All Conti's suffer from fragile sidewalls, the Hardshell is the only one that they tried to toughen up a bit more then their others, but it still pales in comparison to the Specialized. I use to ride on Specialize All Condition tires, they feel slow because their heavy but the Elites don't feel slow because their lighter and closer to the weight of the Hardshell but tougher. And just how slow are the All Condition tires? I knew a rider who helped his 4 person team win the 2001 RAAM race and they were riding on those tires! Their theory was that if they didn't have to stop to fix flats they could stand a good chance of winning, they won and never had a flat. And Specialized tires will wear longer then the Hardshell. I never tried the Bontrager's so I can't comment on those.Originally Posted by sports86 .
I'm really up in the air on what Tire's to get.
Went to a one local bike shop that let me road test the Continental Gatorskin Hardshell, Bontrager racelite X hardcase
As I was riding on the hardshell as luck would have it I got a small leak in the side wall of the gatorskin, rear tire. But they road nice and seemed fast.
I weigh 225lbs at 5"11
Little heavy. Trying to loss weight.
Then I tried the Bontrager. Nice but seemed slower than the gator skins.
Another bike shop let me try the Specialized elite Armadillo. Nice but also a little slow. Out of all 3 pairs they seem to be the pair that would hold up the best but not sure.
Speed or no flats. Still need help.
Any one ride Specialized tires
The thing that fools people is that the Conti due to their fragile sidewalls ride nicer then the Specialized Elite with their more durable thicker sidewalls, and that perception of a smooth ride makes one think they go faster...this isn't true.
If your looking for a smooth ride with adequate flat protection then go with the Hardshell, but if you want better then adequate flat protection and don't mind a bit harsher ride then go with the Elites. Also you can lower your Elites pressures down by 10 psi from what you would normally run the Hardshell at and the ride softens up bit more, the stiffer Elite sidewalls allow you to do that with any risk of pinch flats. I once rode those with just 45psi in the rear because my pump broke for about 22 miles back home and never got a pinch flat! What's really crazy for an experiment, after I had worn a rear All Condition to the cords and it finally flatted, I rode it flat slowly for a mile or two to see if the tire sidewalls would get chewed up and they were fine afterwards...so was the tube! And the tire never came off the rim so the rim was never in danger nor even got a scratch.