Ah, but the armadillos are so hard that you can ride them flat... if they ever flat ;)

BTW- what are these Rubinos you speak of? I have Vittoria Rubinos, but I presumke you are not referring to those (no one would ever accuse them of being tough).

The vittoria randonneurs are just as tough if not tougher than the dillos.

About the Rubinos - Yes they are your standard wirebead rubino. Nothing real tough, but come with kevlar belt (PRB). As I said so far I had great luck with them and find them a nice compromise betw. durability and ride quality. If I have to patch a tube once a month because of riding them that would be totally worth it. What annoyes me are tires like the gators that claim to be all tough and burley and then I am still patching tubes AND dealing with an inferior ride quality. I might as well patch AND ride something nice.

I have riden gator skins on my daily ride for 4 years (not the same pair) and pay $29.95 at my LBS. Personally they are a great training tire for me. I have had extremely good luck. And if you pick out the foreign matter (glass and such) ever so often they hardly ever flat. They are a bit heavy at 280 grams (3=25's I think). They have recently started making these in a folding tire that weighs only 220 grams. I have a pair now and they are great so far.

i just swithched from vittoria to gator skins. they are smooth and have a thick layer of smooth rubber so they should last longer. i have seen them skid through in one jackass session, but that can be said for a cyclocross tire too. can't win!

I've had my gators for a bit now. I really like how they feel. They make me happy :D .

Oh, and the sidewalls are indeed a dark brown.

I think it kind of depends on the tire - varies a little bit manufacturer to manufacturer and model to model. But the height should be pretty much the same.

ok see all this non flat stuff....as i was walking past my bike on the way to my bedroom i noticed metal in the tread......

turns out a pretty nasty piece of metal, staple...whatever.....in my front tire...

I really like the gators as well, only 3 flats in 8 months, I think that's pretty good. Now I'm riding some yellow Vittoria Zaffiro's. Only had them for a couple of days but I like 'em..

I have an Ultra Gator Skin 700x23 on my rear and a Continental Sport 1000 on my front. Ride daily in DC and don't think I've had any flats on the rear since I got the tire last autumn. Yeah, none that I can remember. Thought the tire took a few days to break in but have been happy with it since. Sidewall on mine was closer to black than brown...maybe differs by production lots? City riding will make it black in no time. Paid around $34 at a lbs. I like the tire and think the Gator Skin is considerably lighter than the Armadillo - I know the GS is 280g at 700x23.

You mention the break in period. I too have noticed that. They feel real slow or heavy for the first 100 miles or so when new. Hard to describe the feeling but I know what you mean. Have not experienced that with other tires only the GS's.

Also the folding model weighs 220 grams. Be warned they are a bear to get on a wheel. I have only been using them a few weeks. They seem ok at this point.

Yeah, the Rubinos are a pretty tough tire. Last set I had I put probably 4000 flat-free miles on. Very good ride quality for the price, too.

I ride a 48x16 (3 inch gear) brakeless so every time I skip or skid it's on the same part of the rear tire. I havn't rotated the wheel in about 3 months and despite the tire getting worn in that one place I havn't had any trouble with it. I'm actually pretty amazed that the gators have held up so well. I ride 25's on both the front and rear.

Same thing happened to me. never had any problems with these tires except for a huge staple. And I often pick out glass that I imagine would otherwise have punctured the tire. Even when I used to skid indiscriminately, they still lasted about five or six months. If one avoids skidding, I imagine they'll last much much longer. Oh, and I only use them on the back. My front is a vittoria rubino pro.

yeah, and I've never had a flat on the rubino pro... but the probably wouldn't hold up to skid wear

Also, does anyone know where I can get armadillos? As happy as I am with the gator skins, I'm curious to try an armadillo (this sounds very weird, kinda like a flying circus sketch)

Look for your local Specialized dealer. http://www.specialized.com/SBCDealerLoc.jsp?a=b

They'll have 'em.

any current deals on 700x28 folding gatorskins? do they make folding ones that large? thanks!

if youre a skidder i hear vittoria rubinos are great tires that last
some kid i know who has them who skids regularly have lasted him well over a month
and you can bring the price down with price smash
http://www.cambriabike.com/shopexd.a...ROAD+BIKE+TIRE

ah, hmm... not a bad idea, excellent price, though my interest in folding 28c gatorskins is because of these reasons: lightweight, durable on bad streets, maybe large enough for a little grip in the winter. i don't ever skid (so far).

I just switched to some Ultra Gators from my beloved Panacer Pasala Tour Guards.
I went from 28 to 23, so I obviously noticed the the rolling resistance. So far I'm digging them, the ride is smother than I was expecting from a 23 on the bumpy roads.

Conti Ultra Gatorskins retail for $40 each, so you still got a good deal, but you "saved" $20 instead of $60. Grand Prix 4000 are $60 each.

EDIT: ...unless you got the folding version.

front and back. great tires. i ride 25s but think my next will be 23s.

best place to get them right now might be Bike Biz. They don't have the Kevlar bead ones, but it's not like you'll be rollin through fields of shrapnel in Baghdad. $80 for a pair shipped to your door. 25c & 28c sizes too.

So far my favorite times for all around riding and skidding are Soma Everwears. Rando's are the most fun for skidding but sluggish. One of my bikes has a pair of Armadillos and I'm not too keen on them...it's a stiffer gear ratio than I'm used to and the bike is new and has a different, more aggressive and twitchy geometry but my skids really suck ass. It's hard to pin point the cause but but skidding I'm not digging the feel of the Armadillos but that might be the other factors.

I've had the same gatorskins on three different bikes - didn't like them on any of them, too stiff for me. But never had a problem until a ran over a tack one day. Tacks seem to be perfectly design to flat tires. What other device could sit straight up waiting for you to roll over it.

I had a 25 up front and 28 in back, which barely fit the 1st bike I tried. Surprisingly, the 28 measured the same width as the 25, using calipers, but it was a bit taller, if I remember right. I put them on my son's bike so he could thrash them around, worry-free.

I replaced them with 700x32 Conti-contacts on my ss, and I'm really loving those tires. Comfortable, and with some thread for hardpack, which I like. Heavier, probably slower starting up, but don't notice once I'm rolling, and maybe less responsive in hi-speed cornering, but I'm not doing that on my ss anyway. They also run narrower than advertised, like the gatorskins. These are real city tires - sure wish I had them in SF yesterday (took my geared bike instead).