my rubino pro in the back is starting wear out, it hasn't lasted very long.
ive searched these forums but i really couldnt find a good comparison between the conti gs and the vitt rand. i want one of these two to be my next rear tire because i've heard good about both.
i ride on the street that has a good amount of debri on the side but not all the time. i also ride on concrete/blacktop bike paths to the beach. i haven't had any experience with these tires so can yall help me with the pros and cons and experiences of each? durability, skids, comfortability, ease, etc.

ps. i run 46/17 and skid a lot.

Gatorskins have very weak sidewalls. I know some people here rave about them but I was unhappy that I destroyed a $45 tire in about 2 weeks by hitting an unknown piece of debris on a well maintained multi-use path.


Hard to see in the picture but even booting it wasn't enough to keep riding this tire.

YMMV.

I too, hear a lot about how great these tires are, but I remember on my first ride with my conti gs, I hit a freaking flat after about only 10 miles of riding. It was nothing major, but I expected better from a 50 dollar tire. Since then, I've only seen one more flat from it, so uhmm that's about 60 miles with two flats, I don't know if you'd consider that good or not.

I had the exact opposite problem. I have run gatorskins for thousands of miles of commuting without sidewall incident. I picked up a pair of randos and something gouged the sidewall during the first 100 miles. The randos are quite a bit heavier ~500g, while the gatorskins are around 300g for 700x28c.

Gatorskins aren't my favorite tire, though if you want a reasonably fast, durable, long wearing tire for a decent price, they are very hard to beat. In the past 3 years, I've ridden probably close to 15,000 miles on Gatorskins with no flats that I can remember, except one instance where I hit a large angular rock descending a hill at 30+ mph. The sidewall was partially damaged but I was able to get 1000+ more miles out of that tire. The sidewalls are usually the first thing to fail with these tires only because these tires will wear forever, not because the sidewalls are more fragile. I usually get close to 3000 miles per tire, starting with the tire in the front and eventually rotating it to the rear. If you want to avoid premature sidewall tears such as the one posted above, inflate your tires properly and avoid debris. Occasional premature tire death will inevitably happen, regardless of the quality of your tires. Buying an expensive tire is a gamble. A nasty rock or pothole taken at speed can destroy it just as easily as a cheap tire. However, premature sidewall damage from potholes and debris is much less likely with larger tires, regardless of sidewall construction.

I've never tried randos, so I can't really make a comparison.

not that I have experience with any "puncture resistant tire" cause I am worried about skid life running brake-less and not flats. but from what i have heard and have read around about:
gatorskins do have weak sidewalls
specialized armadillo's are great for flat protection but ride like rocks and are sketch in wet conditions
bontrager racelite hardcase are a great tire. Both good on flat protection and a nice ride

@mihbach 15,000miles of riding to wal mart and the library n such(City/suburb riding)?

gator sidewalls are actually very strong, but when something sharp goes through eventually its gonna break through its like taking a butter knife to card board (rock to tire) or a butcher knife to cardboard (glass, nail, etc, to cardboard) i would go with the gator, you have 17 skid patches so you'll even wear out the tire, or u could try out some soma everywears they have a thicker tread. but an extremely weak side wall, mine have already started to crack after a few months of constant riding though.

^soma everwear sidewalls are weak as sh*t. I have seen so many blow out. And to top it they are actually terrible for puncture protection. The rubber is really soft and it has no hard casing underneath. They do come in 26mm though if you want a more plush ride. And you could get those tire liners for puncture protection. Why doesn't anybody ever mention those?

most people dont have the patience to properly install liners, they usually just end up getting mad that they wont go in straight, and just shove everything in, eventually the liners dig through your tubes and yay another flat

i know this isnt what you asked for but... now adays i just run the cheapest special that i can find on bonktown.com they usually have Hutchinson equinox for 10 dollars a pop. lasted as long as the rando i had on the back and is much much cheaper. the only downfall (if you view it that way) is that they are 23 wide instead of the 28 of the randos. you are going to destroy tires riding fixed and skidding your brains out ( i do and i run 46x17). no point in spending 30 dollars on a rando that is going to get thrashed imo. In anycase when i did have my rando in the back i loved it. Nice ride and pretty durable. Never had any blowouts in the month i had it.

i went to bonktown and became confused

You cannot be serious. They only sell one product at a time. I cannot be any more simple.

haha yea it took me awhile because i naturally tried to look at all the products and stuff.

There's your answer right there. Why would you want to use an expensive tire for that?

^Well what else would you use for skidding?

That's a serious question btw. I'm also assuming that higher end tires have better and longer lasting grip.

I´ve heard that the Randos are slippery in the wet. True or false?
Thinking about getting a set for my beater since I´ve also heard they last long.

Depends on what the "high end" tire was intended for. Some are designed for durability, others for grip and/or speed with little to no consideration of durability or puncture protection.

15,000 miles takes you a lot of places, but I've never ridden to walmart (don't shop there) or the library (I can walk there).

I rode rando's for awhile and am riding a gatorskin now. honestly I like the gatorskin alot better. The Rando's were alot softer and seemed to square off really fast. The gatorskins seem like alot harder rubber and after 3 months of riding are still in alright shape.

I too have been using the Gatorskins and like them quite a bit. I ride on some rough roads and when I skid I am often skidding through rough debris. I always am afraid they'll puncture but they never do. I've been riding/skidding on them daily since August and they are finally starting to show a bit of square off. I'm not exactly sure when I should replace, but probably soon.
I will say that now that I've worn them a bit, when its wet out they will slip and slide very easily when skidding, so be careful.

what size do you use? and for those who else answered, what size gatorskins you use

michelin krylion carbon. Don't know how they hold up for skidding, but they are a great tire.

conti gp 4000

I've never tried gatorskins, so can't speak on its part.
But Vittoria Randonneurs last forever for my kind of skidding. I'm not brakeless skidding all the time, but I do a decent amount whenever I feel trippy.
Anyway, I've used them for a few weeks and there is not a single noticeable sign of wear.
Rando:
+ they last sooo long, even more than your orgasms
-they are heavy-ass, obese mother****ers, they literally weigh a ton

I say, if you plan on skidding and tricking, Randos are the way to go, but really, considering them speed and performance wise, stay the **** away.
And I hear the gators last and are overall pretty well-performing (if you're not skidding a lot)