Continental Contact Speed tire - clincher, wire bead, SafetySystem Breaker, E25, black/Reflex or black, 26", 27.5", 650b or 700 sizes

I have a bone to pick with these other reviewers. What are they thinking? “I hit a curb. Tire flat. Tire fault” “Roads have debris that punctured my tire. Tire fault” Are you kidding me lol I have switched to these from the glass tires that are the Schwalbe Ones and never looked back. At the gram differences these are superbly fast and most importantly RELIABLE. I ride these things all throughout New York City. I promise. You can’t get more debris and compromising terrain than the streets of these boroughs. They have never went flat on me. If I do hit something obviously extraordinary then it is the fault of that extraordinary thing that flats your tire. Although tire technology is very advanced today, they are not magic. Flats will always be a thing. I, with thousands of miles of milage on these now, can vouch that with smart, (and I’m not going slow either) calculated riding, they will not go flat on you. I am also using TPU tubes with these. I am astonished at how I can even get through a significantly woody terrain on BMX tires on a folding bike and still not lose a pound of air. I am now forever going to be running these tires for the all-rounded use purpose. Frustrating to see multiple people complain about the very thing this tire solved for me: Flats. Makes me reiterate, they are the problem, and not the tire. It’s like people who give 1 star reviews for a product when Amazon, a retailer and shipping company, doesn’t deliver a product or it breaks in travel.

Despite owning several sets of wheels and tires, these Conti Gator Hardshell tires are my go-to tires for far-from-home ultra-distance cycling. I feel more confident knowing I have the Hardshells under me when traversing unfamiliar roads and territory. As a very experienced cyclist, I've had the chance to ride on just about all the tire brands and models of tire available in the U.S. I settled upon the Continental brand after noticing them on the bikes of many of my cycling teammates. I researched and really liked the low rolling resistance of the 4000S2 but too often saw problems with punctures. After my first few Double Centuries featured multiple flats on the 4KS2s, I made the switch to these Hardshells. I have experienced the peace of mind these offer in the form of nearly bullet-proof toughness and more than tolerable road comfort. These aren't as supple as the S2s in cornering but on the flats, they perform and feel very similarly, just a touch firmer. The tread wear has been phenomenal...The flashing ridge finally wore-off after more than 600 miles on my front tire. I ride 25mm rear and 23mm out front. I have yet to ride a bike tire (by ANY manufacturer) which ticks as many boxes as these do: Ultra-durable treadwear, Ultra-puncture resistant, Reasonable weight, Good comfort on the road, Good traction in the dry and okay in the wet, Excellent sidewall cut-resistance, phenomenal service-life, etc. These are NOT the paper-thin lightest OR lowest rolling resistance tires for time trialists, but for every-day urban commuting, long- or ultra-distance endurance cycling, or even trouble-free neighborhood touring, these are THE BEST investment you can make towards improving your cycling enjoyment. Just install them and ride defensively and you'll rarely need that spare tube or repair kit ever again. Happy riding! **UPDATE** .... 1-28-18: Pulled three dreaded tips off "goathead" thorns straight out of the tread after a century ride at home. Expecting quick deflation...aired up and left wheel overnight. I checked the pressure the next morning and NO PUNCTURE. The air pressure held. I rode 78 miles on the tire and checked air pressure the next day again and re-confirmed the tube was not punctured by the dreaded Tribulus Terrestris thorns. I have flatted before by one of these thorns on this tire, but this time, three couldn't get through.

*** UPDATE 8/13/18 *** These tires finally gave up the ghost. One month shy of two years and almost 3500 miles. Did I get my money's worth? OH YEAH. Did I order more to replace them? OH YEAH. So in 3500 miles, I had only one, maybe two punctures. Pretty good record, don't you think? ***UPDATE 3/21/17 *** So, six months and 755 miles later, absolutely ZERO punctures! None. Nada. Zip. Zen zen. And they seem to wear very slowly as well. You know you are getting a tough tire when the picture on the box features two of their bulked up German women with their arms crossed and facial expression saying, "You don't mess with me!" I went through a spell where I was getting a puncture every week. Sometimes twice a week. What broke the camel's back was getting three punctures in two days. It was recommended to me to get these. I love them. Here it is two months later and not a single puncture. These do the job. They have good grip and give a nice ride. High quality German hand-made manufacturing. And if you want to carry a spare under your saddle, these do fold up nicely.

As a commuter, I rely on my bicycle to get me to and from work. Some mornings, you just don't have time for a flat. These tires have reduced the number of flats I've had CONSIDERABLY while maintaining the low rolling resistance I've been spoiled with. They handle will in the rain, they have been incredibly durable, and I can ride to work without worrying if the last pothole I just hit will mean I'm walking home after I punch out of work. The only issue with these tires is that they're hard to put on the rim. They don't stretch and flex like other rubber, which initially had me worried they would be too slick or hard. Both of these concerns proved false as they remain comfortable and grippy in the rain. Note: these are not indestructible, I have had flats on these tires. Both times it was due to a single wire bristle off a street sweeper that parks outside my work. Other than that, I've had no issues with flats.

