# CONTINENTAL GRAND PRIX 4000 or GATOR SKINS



## sunnyside (Jun 5, 2007)

I need puncture resistant training tires. I have decided on Gator Skins or GP 4000 Any input?


----------



## smokey0066 (Mar 6, 2006)

gatorskins are probably your best bet for puncture resistance


----------



## cwg_at_opc (Oct 20, 2005)

i like the Gatorskins, especially a 25 out back. people like the Spez Armadillos too,
but i haven't ridden them due to their weight. The Gatorskins aren't light like a true
race tire, but if you get the folders(avoid the wire bead) you should be good to go.


----------



## sunnyside (Jun 5, 2007)

Do they make a Gator Skin ultra [Kevlar] in a 25mm I thought they only came in 23's?


----------



## tarwheel2 (Jul 7, 2005)

Conti makes 25 mm folding Gator Skins, but they are hard to find.


----------



## JeffTrek (Jul 23, 2008)

I just bought 2 of the folding Gatorskins(25mm) at a Performance Bike store on Saturday.
But, they were the last 2. Order from the on-line store.


----------



## lookrider (Dec 3, 2006)

cwg_at_opc said:


> but if you get the folders(avoid the wire bead) you should be good to go.


Not trying to start an argument, but why? I've ridden GP 4000's in both 23 and 25, as well as Gatorskin wire beads in 23 and 25. Both are good tires and the Gatorskin wire beads don't diminish the riding experience all that much in comparison to the GP's which are in fact, really nice riding.


----------



## bigbill (Feb 15, 2005)

I have put a ton of miles on my 25mm Four Seasons. Easier to find in 25mm than folding gatorskins. FYI, for conti tires, there isn't a huge difference between 23 and 25mm. I rode a set of 23mm ultras to the casing in 2007 with no flats and I am 215#.


----------



## cwg_at_opc (Oct 20, 2005)

lookrider said:


> Not trying to start an argument, but why? I've ridden GP 4000's in both 23 and 25, as well as Gatorskin wire beads in 23 and 25. Both are good tires and the Gatorskin wire beads don't diminish the riding experience all that much in comparison to the GP's which are in fact, really nice riding.


the first part of my quoted sentence referred to weight. there is no other downside
other than the availability issue. for training, touring/centuries the 25's volume
gives more comfort than the 23, owing to the lower pressure you can get away with.
if you don't find any appreciable difference between the 23 and the 25, then that's
cool too, the 23s are definitely easier to obtain.


----------



## lockwood1 (Nov 5, 2008)

You should also consider Kenda Kaliente:thumbsup:


----------



## Lookbiker (Sep 2, 2006)

Conti GP3000 and now GP4000 tires have been pretty much bulletproof for me. My current favorite is the Conti 4000s. Lots of miles and no problems.


----------



## sunnyside (Jun 5, 2007)

lockwood1 said:


> You should also consider Kenda Kaliente:thumbsup:


That's funny. Here are the tire's I have 200 miles on and have had 3 flats in 5 rides at different locations.

Kriterium

* Same L3R PRO compound and casing construction as the Kaliente
* Water sipping grooves for wet conditions 

These are the reason I am looking for new tires. Thanks for the input but Kenda road tires are not for me.


----------



## sdjeff (Sep 4, 2008)

*Yep*



sunnyside said:


> Do they make a Gator Skin ultra [Kevlar] in a 25mm I thought they only came in 23's?


I've got an Ultra 25 on my bike now - wire bead, not folding, but definitely kevlar in the construction.


----------



## DrSmile (Jul 22, 2006)

+1 for the GP 4 season. They're really good in the rain.


----------



## jmlapoint (Sep 4, 2008)

+1 for GP4000s.
They work really well for me.


----------



## nayr497 (Nov 8, 2008)

Old thread, but I'll try here before starting a new one...

I'm trying to find out if you can get the 700x28 Gator Skin in a folding tire? It looks to me like the 23 & 25 is a folding tire, but when you jump to 28 it goes to a wire bead.

I'm on 23s right now on my rain/winter/around town bike. Want to move to 25s, thinking about 28s, but wonder if that would be overkill.


----------



## Bocephus Jones II (Oct 7, 2004)

sunnyside said:


> Do they make a Gator Skin ultra [Kevlar] in a 25mm I thought they only came in 23's?


Yup...that's what I'm riding now. Great tires. The 4000s are a bit more grippy, but they wear quick and do puncture easier than the Gators IMO.


----------



## Oxtox (Aug 16, 2006)

after several years of riding only Gators, I switched to the 4000S Black Chili last season.

the 4000 rides better, seems to last about the same number of miles, and I don't have any more flats than with the Gators.

I did, however, have two sidewall tears in the first 25 miles on one 4000. may be just a fluke, haven't experienced that with any of the others I've had.

bought another pair of 4000s this morning, the PBK sale was too good to pass up.


----------



## nayr497 (Nov 8, 2008)

Uh...so does anyone know if you can get a 700x28 Gator Skin in a folding/non-wire model?

Or does the switch from folding to wire happen when you jump from 25 to 28?


----------



## tarwheel2 (Jul 7, 2005)

In theory, Conti makes a folding 28 mm Gatorskin, but good luck finding one. You would have better luck finding a 28 mm GP 4 Season, which costs about the same and is a better, lighter tire with similar flat protection.

Edit - I just checked the Conti bikes website, and they do not make a 28 mm foldable Gatorskin, unless their site is out of date. Go for the GP 4 Seasons, you won't regret it.


----------



## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

Oxtox said:


> after several years of riding only Gators, I switched to the 4000S Black Chili last season. ... I did, however, have two sidewall tears in the first 25 miles on one 4000. may be just a fluke, haven't experienced that with any of the others I've had.


