Continental Ultra Gatorskin City/Trekking Tire

I think everyone has pretty much covered all the good things about these tires, so I just want to point out these are marked as "directional tires", not that it may actually make much of the differences since these are not even treated tires, but why not make things right from the beginning when you have the chance, the direction of sign is marked on the red sided lable, not very noticeable.

Also these tires will be very difficult to install when brand new, they are very tight and will hug the rims like nothing else, so make sure you got some good tire levers like the Kool Stop Tire Bead Jack or very strong/thin tire levers.

Fantastic tire that you immediately notice a difference in rolling resistance between the stock 26" mountain bike tires and these.

I just finished replacing my rear tire, (with of course another GatorSkin) but the one I replaced had a bulge in it. Upon closer inspection it looked like a bit of fraying of tire cord around the bead. When I deflated the tire and took it off the rim, I could clearly see that this tire was toast. My previous replacement tire (front) had a catastrophic failure of the sidewall causing me to lose control of the bike and crash (fortunately I was able to slow down and escaped serious injury). This time I noticed the bulge and did the inspection and replacement.

Stats: Gear + bike + me = 210 to 220lbs. Daily commuter over paved trails and roads approx 28 miles round trip. This set of tires lasted about 2.5K for the front and 3K for the back. There is plenty of tread left, so don't judge the life of your tires just by tread. Any weird bulging, loose threads around the bead and I highly recommend that you replace the tire.

Pros:
Very good in the rain & wet.
few flats mostly due to tubes which failed on the seam. (I hate the current crop of Chinese tubes, go for India or Germany made Continentals they seem to last much longer)
Lower profile than say the Schwalbe Marathons for the same size tire. You may be able to run a 700x28 Gatorskin vs a 700x25 Marathon.

Con:
Sidewall failures. I think in part it may be due to the extra tough tread which puts a lot of stress on the sidewall. Or it could just be me, and that I'm a heavier than average rider and put a lot of stress on my equipment. I have broken near everything else (frame, crank arms, pedals, rims etc.) over my lifetime of riding

I'm on my second set, and we'll see how these fare before I decide to buy more of them.

Don't let the "I got a flat so this tire sucks" crowd worry you. Punctures are just a matter of whats on the road that you roll over. Itcould happen the first day you put it on, or not for 1000 miles. These tires are very robust. Great durability and one of the few quality non-racing tires to come with what is essentially a slick tread. I couldn't recommend these more highly.

Average around 100 miles a week on my cro-moly frame racing bike which weighs in at 18 pounds fully prepped and loaded. Last set of tires were Michelin Krylion 700x23's folding model. Can't tell you how many punctures I got with them, it was just constant. And they looked like they were 28mm in width after fully inflated. Went back to a pair of Kevlar-belted Schwinn radials I had sitting around the garage from years ago (these had tan-colored sidewalls and were stiff wire construction) but blew the casings due to dry rot pretty quickly. Read some reviews online and purchased a pair of Continental Gatorskins 700x25mm folding model, which are hand-made in Germany. I installed these carefully on my Araya rims which normally handle 20mm racing widths. Though they make the bike a lot faster, the 20mm's give a very harsh ride due to the necessity to maintain 120+ psi pressure and a narrower contact surface. So over the years I have gravitated toward 23 or 25mm widths. Once installed correctly (take your time and do it the right way) the Gatorskins pump up hard as a rock at only 85 to 90psi. These are "directional" tires and need to be installed with the tires facing a specific direction relative to the surface pattern. Ride quality is not to be believed. After a week or so of sticky "break-in" the bike rides like a Mercedes, like there are shock absorbers on both front and rear wheels. It's just so comfortable to ride. Quick and fast on turns, and acceleration is amazingly swift. You're totally attached to the pavement with no skipping or bouncing on fast curving ascents or descents. After three months and around 1200 miles, not even one scratch on the rubber coating on these tires. And the sidewalls are as undamaged and clean as they were when UPS delivered them. Note this reviewer weighs 158 lbs. so I don't as a rule stress tires as much as a heavier rider might.