Continental Gatorskin DuraSkin Bike Tire, Black, 700cm x 32

Hands down, this is THE best tire I've ever bought for a bicycle. Just a background of my bike and the amount of riding I do, I typically put on 1,000-1,500 miles a year doing mainly country riding (rough, cracked asphalt), but I also do trailing (paved) and city riding (rough roads). I have a specialized bike that's 4 years old. Before I bought continental gatorskins, I would get at least 1-2 flats per week. One week I got a flat after every single ride (these were new tires, might I mention). I think that summer I had 15+ flats. I changed to continental gatorskins, and I've put on over 700 miles and haven't had a flat. When I first put on the gatorskins, I thought I had pinched the tube because it was a little tough getting on the rim. But, 8 months/700 miles later, the tires AND tubes handle like they're brand new. This tire is thick and has little tread for speed, but here's the catch: it's lightweight! It's very lightweight for how thick it is. I'm seriously amazed at all aspects of this tire, I will definitely buy another pair when I wear this one down.

Very long wear life, runs true and resists flats.

We use Conti Gatorskin 700-32 on our tandem. The 32s roll very well. We're a light team but can still out-coast heavier teams. We hardly ever get flats. Do read the inflation guidance on the glued-on tag attached to the tire. The recommended 85psi works for us. These are wire-bead tires, not folding tires.

I have only ridden about 200 miles with these tires, mostly on dirt roads. They appear to be holding up just fine, e.g. no flats or sidewall cuts. I purchased these tires for my touring bike because of good experience with the same brand but 700x23 tires for my road bike. The road bike tires have about 1500 miles without a single flat or cut and still appear to have many miles remaining. All the riding was done on country roads that, while mostly paved, are extremely rough with numerous cattle guards. With the previous tires, either bike, I could count on a flat about every 200 miles and I never got a 1000 miles on a tire because of stone inflicted cuts. So while one can buy cheaper tires my experience with Gatorskins makes them worth the extra price.

We have had these as our tandem tire for years, while they are slightly less armored against goatheads than Specialized Armadillos, they have a much nicer ride - they are stickier, feel more responsive, and have a less "harsh" ride than the Armadillos. They are also my main warm season training tire for the single road bike (for winter training and commute check out Continental Contact Winter II), as I don't like to risk flats on long, steep downhills around Boulder.

I saw my first gator on the back tire of one of the speedier Olympic distance riders on one of those gazelle bikes during my first sprint tri course preview. He mentioned he had gotten a couple of flats and eventually splurged on gators to avoid the hassle. Since I was getting flats on two of my first three 10-mile commutes to work, I figured these were pricey, but would pay for themselves pretty quickly and splurged on a set of my own. My tri-training buddy and I had the inspired idea of embarking on a 70 mile bike ride to San Diego which was, of course, the next logical step after our handful of 5 mile or less training rides. It was smooth sailing down Old PCH. We got to Camp Pendleton, government issued IDs at the ready, only to discover that the camp's highway bypass had been closed for a bike race. Hello, Irony. We hem and haw on the 5 onramp as cars whizz by us. Finally, a fierce looking dame on a seriously beausaged Felt angles to breeze by us. My more outgoing buddy hails her and asks if we are in fact supposed to ride on the 5. "They probably won't give you a ticket since the camp is closed," she offers in the sort of blase tone that can only be achieved from many long rides. She nods at my training buddy's beach cruiser, complete with pedal-powered headlamp and the newest addition, a zip-tied neon pink milkcrate rear basket brimming with sports drink and beef jerky, "That is a Heavy bike." Before my chatty buddy can begin to respond with her rationale for the weight, the road goddess nods at me, "You've got the right tires for this. Good luck, ladies." She speeds off. Two harrowing exits of huffing exhaust fumes, dodging car shrapnel and gritty windshield glass gravel later, we are safely restored to bike-friendly lanes. The beach cruiser didn't get a flat on this ride, but the peace of mind of honey-badger caliber tires is pretty close to priceless.

Literally, 5 days after installing this tire, I had an object lodged in the rubber. It looked like a large robust staple, not the kind for stapling paper, but more for light construction. This tire did what it promised. When I pulled the staple out I realized that it was completely bent. It did not penetrate the tire at all, but got stuck in the outer rubber layer. My tube wasn't even aware of what had almost happened to it. In regard to another reviewer: The two little holes in the rubber are tread wear indicators and not a manufacturing error. The tire should be fine for 5000km.

This is the first time I have written a review on amazon. I thought these tires would be great after having a couple of flats on Bontrager tires and reading the reviews. I was excited to get an new set of Gatorskin tires. I tried to put on the tire onto my wheel. It was nearly impossible to get on compared to other tires I have put on. Then I got the tire on the wheel and unfortunately I could not get the inner tube inflated. Well then I have to take off the tire and put on a new inner tube. I went through the impossible process of putting the new Gatorskin tire all over again with a second inner tube. And guess what happened again. Then new second inner tube would not inflate. So figured out that in the impossible process of getting the tire on I damaged two brand new inner tubes. (Than never happened to me before. I have fixed many flats) So I am out about $17.00 for the inner tubes and the tire is going straight back to amazon.