In this article I’m going to cover all gatorskin road bike tires. It’s a short list, because, unfortunately, there aren’t that many tires offering the German brand’s most durable puncture protection.
Gatorskin is actually the type of tire: the Continental Gatorskin. This tire offers a characteristic reddish brown sidewall, which is caused by a bead-to-bead breaker called DuraSkin.
Duraskin is a polyamide fabric to protect the entire casing in the worst of road conditions. As such the DuraSkin technology is offered for tires, which are meant to be the most durable, and hard-wearing tires in the Continental road bike tire lineup.
The Continental Gatorskin is not the only tire offering the DuraSkin technology. There are a handful of other tires that offer puncture protection, or even more. There is the Hardshell, which adds the polyester PolyX breaker. And there’s an urban version that offers the Duraskin breaker in combination with Kevlar-reinforced SafetySystem breaker.
All of these tires from Continental are some of the highest quality, most puncture-resistant, and durable mile-crunchers money can buy. I rate them among the very best tires there are. Let’s take a look at my overview of these gatorskin road bike tires. To be complete, I also included the urban variant.
Continental Grand Prix 4-Season
The Continental Grand Prix 4-Season utilizes an extra bead-to-bead layer Continental calls Duraskin, reserved for their most durable tires.
Each road tire in the Continental lineup uses a puncture resistant breaker for the center tread. The Grand Prix 4-Season uses two, effectively doubling its puncture resistance when compared with the other tires. It makes for a road bike tire with a ridiculous level of puncture resistance, and is something I haven’t seen in any other road bike tire I’ve researched.
And last but not least, the Continental Grand Prix 4-Season uses 3 layers of 110 TPI for both durability and longevity, without sacrificing too much in terms of weight, grip and ride feel. Which makes this tire one of the if not the most fit-and-forget tires you can find.
The only thing keeping this tire from a 5-star rating is that it’s not available in a tubeless version. It comes in sizes 23, 25, 28 and 32 mm.
- The best, and lightest, all-weather tire money can buy, with bead-to-bead protection and dual breakers.
- Only clincher available
Continental Gatorskin
Very similar to the Hardshell version the Continental Gatorskin is an incredible road bike tire with an exceptional level of puncture protection.
It offers a more supple 3-ply 180 TPI carcass with the same PolyX Breaker, a tightly woven polyester fabric sitting underneath the center tread, preventing foreign objects from reaching the air chamber.
It also has the Duraskin bead-to-bead protection, reinforcing its sidewalls and giving the tire its distinctive burgundy appearance, and adding an extra protective layer made from an incredibly strong polyamide fabric.
This tire is the pinnacle of perfection, offering the seemingly unattainable blend of maximum puncture-protection without sacrificing to much in the weight department, all in a road bike tire with a slick tread pattern. An absolute no-brainer for people who appreciate hard-wearing, fast-rolling tires.
- Maximum puncture protection, distinctive looks, and a slick tread pattern makes this one of the best road bike tires for mile-crunchers.
- You trade in ride feel for puncture protection
Continental Gator Hardshell
The Continental Gator Hardshell is the one of the most puncture-resistant tires Continental’s lineup with touring and road bike qualities.
It offers a 3-ply 60 TPI carcass reinforced with a wider PolyX breaker underneath the slick center tread, which is a tightly woven polyester fiber to prevent objects from penetrating the tire.
Besides the breaker, the tire also features the bead-to-bead DuraSkin polyamide fabric, giving the tire its characteristic reddish weave on the sidewall. It serves both as an added layer of puncture-protection and sidewall-reinforcement.
Naturally, all this added protection adds some weight, but as far as puncture-protection for fast commuters and road bikes go, this tire is nothing short of astonishing in that department.
- Astonishing puncture protection in a gorgeous slick road bike tire or fast commuter tire. Still pretty lightweight considering the added protective layers.
