in.

Well, now I'm at a loss. The Gators suck on wet pavement and the 4 seasons aren't really 28mm. Ugh.

While I try not to ride in the rain or wet surfaces, I've found my 28c Gatorskins to be rather grippy on wet roads when I do get caught in those conditions. I wouldn't hesistate to ride my Gatorskins on wet pavement.

With that said, I would only ride them in the winter on dry days as any ice would be the end of me. If I get a winter bike this year I am looking at 38c studded tires.

For what it's worth my GP 4 Seasons have all run true to size mounted on a 19mm wide DT Swiss 585 and pumped to 116psi.

I've never noticed that the gators were especially slippery in the wet but I tend to ride conservatively in the rain. That said, since I went to the GP4000s a couple of years ago, the gators mostly just stay in the garage....

The amount of tread on the 4 seasons is not worth worrying about one way or the other. My understanding is that Gatorskins are tougher, although the only flat I have had on my 4 Seasons (in a year) was a nail that went straight in. In the wet, the tires you are talking about are too narrow to hydroplane, if you are riding in snow you need REAL tread, and ice without studs is a challenge. Personally, I would by a thick, heavy, cheap tire from Nashbar or Performance for the winter.

The GP 4 season is a much better tire that's why they're more expensive. 330 TPI Vs 180 TPI for the Gatorskins. More layers of material. Reinforced sidewall.

The Gatorskin Hardshell is an improvement over the Gatorskin.

What I can no longer find on the website or catalog is the difference in Rubber compounds. I had read earlier that the GP 4 season had the Black Chili rubber while neither Gatorskin did.
My experience has been the 4 Seasons do grip much better so perhaps they still do have the Black Chili compound?

Casing and sidewall durability would definately go to the Gatorskins. I appreciate the supple road feel of the GP 4 Season's much thinner 330tpi casing, but, it is certainly less robust than the Gatorskin's and other 180tpi casings. As far as I'm aware both rely on the same 3 layers, only the thread count differs and they both have the same duraskin sidewall reinforcement. Although I'm not certain the Duraskin is worth much.

Besides having a thinner, lighter more supple sidewall the GP4Season benefits from two layers of vectran puncture protection while the Gatorskins use a heavier Poly belt. And with regard to tread compound I have seen Continental list the GP4 Season as having a "max grip/max carbon compund" tread. I don't know if that is the same or even softer than the BlackChilli compound. But, to the best of my knowledge the Gatorskins have a slightly harder, less grippy, better wearing and more durable compound.

I'd rather have the 4 seasons for bad weather spirited riding. Nothing against the Gatorskins, and I have no personal experience with them... I just haven't been thrilled by any 28mm slicks that I've tried; not enough traction off-pavement but not as fast as something narrower. It's one of those OK at everything but not excellent at anything types of scenarios imho. They seem like an ideal summer tire with extra puncture protection, but I definitely don't view them as all-season.

Personally, I'd go with something like the Continental Touring Plus Reflex for riding rough roads in bad conditions, I'd only pay double the price for the 4seasons if I was riding with a group and trying to maximize speed/fitness.

Continental Gatorskins are really good.

Ive used Gatorskins for a few years now, 28s, and I haven't noticed any grip issues in wet, none at all. I have also used them with about 40lbs on my touring bike and they handled the weight fine.
Flats are most often down to luck, the surfaces you ride on, keeping air pressures up or not, riding regularly through glass debris etc, oh--and did I mention luck, or rather bad luck? I've gone a long time between flats with Gatorskins, perhaps 5000km, but I try to be as careful as possible to avoid and not run over stuff, and stop to brush off the tires if I do go through debris that may get stuck in tires.

I ride into December here, and while I usually dont ride if its rainy and very cold (lets say 5c) I have ridden in cold rainy conditions and again, can't complain about grip, but then as someone else mentioned, I don't go bombing around corners in the wet when its cold, so I figure its pretty hard to quantify "good" or "poor" grip in the rain.

anyway, just wanted to give a positive opinion of them after using them for a couple of seasons, usually about 3-4000km per season. I've also ridden them on fine gravel trails sometimes and they've been fine, no different from other 28 slicks I've used over the years in similar conditions.

Thanks a lot. I'm listening!

I think the Gators were ~$80/pair at PB; the 4Seasons can be had for not much more. Pretty much a wash. I'm not an aggressive rider on wet pavement. But I do want max traction- just makes sense.

I'm after a tough, 28mm tire that does well in the wet and (mostly organic) debris. The roads I ride are fine as far as the paved surface.

I figure if you haven't already done so, holding both tires in your hands in store is a good way to at least feel with your own fingers the tread depth and sidewall, this might help more with a choice. Probably though you'll just have to buy them and see what you think.

Tread on a road tire is nothing more than decoration.

If you don't flat often...why use a Gatorskin?

I use a tubular Gatorskin...and they do ride rougher than a non endurance tread.

Well, the why of it was that they were the only good 28mm tire PB had in stock and the extra flat resistance seemed nice in a winter tire.

To clarify, it's for sport rides- not commuting, and not riding intentionally in gnarly stuff.

Sorry, didn't properly see that you already have the Gators, thought I'd mention that as you mentioned sporty rides, I like to ride fast on commutes and on loop rides with climbs and descents--ive found running lower pressures makes a real difference in cornering speed, less bouncy and ultimately more "suspension effect" which means safer and faster cornering, especially in the wet.
I only weigh 135-140 so can get away with 90f95r 85f90r or probably even a bit less. so just keep in mind being careful of noting pressures vs ride characteristics.

I think that the rubber compound on the 4 Season sounds like it's made to grip better in the cold, and I can speculate on a few things, having just switched over from 700x28 gators to 700x28 GP4S tires:

-They're at LEAST 3 placebos more comfortable
-They corner about 5 placebos faster
-They are definitely narrower, though I haven't measured them
-I've gotten 1 flat from a teensy weensy wire staple that worked its way through the 4S, that in a few hundred miles, while I went a looooong time without flatting a gatorskin at all... could be coincidence, though. I used the gatorskins without incident for city riding while the 4S has been used son the shoulders of country roads... which is better or worse I am not sure I can speak to
-The 4S in the time I've used it has gotten a few distinct tire cuts, while my gators didn't get any in the time I had them
-The 4S is definitely about 1 placebo slower, and 2 placebos more "supple" (whatever that means)