mjac

You feel the Marathin Plus has better puncture resistance then Gator Hard Cases? One fella came on and said he has ridden both Marathon and Gator (I believe Hard Cases) and he had many more flats with the Marathons. Now I don't know if they were the Marathon Plus. I am looking for the tire with the best puncture resistance and after that everything being equal in puncture resistance, the one with the best ride. But puncture resistance is primary.

ramzilla

Brontrager clearance on a 88 Club Fuji

ramzilla

After a long search found one picture of a Continental Gatorskin tire:

TheLizard

Seems to be EXACTLY like Slime, but more expensive...

PaulRivers

There's nothing better than the Marathon Plus's (among tires that take air). Other manufacturers might make tires that are the same. I don't know if the hardcases are meant to compete directly with the marathon plus's or not.

mjac

Thanks

mjac

It is supposed to be very good. The guy gave me a link to the Bike Shop that recommended it but I do not have it in front of me. They highly recommended it. Maybe you could find out more about it.

Ironfish653

The Gator/Hardshell isn't the same kind of tire as a Marathon Plus. The Gator is for people who are doing lots of moderately fast miles, who want a tire that's light and smooth rolling, but flat-resistant and more durable; as compared to a high-performance tire like a GrandPrix 4000. High-performance road tires tend to be thin-skinned and faster-wearing, for better grip and road feel. Gators would be the 'training' tires for your race bike, or if you're doing something like timed centuries, where speed and weight are important.

The Marathon is a touring / commuting type tire, known for being durable and long-wearing, but heavy. The Marathon Plus is the maximum version, designed for the highest levels of durability and flat protection, again, at the expense of very high weight.

An inexpensive tire, like the TourRide, or the WTB ThickSlick can also be a good performer in everyday use. Inexpensive tires tend to be made with thicker cords in the casing plies than a finer-grained high-performance tire. The thicker cords, and the higher durometer rubber, which is usually in a thicker layer as well, can fight off a lot of the smaller hazards that thinner, more expensive tires are prone to. This does come at the expense of some weight, however.

There's an old engineering adage, from the early years of the MTB era that applies to pretty much any of these 'what's the best xxx component' threads: "You can have Strong, Light, or Cheap. Pick Two."

mjac

The Hard Case Gators sound like an awfully nice tire. It is light weight, rolls pretty fast, durable, lasts a long time, one of the highest puncture resistant tires, seems to be well engineered, comes from a goo company and is reasonably priced. Why does everybody trash it? The ride can't be that bad. As one guy put it, "like a lead filled garden hose." It can't be that bad. Come on.

Ironfish653

Most of the negative comments about the ride of the Gators are typically coming from a high performance road tire like a Grand Prix or Rubino. High Performance road tires are thin and flexible, for light weight and traction. Adding puncture protection makes tires heavier and stiffer. Stiff tires can make the ride feel harsher, heavy tires can make the bike feel sluggish.

The Gators are light weight, fast rolling, and long wearing, but may not ride a smooth as a dedicated road-racing tire. How much worse? How well calibrated is your backside?

Frankly, for the 'Urban Riding' environments you describe, I'd shy away from a slick road tire and get something with some tread on it. It's not much on a 28mm tire, but the sipes and grooves on something like the Marathon can help disperse some of the 'micro-hazards' like tiny glass or metal slivers that would otherwise embed in a slick tire.

mjac

I thought that was what was going on. They weren't saying the Gators were trash riding on their own. They were saying in comparison to a Grand Prix or Rubino they rode like trash. But you are not out on the rode doing 100 plus miles either. I like them. They sound good for what I am going to do with them. An eight mile Rec ride at sunrise and sunset on a bike path where I do not want to break down under ant circumstances and an occasional urban ride out of necessity. You like the Marathons, but I think the Gators role better,are lighter and one fella who used both said more puncture resistant. The Gators are slick, they have no thread?...Thanks,mjac

ramzilla

I use Gatorskins on my Team Fuji carbon fiber race bike. IMHO they are the smoothest fastest rolling tires for the conditions where I ride. This bike logs miles on the A1A bike lane on Amelia Island Florida. A narrow bike lane separated by inches from heavy vehicle traffic littered with particles of steel and shards of glass.

Ironfish653

Please, go here: Biketiresdirect.com >700c City/Touring tires There are pictures, descriptions and reviews of all the tires you've been asking about. You can add more to your decision tree than just what other forum members think, and decide what's best for you.

Actually, I do anywhere from 3 to half-a dozen 100+ mile rides a year. I ride on the Conti Ultra Sport (in 28mm) It's the right combination for me of performance and budget. Flat resistance is not part of the criteria. The number of flats i get per year can be counted on one hand with room to spare, so I carry a spare tube and a patch kit.

Yes, Gators are slick like a road tire. That's what makes them fast. There's a couple different models of Marathon. The +Plus is the one with the extra armor and extra-hard rubber.