- Don't expect the same ride-feel as a summer race tire
Continental Sprinter Gatorskin
If you’re looking for puncture protection that comes in a tubular package, the Continental Sprinter Gatorskin is your best bet.
It offers the same DuraSkin layer wrapped all around the tire as does the Continental Grand Prix 4-Season. Where it differs is both the breaker and the compound.
The Sprinter Gatorskin has a 3-layered 180 TPI all-weather casing and the SafetySystem breaker is made from kevlar reinforced nylon.
The tire is available in a black 22 or 25 mm width.
- The most puncture resistant tubular tire on the market
- It's a somewhat stiff tubular tire meant for off-season riding
Continental CONTACT Travel
The Continental CONTACT Travel is the most durable, most puncture-resistant touring tire in Continental’s lineup.
A composite breaker underneath the center tread made from kevlar-reinforced nylon is combined with a bead-to-bead polyamide fabric to reinforce the sidewalls as well.
Meant for pavement, hardpack and gravel, commuting, touring, bikepacking, and anything your bike could basically take you apart from technical trail riding.
This protection comes at the price of both weight and speed, but you shouldn’t buy this tire if you’re looking for a tire which excels in those aspects. If you’re looking for a 4-season, long-lasting tire, which is highly versatile, look no further.
- Great 4-season tire. Highly versatile, from commuting to gravel, bikepacking and touring. Maximum durability, with maximum protection.
- None
Road Bike Tires Weight Rating
I’ve always been fascinated by bicycle tires, and road bike tires offer some of the most premium pieces of rubber you can put on your rims. It’s a good place to save quite a bit of weight without paying a really large amount of money. It’s not like there are titanium or carbon tires, which are traditionally materials to make bicycle products lighter that are very expensive.
The lightest 700C tire I’ve looked at is the Veloflex Record, which is a track tire sitting at 135 grams for a 23 mm version. The heaviest tire I’ve taken into account is the Schwalbe Lugano II Endurance weighing 490 grams for the same 25 mm tire width.
In the following graph you can find the weight ratings for each tire. The weight ratings represent a relative percentage irrespective of tire width and only looking at 700C versions of the respective tire. The numbers are compared against each other resulting in a percentage of 0 for the relative heaviest tire and 100 for the relative lightest tire.
Road Bike Tires Puncture Protection Rating
Nobody likes a flat tire. It’s one of the most jarring things to break the flow of a ride. That’s why puncture protection is an important factor when considering a certain bicycle tire.
Puncture protection sits at the other end of the tire weight, suppleness and possibly grip. The more rubber you add to a tire, and the more layers of protection sit underneath it, the more weight you add, and the stiffer your tire gets. That’s why racing tires have the most minimal protection, and touring or 4-season tires the most.
The puncture protection ratings you see here are a function of TPI, in combination with tire weight, and puncture protection technology added to the tire. From sidewall protection, multiple breakers and tire belts.