Since getting these for my commuter bike, I decided to buy these for my faster bike as well. I put this tire on my rear wheel (where I used to get the majority of flats). Since installing this tire, I have yet to get a flat over 3 years (commuter bike, only 2 months with the racing bike). I have picked glass shards out of this and it still hasn't caused even so much as a slow leak yet. The weight of these is higher than I would like, but are well worth the extra weight since I don't need to carry a spare tire. Of all the tires that offer extra protection (hardshell level protection), this is still the lightest tire I could find. The grip is good, but not as good as say the Grand Prix 4000 sII. I wish they would include the "black chili" rubber on these as well. I never have an issue slipping at all, unless there is rain/snow. Again, I only have this on my rear wheel, however I can notice slightly reduced traction when I am breaking hard If the road is wet or worse. I am still able to grip the road enough to make sharp turns, but I find myself slowing down if I am making a sharp turn. I have ridden on some of my friends bikes who have other endurance tires (thick slicks, bontrager hardshells, etc.) and I haven't noticed more wet road grip on any and much less grip on some, so maybe it is par for the course on endurance tires. To sum it up: If you are looking for a good training/commuting tire that can basically drive through glass, this may be the best tire you can find (or at least that I have found). If you are looking for a tire that can blaze around corners in the rain at 50+mph, maybe look for a stickier/lighter tire.

Durable tires for road bikes

UPDATE: 8/15/2018 -- I have 5,200 miles on these tires now (4,800 of that since March of 2017). Not a single puncture-flat (I did have one due to a cracked valve stem) although I've had to pull out various thorns, nails and staples (none of which broke through to the inner tube). The little wear indicators are now gone on the rear tire and almost gone on the front so it's time for a new pair. I've ordered these again. I bought these to replace the original tires on my Specialized Secteur which were coming up on 3,000 miles. I expected these new tires to be nicer, of course, but was really surprised at how big a difference they made. I ride every other day on the same 15 mile route. In the past month I've been "coming back" from a 5 month layoff and surgery back in late August so I'm keeping a close watch on my stats as I try to get my time on this 15-miler back down to one hour (where it used to be). My average speed for the 4 rides prior to putting the new tires on my bike was 14.17 mph. My average for the 4 rides with the new tires? 14.83 mph. All I was really wanting from these new tires was a safer ride and less worry about flats (I ride in the north Tucson, AZ area which is full of all kinds of spiky things in addition to the normal road debris). The better than a half mile per hour speed boost is a wonderful bonus. I've also noticed that the tires are more responsive, in a good way. I didn't have any issues with installing the tires (I have the original DT Swiss 2.0 rims). Having only 4 rides on them (60 miles) I can't say anything about how well they wear or if I'm getting fewer flats. At the moment they pretty much look exactly like they did when I first put them on.

5-7-21 3rd Review - I just replaced both the front and back tires today after having them on my bike forever. I last bought the front tire on Oct. 5th, 2019 so, I got a year and 7 months out of the front one. The Rear Tire I replaced in April 1st 2020 so, I got 13 months out of it before the belt wear indicator started to show. I rode on average 120 miles per week last year and I am riding about 110 miles per week this year. These tires are awesome! I don't know the amount of mileage that I got out of them because my app stopped showing me my lifetime mileage but, getting over a year on tires is incredibly GREAT! I can tell you it was a lot of miles and I was surprised that the wear indicator hadn't shown up until recently. I kept looking for it. It totally surprised me that both the front and rear tire wear indicator appeared at the same time. These tires are well worth the money and I will recommend them to everybody. It won't let me add a 2nd review. I will add my latest review at the top of this. This was my 3rd time buying this tire so, now I can do a better review on them. I got 4,500 miles out this tire at 100+ mile bike rides a week, it was about 10 months. I stretched it a little. I started to see the belt showing at about 4,000 miles and I got an extra 5 weeks out of it before the belt was very noticeable. To me, getting 4,000 miles out of tire is GREAT! I replaced my front tire a while ago but, soon after I replaced the rear one. The front tire will last longer for sure. I will probably be ordering a front one in the next couple of months if the belt starts to show and if it's before I get a new bike. I will leave my old message review below. I was a little worried about the tire size when I ordered my Continental tire. I have found out the tire sizes are weird when you order them online and when you go to a local bike shop in the U.S.. For me Continental tires the best thing I found to do is go with the ISO size. My ISO of my original tire was a ISO 37-622 or a 700x35C tire. This tire fit my wheel on my Walmart Schwinn Varsity 2500 bike good! I was looking for an arrow to see if they were directional tires and saw what I am showing in the picture. I wasn't sure I had a lip on the inside of my rim but, I had a small one...phew. This tire worked great on my rear wheel. I thought I would point it out to people that are interested in getting one of these to make sure your wheel has a lip on it before ordering them. You can't go wrong with the right sized Continental tires on your bike. My old City Ride that I replaced this new tire with on the rear got 3400 miles. All of the Continental tires I have had lasted over 3000 miles. As far as speed on this tire, I didn't notice the difference at first and I have put over 100 miles in on my new Contact Speed tire but, I did notice, I wasn't hitting my slowest average time for a 30 mile even on a strong headwind day.

Excelente llanta. Gran calidad para la ciudad.

this is a primary review because i did not put much millage on the tires yet on thing i can say is that the components and assembly on the gator skin are very solide compare to my old michelin pro 4. the tires get rock hard and have low rolling résistance if well inflated. time will tell if they last and are as poncture résistant as advertised

Great for training on British roads if you don't want to deal with punctures. I've done over 1000 miles on one pair, not a single puncture on pretty crappy roads.

Kept getting punctures before, switched to these and it's been great, no punctures since. Used them on all kinds of surfaces klunking through potholes and over gravel paths, I'm more than happy, a friend got the same after and loves them too. Only downside is they are really hard to get on (at least for 700 23), had to get someone stronger the first time, seem to have stretched a bit and I managed alone after.

Guter leichtlaufender Reifen mit Pannenschutz. Ich fahre ihn Schlauchlos obwohl er dafür angeblich nicht ausgelegt ist. Schlauch raus, Tubeless Felgenband einkleben und Tubeless Ventile reinschrauben, 60ml Stans Dichtmilch rein, Luft drauf und dicht und noch bessere Rollwiderstand.