Continental Gator Hardshell Bicycle Tire - Clincher, Wire Bead, Hardshell, Black, 27.5", 700x 23, 25, 28 or 32 Sizes

Hands down the best tire for horrible road conditions. It is lighter and less expensive than a Specialized Armadillo and has ok performance. I have put down a few hundred miles (250) so far on this tire without any flats or accidents in conditions I would get a flat every five miles using Continental Ultra Sports. 5 stars!After a few months of riding in New Orleans on Continental Ultra Sports I was desperate for a tire that wouldn't pop daily. Being an aggressive rider from the west coast, the road conditions (maybe better described as trail conditions?) would often leave me pulling off my tire, and fixing a flat at one point per long ride and usually 3-4 times per week. Many bike shops in NOLA sell the Ultra Sport and champion it for it's good ride quality and general durability but I found that it just couldn't handle rides off the levee, City/Audubon Park, or St Charles (maybe most people ride at these locations exclusively). I was talking to some friends about Armadillo's from specialized and my girlfriends father rides Gator Skins on his training bike. No shop in town had 27" tires so I couldn't patronize local business without waiting a few weeks to a month. I had this tire in 2 days after ordering (note that they are very stiff and take some pressure to mount). No more flats, no more, stopping, no more fixing tubes and losing hours of my life a week. I kept my front tire as a Ultra Sport for agility and weight, a great pair.

I wrote a review for Continental Ultra Gatorskin 700x28c's in Feb. 2011. I had bought those tires for my old bike (Steel Performance - 21 speed). I was really pleased with their performance - over 2,500 miles, no flats. Well, I was recently able to upgrade to a new bike (Specialized Roubaix). It seems like there are usually two things that most bike companies do not invest any money in when it comes outfitting new bikes - Tubes/Tires & Seats. I got lucky with the seat, it is fairly comfortable but the tires were another matter. Within the first 200 miles I had already had two flats. I asked the bike shop where I bought the bike for advice. They said to try something called "Caffe Latex" (btw - Caffe is not misspelled, it is an Italian product). I found it to be pretty worthless, as I had another flat within a week.That is when I decided to "Go with What You Know". Having such good luck with the Ultra Gatorskins, I searched again for the same tire. That is when I happened on these Gator Hardshell tires. These were advertised to be Ultra Gatorskins taken to the next level of protection. I didn't hesitate, I bought a set of these and puncture resistant tubes (Michelin Airstop). SO glad I did, over 500 miles so far - NO flats! This is not a cheap way to go. But the peace of mind I have, that every time I walk out to get on my bike and knowing that my tires will still have air in them is next to priceless.5/1/2013 - Quick update. Just changed out these tires. Managed to get 2,700 miles out of them with just two flats. First, was a really large nail. It wouldn't have mattered what the tire was made of, it wouldn't have stopped this nail. Second was a pinch flat, again not the tire's fault. I rotated the tires approximately ever 500 miles. They were still holding air but some of the thread was starting to show through. Great tire, still recommend them.

Well not exactly indestructible but close to it.I've ran over giant thick goat heads, glass, and other things and not once have I popped a tube yet since I got them. If you are still debating if it's worth it to drop the money on these tires or not, JUST BUY THEM!

I just completed my first real ride on these tires, for a total of ~30 miles. These are the first tires I have ever bought - my bike is an old Raleigh ten speed that had Continental Ultras when I purchased it in July 2012. As one review for those tires stated, they have the puncture resistance of wet kleenex.Whatever the case may be, after thirty miles the little strip of rubber on the tread that is formed when the tires are molded has not even begun to show wear.Also, I ran over a stray piece of gravel, which normally would have caused a puncture. Instead, the gravel shot out from under the tire and broke a window pane in a condemned building I was passing (there are many of those where I live). I would argue on this evidence that these are less tires and more Mobile Ambient Death Systems (MADS). I imagine one day I am going to put a child's eye out or something. That's OK though, because I will be able to peddle quickly away on my fully-inflated tires!Joking about casual misanthropy aside, these tires are amazing, based on my limited experience at least. I cannot compare them to the non-HardShell Gator Skins, but given the extremely awful road conditions where I live, the $5 difference per tire is probably worth it (it's the cost of one inner tube, or thereabouts).

No brainer. Conti’s are da bomb

I have ridden 30-miles four times on these, and they have not been flattened yet. I used to get at least one flat weekly (3x 30-miles / week) with other continental clinchers. These feel like they are steel when they roll over anything. When you hold your finger between the inside of the tire and the outside of the tire, they feel thicker than anything else I've used. It's almost like you could ride over a bed of nails and you wouldn't get a flat. I put a spare clincher in my bag with a couple inner tubes, but now that's probably just a waste of extra weight. During installation, it was about 30% more effort to get the bead over the wheel rim due to the stiffness of this tire construction type, but it was totally possible, and I'm convinced I'll be removing these due to flats a LOT less often.

This is my third set of the Gators. They are extremely durable and over a few thousand miles I’ve had 4 or 5 flats across all three sets. The primary con is they are difficult to mount on the rims. I had to muscle both on whereas standard tires take less than 10 minutes to swap out in total.