My townie/path-bike uses the Forte Gotham (like a generic Marathon) in 700x32 because I like a little bit of tread for dirty pavement and occasional gravel paths. My commuter bike runs the (out of production) Ritchey Speedmax in 45mm because I wanted a tire that would be reasonably fast on pavement, but still able to be ridden agressively on all kinds of surfaces.

mjac

I don't know, just to my untrained eye the Gator Skins are lighter by quite a bit, they roll better, they are engineered for puncture resistance with three technical layers not just piling on rubber,some have said it has better puncture resistance then the marathons, they are durable, they last,they are reasonably priced that seems hard to beat. They say they ride harsh but that sounds a bit exaggerated. Continental makes some good tires so they have that going for them. Hard to beat.

mjac

I like them. They look good. I can not believe I was almost put off them by the racing tire crowd. There are conditions where you can not ride racing tires. You ride them extensiively and I didn't hear you say you needed back surgery. I would probably be very happy with them. Give up a little comfort for the security of top line puncture resistance,yes.

Nice bike. No, very nice bike. Carbon Fuji with Hard Case Gator Skins. They gonna shoot you. Is that a Zefal under seat bag?

ramzilla

I slowly flatted the front tire on that bike heading N on AIA on the South end of the island. I kept pedaling as the tire grew smaller thinking I could shorten the distance home. Then it reached a point the bike flipped out of control. I landed on my back as the bike bounced away. I quickly got up to avoid being run over by traffic and, moved me & the bike on the shoulder. A woman driving a Jeep Cherokee behind me stopped and, asked if she could help. I told her yes. She gave me & bike a lift to the LBS. They replaced the tube & tire.

mjac

Ya'll are always leaving out the most important part of the story. On what tire? The Gators or is this what made you get the gators. If this wasn't thr Gators, tell this story to people who want to ride racing tires everywhere.

ramzilla

Sorrry about the missing info. The tire that slowly flatted was a Continental Ultra Sport. The cheapest bike tire made by Conti. They're nice rolling tires but, I don't think they're heavy duty enough for the roads around here. When I got to the bike shop ithe Ultra Sport was trashed. They replaced it with a brand new Gatorskin. I went back later & got another Gatorskin for the rear wheel too.

mjac

I am glad you got back. I was looking forward to what you had to say. There you have it, all of the elements. You were riding a non-puncture resistant road tire on urban streets strewn with debris and you ended up on your back in a traffic lane. This could have turned out very badly. After this there will still be people who insist there is no place for a puncture resistant tire like the Gator Skins. I don't think so.I'will bet you are glad you have the Gators on now.It is a good thing this thing didn't turn out too badly...Gators

ramzilla

The big lesson I learned from that experience was to watch out for the front tire. Once it went totally flat I had absolutely no control over the bike at all & I crashed hard! So, in the future if the front tire flats I will stop immediately. I also believe it helps avoid flats by keeping tires inflated to the maximum pressure recommended on the sidewall. And of course, don't ride without a helmet & eye protection. And, wear weightlifting gloves & knee cover too for even more protection in case you go down.

ramzilla

All the tire pictures are from the vintage bikes. I buy, sell, trade &, repair. (My favorites being mid 80's Japanese steel touring & racing bikes). In my experience, one primary reason many people give up on riding is the problem of maintaining tires. So, whenever I restore an old bike I always replace the tires with good heavy duty items. Good tires are very expensive. But, I scan the internet for deals. I can usually find a sale on either Gatorskins, Schwalbes, Bontrager or, Panaracer tires. I've been trying out Michelin Pro-Tek tires too but, the Pro-Teks are way too big for race bikes. Flats can be caused by tubes rubbing on spoke holes, improper size and, inflation pressure too. So, it's also very important to properly install the correct tubes and rim tape. Anybody that wants to join the bicycle riding community will soon find out they must learn about all this stuff. Be good. Have fun riding.

Notso_fastLane

It's not the same. Flat Attack is made from recycled cardboard, and it dries quickly and seals holes better. The guys at the recumbent shop sell both, but they pretty much steer people away from regular slime and recommend the Flat Attack. They also said the orange slime is better than the green slime, but the Flat Attack works better than both. I can't tell you for sure. What I do know is that I haven't had a single flat since they put it in my tires (in June). That could obviously be a combination of luck, tires, and liners, but this is on a velomobile, and all three tires make a separate track, which makes it really hard to dodge debris....

mjac

How did the tire behave? It flatted out and grabbed the pavement and threw you over the handlebars? What.

"It helps to avoid flats by..." using highly puncture resistance tires. Hello Gators

ramzilla

By this time the tire was just a piece of rubber squirming between the rim and the asphalt pavement. I was doing around 15mph. The bike lane ended as a traffic circle began. I eased left over the white line of the bike lane to enter the traffic circle and instantly lost control and started going down. I flipped over on my left side and landed on my back in the traffic lane. The bike launched upwards and hit the pavement upside down. I managed to recover & scramble off the road pretty quick. I have no idea why I kept going when I knew the tire was flat. I guess I thought it was no big deal as long as the alloy metal rim wasn't making direct contact with the pavement. Man, what a stupid move. I'll never do that again! The nice lady that stopped and helped thought that I should go to the hospital. But I felt fine. Later, I had a large bruise on the back of my upper left arm near shoulder and some road rash on my back. I really lucked out. It could have been so much worse.

Somebody told me years ago that if you're going to be stupid you better be tough.

mjac

I do not know if you know this or not or how good a price this is but BikeTiresDirect has Gator Skins Hard Cases right now for $35.72.

Got to go back upstream and look at the vintage bikes. How much generally do they go for?