Chuckles1

I've seen so many derogatory comments on these. What are the qualities that they exhibit that are so horrible? Not saying they're good or not, just curious.

I put a 700x28c Gatorskin on rear of my cyclocross bike and a 28 Vittoria Ziffiro IV on the front to turn it into a road bike this year. The Ziffiro was a little more than half the price of the Gator, and has lower rolling resistance in reference charts. My flats are almost always on the rear, so I wanted something tough back there.

I like that the Gator doesn't pick up grit; a quick wipe with a paper towel after a ride to look for cuts or embedded objects and it looks like new. The Ziffiro has enough tread that it picks up enough grit that I have to scrape bad spots with a plastic tool to make sure there's no glass or metal in there.

I realize I'm running inexpensive tires (the Gator is the most expensive tire I've ever bought), but what's so bad about the Gatorskins that they inspire so much hate?