Specifications Gatorskin road bike tires
Name | Size | ETRTO | Weight (gr) | Tread color | Sidewall color | Compound | Puncture protection | Tire bead | TPI | Buy at Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Continental Grand Prix 4-Season | 700Cx32 | 32-622 | 340 | Black | Black | Max Grip | DuraSkin / Double Vectran Breaker | foldable | 3/330 | |
Continental Grand Prix 4-Season | 700Cx28 | 28-622 | 295 | Black | Black | Max Grip | DuraSkin / Double Vectran Breaker | foldable | 3/330 | |
Continental Grand Prix 4-Season | 700Cx25 | 25-622 | 230 | Black | Black | Max Grip | DuraSkin / Double Vectran Breaker | foldable | 3/330 | |
Continental Grand Prix 4-Season | 700Cx23 | 23-622 | 235 | Black | Black | Max Grip | DuraSkin / Double Vectran Breaker | foldable | 3/330 | |
Continental Sprinter Gatorskin | 700Cx25 | 25-622 | 275 | Black | Black | BlackChili | DuraSkin / SafetySystem Breaker | tubular | 3/180 | |
Continental Sprinter Gatorskin | 700Cx22 | 22-622 | 265 | Black | Black | BlackChili | DuraSkin / SafetySystem Breaker | tubular | 3/180 | |
Continental Gator Hardshell | 27×1 1/4 | 32-630 | 455 | Black | Black | BlackChili | Hardshell | wired | 180 | |
Continental Gator Hardshell | 700Cx28 | 28-622 | 340 | Black | Black | BlackChili | Hardshell | foldable | 3/180 | |
Continental Gator Hardshell | 700Cx28 | 28-622 | 270 | Black | Black | BlackChili | Hardshell | wired | 3/180 | |
Continental Gator Hardshell | 700Cx25 | 25-622 | 340 | Black | Black | BlackChili | Hardshell | foldable | 3/180 | |
Continental Gatorskin | 27×1 1/4 | 32-630 | 395 | Black | Black | BlackChili | DuraSkin / PolyX Breaker | |||
Continental Gatorskin | 700Cx32 | 32-622 | 345 | Black | Black | BlackChili | DuraSkin / PolyX Breaker | foldable | 3/180 | |
Continental Gatorskin | 700Cx32 | 32-622 | 420 | Black | Black | BlackChili | DuraSkin / PolyX Breaker | wired | 3/180 | |
Continental Gatorskin | 700Cx28 | 28-622 | 360 | Black | Black | BlackChili | DuraSkin / PolyX Breaker | wired | 3/180 | |
Continental Gatorskin | 700Cx28 | 28-622 | 280 | Black | Black | BlackChili | DuraSkin / PolyX Breaker | foldable | 3/180 | |
Continental Gatorskin | 700Cx25 | 25-622 | 245 | Black | Black | BlackChili | DuraSkin / PolyX Breaker | foldable | 3/180 | |
Continental Gatorskin | 700Cx25 | 25-622 | 315 | Black | Black | BlackChili | DuraSkin / PolyX Breaker | wired | 3/180 | |
Continental Gatorskin | 700Cx23 | 23-622 | 305 | Black | Black | BlackChili | DuraSkin / PolyX Breaker | wired | 3/180 | |
Continental Gatorskin | 700Cx23 | 23-622 | 230 | Black | Black | BlackChili | DuraSkin / PolyX Breaker | foldable | 3/180 | |
Continental CONTACT Travel | 28×2.00 | 50-622 | 845 | Black | Black | DuraSkin / SafetySystem Breaker | wired | 3/180 | ||
Continental CONTACT Travel | 28×1 3/8×1 5/8 | 37-622 | 575 | Black | Black | DuraSkin / SafetySystem Breaker | wired | 3/180 | ||
Continental CONTACT Travel | 28×1 3/8×1 5/8 | 37-622 | 510 | Black | Black | DuraSkin / SafetySystem Breaker | foldable | 3/180 | ||
Continental CONTACT Travel | 26×2.00 | 50-599 | 760 | Black | Black | DuraSkin / SafetySystem Breaker | wired | 3/180 | ||
Continental CONTACT Travel | 26×1.75 | 47-599 | 670 | Black | Black | DuraSkin / SafetySystem Breaker | wired | 3/180 | ||
Continental CONTACT Travel | 26×1.75 | 47-599 | 670 | Black | Black Reflex | DuraSkin / SafetySystem Breaker | wired | 3/180 |
Johan van Seijen
FoundeR Restoration.bike
Johan van Seijen is the founder of restoration.bike. His passion for cycling in general, and restoring older bikes turned into a website to share his knowledge with a broader audience. Starting out on his father’s road bike and riding classics as the Amstel Gold Race and Liege Bastogne Liege he has shifted his attention to trail, XC, and gravel riding since. No matter how much he loves writing about everything related to cycling, nothing beats actually using his ever-expanding bicycle collection.
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