# How long do Conti Gatorskins supposed to last?



## Alias530 (Apr 14, 2013)

I have maybe 200 miles on my Continental Gatorskin 700x25 tires and the little holes that show tire depth are already gone on my rear tire. To be fair, I'm not certain that all of this model comes with these holes and it did not occur to me to check until just now... but the front tire has visible holes and the rear does not.

I sure hope they have life left in them after only 200 miles...


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## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

There is no way in hell you've worn out that tire in 200mi. Forget the wear indicators, how does it look? Compare it to the front...you've got them right there in front of you, and no one here can see anything.


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## authalic (Mar 21, 2013)

I have 850 miles on 700x25 Gatorskins since this past spring. I run them at 100 to 110 psi. I ride a lot of rough roads. I also weight about 260, so they're not getting easy treatment on my bike. I haven't noticed any wear indicators of the kind that you mentioned. Some of the lettering is fading on the sidewalls, but at this rate, I would be surprised if I don't get 2000 miles out of them.


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## chudak (Jul 28, 2012)

cxwrench said:


> There is no way in hell you've worn out that tire in 200mi. Forget the wear indicators, how does it look? Compare it to the front...you've got them right there in front of you, and no one here can see anything.


+1

I've never notice the wear indicators on the conti gatorskins like they have on the 4000s. When your rear wheel has a noticeably flattened profile in the middle you have some wear. Otherwise just keep riding them and don't worry about it.


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## Oxtox (Aug 16, 2006)

have ~2900 miles on the gatorskins on my backup bike...they look fine.


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## OldChipper (May 15, 2011)

Basically, they last forever. Had a set on my wife's bike that I eventually replaced after a couple of years and several thousand miles mainly just because I was nervous; they didn't actually appear worn-out at all. 

I *think* that the very newest run of Gatorskins has the wear indicators, but the older ones (even last year's) didn't have them, so you probably just have a set of mixed vintage.


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## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

I have almost 10K km on the ones on my old bike (and they are starting to show wear) and about 3K Km on my new ones


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

Alias530 said:


> I have maybe 200 miles on my Continental Gatorskin 700x25 tires and the little holes that show tire depth are already gone on my rear tire. To be fair, I'm not certain that all of this model comes with these holes and it did not occur to me to check until just now... but the front tire has visible holes and the rear does not.
> 
> I sure hope they have life left in them after only 200 miles...


Besides the comments that others have made about the tires not having wear indicators, your question has the nature of the "How long is a piece of string?" question. Tires wear due to the scrubbing force of power being applied. If you are a low power rider and you run lower pressures on smooth surfaces your tires will last much longer than a high power rider running high pressures on chip-seal roads. 

The range of wear is very wide. Run the tires until casing threads just start to show through the tread - this is when the wear indicators on gone on GP4000s. This will only happen on the rear tire - front tires dissipate minimal power (braking only) and so essentially do not wear out. They age, crack, and get cut up but they don't wear out by rubber loss.


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## odearja (Jan 22, 2013)

Alias530 said:


> I have maybe 200 miles on my Continental Gatorskin 700x25 tires and the little holes that show tire depth are already gone on my rear tire. To be fair, I'm not certain that all of this model comes with these holes and it did not occur to me to check until just now... but the front tire has visible holes and the rear does not.
> 
> I sure hope they have life left in them after only 200 miles...


The mechanic at my LBS in central Il was telling me that those tires are generally good for 4000+ miles.


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## Alias530 (Apr 14, 2013)

OldChipper said:


> Basically, they last forever. Had a set on my wife's bike that I eventually replaced after a couple of years and several thousand miles mainly just because I was nervous; they didn't actually appear worn-out at all.
> 
> I *think* that the very newest run of Gatorskins has the wear indicators, but the older ones (even last year's) didn't have them, so you probably just have a set of mixed vintage.


Thanks. That's comforting.


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## Alias530 (Apr 14, 2013)

Kerry Irons said:


> Besides the comments that others have made about the tires not having wear indicators, your question has the nature of the "How long is a piece of string?" question. Tires wear due to the scrubbing force of power being applied. If you are a low power rider and you run lower pressures on smooth surfaces your tires will last much longer than a high power rider running high pressures on chip-seal roads.
> 
> The range of wear is very wide. Run the tires until casing threads just start to show through the tread - this is when the wear indicators on gone on GP4000s. This will only happen on the rear tire - front tires dissipate minimal power (braking only) and so essentially do not wear out. They age, crack, and get cut up but they don't wear out by rubber loss.


I knew I wasn't going to get "they last exactly 3,537 miles", but just wanted to make sure that 200 miles wasn't close to their lifetime max.


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## bwbishop (Sep 17, 2011)

odearja said:


> The mechanic at my LBS in central Il was telling me that those tires are generally good for 4000+ miles.


I only run Gatorskins and I usually only get 1800-1900 miles before I am down to the threads. I wish I could get 4000 miles, would save me some dough.


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## Srode (Aug 19, 2012)

I have about 3800 on mine and they are still going fine. The rear is flattened out quite a bit but no cord showing yet. I doubt it will make it through the end of the year though. Replaced them early December 2012, and neither had wear indicators.


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## Trek FX4 Sport Rider (9 mo ago)

Alias530 said:


> I have maybe 200 miles on my Continental Gatorskin 700x25 tires and the little holes that show tire depth are already gone on my rear tire. To be fair, I'm not certain that all of this model comes with these holes and it did not occur to me to check until just now... but the front tire has visible holes and the rear does not.
> 
> I sure hope they have life left in them after only 200 miles...


I have Gatorskin 700 x 32 tires with 3231 miles on them - still lots of wear hole depth showing. I'll bet I get at least 5000 miles out of these tires. I run at 95 psi (max inflation is 102 psi), mostly smooth asphalt road riding.


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## Lombard (May 8, 2014)

Trek FX4 Sport Rider said:


> I have Gatorskin 700 x 32 tires with 3231 miles on them - still lots of wear hole depth showing. I'll bet I get at least 5000 miles out of these tires. I run at 95 psi (max inflation is 102 psi), mostly smooth asphalt road riding.


You run 32mm tires at 95 PSI? Dang, that bike must be a bucking bronco. How much do you weigh that you need that much pressure? I can't imagine that's very comfortable.


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

Trek FX4 Sport Rider said:


> I have Gatorskin 700 x 32 tires with 3231 miles on them - still lots of wear hole depth showing. I'll bet I get at least 5000 miles out of these tires. I run at 95 psi (max inflation is 102 psi), mostly smooth asphalt road riding.


Nice thread dredge. Only 9 years ago! That said, consider significantly lower tire pressure to improve traction, comfort, and tire wear. If you're not getting pinch flats, something more like 75 (or lower) psi.


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