Broken hip makes me question winter tyre choice

Sorry to hear about your off, a mate of mine suffered the same injury, it’s fairly common unfortunately. Wishing you a speedy and full recovery.

Gatorskins are the most dangerous tyres l have ever ridden in the wet, they have left me on the deck before, as another chap said, they're hard compound. They were fitted to a bike I bought for commuting in 2013 and it took me two sets and about 4,000 miles to realise. Switched to Schwalbe Duranos and the difference was a very very noticeable improvement. I tried Conti 4 seasons after a few sets of Duranos and do think they’re the best winter tyres IMHO but they’re dear.

Good luck with pain management and rehab hope you get back in the saddle asap.

Hi Steve,

I had exactly the same experience as you with Gatorskins. About 7 degrees C, pretty dry, pressure checked that morning and I always run lower pressure. Entered a roundabout at a safe speed and BANG! front wheel went. Landed straight on my hip and unfortunately broke it , but break required a hip replacement.

I put it down to diesel, but friends checked and no real evidence. I have never ever ridden with Gatorskins since in the past 4 years and will NEVER use them again either ! 
Breaking my hip and having a replacement was a blow at the time but with hard work, patience and a renewed determination I have made a very good recovery. I hope you do too! Time is the real healer. 
One final thought for you and everyone who has broken their hip. Do ask for your bone density to be checked. Mine was and it turns out that I have osteoporosis. I'd never broken a bone before this! Discovery of osteoporosis has found that I have another health issue causing this which I hope to get sorted! 
And finally..... be safe out there all. Avoid Gatorskins!

Hope you recover quick.  I always think that sub 5 deg everything doesn't work the same way; rubber gets cold and hard, and the roads get that greasy feel.  I've got some Conti Top Contact Winter II 32mm on a hybrid; fatter tyres on a slower bike which makes work harder and appreciate the road bike when it emerges again!

Ouchiee heal fast!
I must admit in the past I would be out every day. But no club run or commute (WfH) doesn't inspire me to out if I don't feel it and I have been opting for the smart turbo instead.

Best wishes for a full and speedy recovery. I myself am getting a bit twitchy about the low temperatures so I think I'm going to wait for it to go above 5° before doing more cycling. (Plus I got a tiny bit of frostnip on a couple of toes a few weeks ago so maybe I need thicker socks)

Hi Steve,

Sorry to hear about your off, and I hope you heal more quickly than I do.  I'm the same age as you, plus a few months, oh alright - 120 to be exact - and I've spent most of my life searching for the ultimate winter road tyre and the perfect woman.

I wholeheartedly agree with those who say the Gatorskin is very much over-rated.  I first tried them about twenty years ago and was unhappy with both the puncture resistance and the grip.  Then recently a friend convinced me they had improved enormously over the years and I foolishly shelled out the cash for another set of 25s.  They were absolutely the same, sketchy enough for me to remove them from the wheels and give them away.  And, believe me, I give very little away!

And now the good news: I think I may have discovered the best compromise winter tyre I've ever used.  I was steered towards the Pirelli Cinturato Velo by my LBS and I'm really chuffed with them.  Firstly they are properly resistant to thorns, flints and all the usual detritus that litters my local roads.  I've had one flat in ten months, running them with tubes, and it was so slow that I got home before it completely deflated.  And the grip, wet or dry, is a generation ahead of the Gatorskin.  It took me a while to really trust them but now I pretty much corner without worrying or thinking too much about it.  Result.

They are a little more expensive than the Contis but I consider that to be a price well worth paying.  I couldn't get the 28s I wanted but the 26s are lovely; obviously not as comfy as a summer lightweight, but I run them at 50psi to soften the ride a fraction.

If you look at bicyclerollingresistance.com I think they have a test published in the road bike section.  That's for the tyre, not the woman.

Best of luck.

Wishing you a speedy recovery mate!

