Lately, I've been eating through them like they were brownies.
The Specialized Roubaix tires that were stock on my bike were nice, smooth, shock absorbing and picked up crap like crazy till they were speckled with embedded grains of sand/gravel. Late April, I replaced one of those because of a slice in the tread and just 2 months later, on the new tire, I got a nasty cluster puncture that caused the 'tread' to bulge to the outside. Time to replace.
Since I was heading into a huge multi-day tour in July, and not wanting to chance more issues with these tires, I upgraded and put on a set of Specialized Mondo's. I like them. Good grip, takes on less road stuff. 6 weeks and 800 miles later, a piece of glass basically took a chunk out of my tire and left a nice long gap in it. Ka-ching!! another $60. Replaced that.
Yesterday, after a long, heated tour this weekend, I went out to a flat tire. I did the "Tire Change Demonstration" for the Monday a.m. Lady's ride I lead, removed the shard of granite that had penetrated and proceeded to the "Don't Ever Do This" lesson...(I had pinched the tube and it blew right off the rim while while I was pumping it.) KA-BOOM!! Awake now, Ladies?
Another tube and off we rolled. 6 miles in, a decisive hiss, another flat, another gap that now has half of my insurance card lining inside the tire to protect the tube(Blue Cross isn't good for much else anyway).
Now, I put on a LOT of miles. I don't hug the curb or ride through crud I can avoid. I remove embedded stuff between rides. I reach down and glove-sweep the tread while riding when I know I've picked up stuff. I do realize that road hazards are road hazards and this stuff happens, but 5 tires since April? This is getting crazy.
Anybody have experience with or suggestions for a good, high performance tire that is a tad more crud resistant without adding a bunch of weight? Or should I just suck it up and expect to replace my tires every few weeks?
The Specialized Roubaix tires that were stock on my bike were nice, smooth, shock absorbing and picked up crap like crazy till they were speckled with embedded grains of sand/gravel. Late April, I replaced one of those because of a slice in the tread and just 2 months later, on the new tire, I got a nasty cluster puncture that caused the 'tread' to bulge to the outside. Time to replace.
Since I was heading into a huge multi-day tour in July, and not wanting to chance more issues with these tires, I upgraded and put on a set of Specialized Mondo's. I like them. Good grip, takes on less road stuff. 6 weeks and 800 miles later, a piece of glass basically took a chunk out of my tire and left a nice long gap in it. Ka-ching!! another $60. Replaced that.
Yesterday, after a long, heated tour this weekend, I went out to a flat tire. I did the "Tire Change Demonstration" for the Monday a.m. Lady's ride I lead, removed the shard of granite that had penetrated and proceeded to the "Don't Ever Do This" lesson...(I had pinched the tube and it blew right off the rim while while I was pumping it.) KA-BOOM!! Awake now, Ladies?
Another tube and off we rolled. 6 miles in, a decisive hiss, another flat, another gap that now has half of my insurance card lining inside the tire to protect the tube(Blue Cross isn't good for much else anyway).Now, I put on a LOT of miles. I don't hug the curb or ride through crud I can avoid. I remove embedded stuff between rides. I reach down and glove-sweep the tread while riding when I know I've picked up stuff. I do realize that road hazards are road hazards and this stuff happens, but 5 tires since April? This is getting crazy.
Anybody have experience with or suggestions for a good, high performance tire that is a tad more crud resistant without adding a bunch of weight? Or should I just suck it up and expect to replace my tires every few weeks?
