Noob tyre question

[__PG__]

Have to remember that the Gatorskin has Duraskin and addition to Polybreaker.

[Mububban]

Thread mine - about to buy my first road bike for commuting, anyone got any further input? Lots of votes for the regular Gatorskin.
I'm coming from a 26" mountain bike with smooth block treaded but ~50mm tyres, so I'm sure a "slow" 25mm tyre would still be faster than what I'm used to. I'd rather have maximum durability without having a really extremely heavy tyre like a Marathon Plus (600g for a 25mm), I can't be late if I'm picking the kids up from school.

[ironhanglider]

Thread mine - about to buy my first road bike for commuting, anyone got any further input? Lots of votes for the regular Gatorskin.
I'm coming from a 26" mountain bike with smooth block treaded but ~50mm tyres, so I'm sure a "slow" 25mm tyre would still be faster than what I'm used to. I'd rather have maximum durability without having a really extremely heavy tyre like a Marathon Plus (600g for a 25mm), I can't be late if I'm picking the kids up from school.

If being late is not an option, then extremely heavy is the way to go. It might be a couple of minutes slower but your times will be predictable, depending on wind and effort.

Punctures really blow a hole in your commute times.

Cheers,

Cameron

[foo on patrol]

Gator Skins are crap in the wet but are a good wearing dry weather tyre.

Foo

[Thoglette]

Punctures really blow a hole in your commute times.

The question is: how often do you get them? If you're getting a single thorn/glass puncture every six months, some sealant (e.g. Stans) in your tube will solve that quickly. If you're getting chunks of metal tearing holes through your sidewalls every week then armoured tyres start to make sense

Now a tube change rarely takes me more than five minutes (and less with tubulars). Which I can equally blow on a headwind, a headcold or some bad luck with the traffic lights.

[Mububban]

I've ridden bikes casually since I was a kid, commuted on and off, but thanks to my MTB and some Specialized Hemisphere tyres, I've only ever had one puncture in my entire life, a couple of months ago.

Buying a road bike with disc brakes will inevitably mean a learning curve

[Duck!]

Gator Skins are crap in the wet but are a good wearing dry weather tyre.

Foo

There are worse.

[foo on patrol]

Gator Skins are crap in the wet but are a good wearing dry weather tyre.

Foo

There are worse.

Yep but I just didn't want to see anyone buy them and then discover on the first wet corner, that they are not real flash.

Foo