Gatorskins are great hard wearing tyres but I've never found them great in wet or v cold conditions. Conti 4 seasons are v reliable but a bit dull and heavy to ride on I think. I've tried Michelin Power 4 seasons recently - they ride v nice and grippy but don't wear well at all. Currently on Schwalbe Durano 28s which are a surprisingly good, grippy tyre (even in winter) and not too slow. So my money is currently with either Conti 4 season or Duranos if you want something a bit zippier.

Ouch, sounds painful... hope you are not too uncomfortable and are back on the bike soon!

I've run 4Seasons for years, and never (touch wood) had a slip on them, and have found them hard-wearing.

However, for the last year or so I have been riding my 'best bike' in all weathers with GP4000s.  The puncture resistance of them seems fine, and I do like the extra stickiness of the compound.  On the strength of this I'm not sure I'd bother with all-season tyres again.

They get recommended every year but they're pretty poor. They might be puncture proof, but they provide very little grip even on dry-ish roads. As for rural/country roads coated in muck/gravel, etc forget it. Hopeless....

I prefer something with a filetread for autumn/winter riding on rural roads.

Hope you heal up quickly!!

I haven't tried Gatorskins but I am very wary of tyres with a hard compound at low temperatures.
I came off my commuter bike (a BMC Aplenchallenge) a couple of years ago  - like you there was no ice (it was cold and wet but not cold enough to freeze), no diesel, loose gravel or anything. I wasn't even moving that fast, the back wheel just went out from under me landing me on my face (and costing me several teeth).

I swapped the Conti Speeds the bike came with for GP Urbans (same compund as GP5000s but wider at 35mm and with puncture protection). It was immediately obvious how much softer the compound is just by handling the tyres. At low temperataures they stick to the road like glue and give me much more confidence.
My previous commuter had Schwalbe Marathons which - true to their reputation - never punctured, but I never trusted them to grip well. Far too prone to locking under braking.

Now when I'm buying tyres I want to feel them. I don't trust any rubber that feels hard - it may be hard wearing and puncture resistant but it won't grip tarmac well in the winter.

My best wishes to you. I hope you make a quick recovery.

Thanks for sharing, get well soon.

I am fortunate in having a choice of bikes and wheels. For general winter riding I use Gatorskins, without any issue, let's hope it stays that way. 

At the risk of overkill I fitted Continental Top Contact Winter tyres for the worst of weather. They do grip exceptionally well but are so slow, so I save them for rides under 20 miles. 

Hi Steve - Just to echo the other comments, I'm very sorry to hear about your accident and I hope you recover quickly. Do the physio (I know, it's not fun, but it's the only way) and you'll be back on your feet soon. 

I had a remarkably similar accident (also breaking my hip) when riding around a corner in the wet on 25 mm Gatorskins. Others in my club have had similar issues sliding in the wet (or very cold) conditions on these tires. 

I suggest you explore other tires. I've had no issues with GP5000s, I realise they are overkill for winter tires, but I don't want to break another hip and the cost of the tire is pretty insignificant in comparison to the potential medical costs! It's unfashionable, but you can stick tire liners in them, if you need additional puncture protection. 

If you want to stay with Continental, the 4 Seasons are also well reviewed, as noted below - but I haven't ridden these. The Vittoria Rubino are also well reviewed and appear fairly grippy. 

Hi Steve,

Sorry to hear about your 'off', and I hope you recover swiftly and without issue.

In my experince, I have always found Gatorskins to be sketchy in wet or damp conditions, an opinion shared by friends also, to the extent we have re-named them Skatorskins.

I also use Conti 4 Seasons for winter riding, without any feeling of loss of grip in the wet. They seem to have decent puncture resistance too... maybe I've just been lucky on that front?! 

First off, I hope you mend quickly.

At the considerable risk of tempting fate, I've cycled through several winters with Conti 4 seasons without mishap. (If I now come off on my next ride, I'm blaming you 😉)