25 May, 2011

Continental Tires: Hardshell vs SuperSport Plus


I get a lot of questions as to what skidding tires do I run on my various Track bikes.
I run Continental Gatorskin Hardshells on my Lo-Pro, Continental Supersport Plus on my BK,
and Supersport Plus on my Felt tk2. Which of there do I enjoy the most? Lets get down to it.


Damn that rim is dirty. First up, Hardshells. I have run the normal Gatorskins as a front tire forever.
Great all city, great all weather tire, never used it as a rear or even a skidding tire. Then I got Conti's new
jam, the Gatorskin Hardshell. So I thought I would give it a go. It's been a more then a few weeks of heavy riding
on the tire and it's finally showing wear. I really don't like this as a skidding tire. Way too sticky for me. Too much resistance.
I cut my teeth on Everwears and Randos and most recently was a huge fan of Thickslicks (until it started to rain a bunch).
I like a tire that feels like butter of the street, slides around and does what I want. I am impressed by the
Hardshells long lasting life, and would fully use this as a commuting tire, or an everyday bike tire.
As a skidding tire it was just to gummy for my tastes. If you like rimbo's you'll love this tire.

My New Favorite. The SuperSport Plus. Why? I bought this very tire pictured on a whim a few months ago
at O20. They didn't have Randos in the size I wanted, so I thought I would give this a go. While it's not on
my everyday bike. Every time I ride this whip and get to skid around, it brings me back to the days,
when all you wanted to do was skid. It's fun and has really great stopping power and good shake and bake ability.
Great performance tire as well. Excellent for race day. This Tire as held up for quite some time now, and is finally showing wear.
It has become my all time favorite skidding tire. I have switched out my ThickSlicks for the Supersport Plus
on my Felt and plan to do the same on my new build. Good shit from Continental Tires, next tire up Force and Attack.

3 comments:

  1. Hey Sean; I forgot to ask;

    What gear ratio do you use on the bike you skid, and the one you commute/long distances with?

    love the blog man! I want a TOLA shirt!

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  2. I skid on all three of my Track bikes. No brakes...
    Felt 49/16/15
    BK 48/15/17
    Lo-pro 46/15

    Shirts later this year, with some other goodies!

    ReplyDelete