I had the same experience. Unfortunately a 4000S side-wall tear in the first 25 miles resulted in a tube blow-out on the front wheel during a 30mph descent heading into a corner. I ended up in the back of an ambulance, emergency admission, head-scan, but fortunately no harm done other than road rash and a broken shifter. I took the tires back for a full refund (at REI), and switched back to Gatorskins with the folding bead, and have not had any side-wall issues with those tires before or since. Of course this is only one data point and one cannot infer tire reliability based on just one incident ... nonetheless you won't catch me on the 4000S tires again.


----------



## shelbyfv (Aug 20, 2006)

The GP 4 Seasons are nice but seem to cost more than Gatorskins, at least at PBK and Ribble.


----------



## tarwheel2 (Jul 7, 2005)

You get what you pay for with the GP 4 Seasons. They are much lighter than the Gatorskins and handle well on wet roads. If you ever see the 4 Seasons on sale, snap them up.


----------



## Bocephus Jones II (Oct 7, 2004)

tarwheel2 said:


> You get what you pay for with the GP 4 Seasons. They are much lighter than the Gatorskins and handle well on wet roads. If you ever see the 4 Seasons on sale, snap them up.


Really? They are lighter than the folding Gatorskins? I always thought they just had a different tread composition that was better in wet weather.


----------



## MarkZeus (Jun 12, 2008)

Just recently acquired gatorskins 25c for the rears. Had only maybe 450+ miles and yesterday, they pop off the rim twice @ mile 70 to 72 miles and sounded like a .22 mm gunshot. I double check the first tube and tire install on the clincher after a first flat. I have to do some investigating some more if it's the tires or the clincher?


----------



## Drew Eckhardt (Nov 11, 2009)

Bocephus Jones II said:


> Really? They are lighter than the folding Gatorskins? I always thought they just had a different tread composition that was better in wet weather.


Front Continental's web site:

Gatorskin folding 25mm 250g
GP 4 season 25mm 250g

Gatorskin folding 23mm 230g
GP 4 season 23mm 230g

700C wire bead Gatorskins are 50g heavier where there's a choice (only 700 x 23 and 25 are available as folding tires).

I've never had a problem with Gatorskins on wet roads apart from loosing traction on a metal grate where I couldn't say that a GP 4 season would have done better.

The GP 4 seasons do wear a lot faster; I squared one off more in 800 miles than a Gatorskin in 2800.


----------



## tarwheel2 (Jul 7, 2005)

I stand corrected, but according my checking at the Conti website, the GP 4 Season weighs 240 g in size 25 mm and the Gatorskin weighs 250 g. Not a huge difference, but the 4 Season is 10 g lighter. My impression was based on the fact that so many website seem to sell the wire-beaded version of the Gatorskin, which is much heavier. Also, the 4 Season is available in 28 mm, but the Gatorskin is not currently available as a foldable in 28 mm.


----------



## Dunbar (Aug 8, 2010)

Also consider the Gator Hardshell which is supposed to have better sidewall protection than the Ultra Gatorskins. I have a pair of 28 Hardshells but don't have enough miles on them to determine if they're more durable.


----------



## jkk (Apr 2, 2007)

Data point - I've used various Gatorskins for 4 years (23 and 25, folding and non-folding) , maybe 5000 miles, over mostly dry but fairly rough roads with broken glass, gravel, etc and had 2 flats: one caused by a staple (how I managed to run over that thing such that both ends lodged perfectly right through the tire I don't know), the other cause unknown. I'm pretty satisfied with Gatorskins.


----------



## Blue CheeseHead (Jul 14, 2008)

lookrider said:


> Not trying to start an argument, but why? I've ridden GP 4000's in both 23 and 25, as well as Gatorskin wire beads in 23 and 25. Both are good tires and the Gatorskin wire beads don't diminish the riding experience all that much in comparison to the GP's which are in fact, really nice riding.


The wire bead version weighs about 50g per tire more than the comparable folding Gatorskin.


----------



## Blue CheeseHead (Jul 14, 2008)

nayr497 said:


> Uh...so does anyone know if you can get a 700x28 Gator Skin in a folding/non-wire model?
> 
> Or does the switch from folding to wire happen when you jump from 25 to 28?


Conti does not make a folding Gatorskin in a 28. However, they do make a GP 4 Seasons in a folding 28. Vittoria also makes their Rubino Pro III in a folding 28.


----------



## Blue CheeseHead (Jul 14, 2008)

tarwheel2 said:


> Conti makes 25 mm folding Gator Skins, but they are hard to find.


They are often sold out in Europe, but almost always on E-bay for less than domestic e-tailers.

BTW, I have had very good luck with both Gatorskins and 4000's from a flat resistance perspective.

As far as size goes, the 25 in the GP4000 is wide. Mine runs 26.4mm. I will have to measure the 25 Gatorskin on my wife's bike tonight.


----------



## Cut.Aussie (Mar 19, 2011)

About 75% of my riding is on cycle paths around Sydney and broken glass is unavoidable fact of life.
I have been riding firstly on GP4000S in 23 size for the last 2 years doing about 3500km but have recently changed to a New Look 566 when I ditched the awful Fulcrum 7 wheels that came with it for some nice Shimano RS80's I also thought I would try using wider 25mm GP4000S as I'm a heavy rider and I want to maximise comfort offered by the Look 566.

So far I am very impressed, the Look is a great handling bike that encourages you to really push it's cornering to the limits and I love how sure footed the Conti's feel even on wet surfaces and the sound of breaking glass has not yet resulted in a single puncture in 5000+ Km yet though there are some tears and I did pull out a paper staple the other day during service.


----------

