a perf’d front tire sidewall led to a herniating innertube that gave me back-to-back flats last Friday and almost kept me from participating in the awesome RIDE-Arc ride that evening. I managed to plug the hole the tube was poking through and enjoy the ride, but I knew that with more than 1,400 miles on them these tires had gone long past their prime and the borrowed time they were living on had run out.
So I ordered me up some fresh rubber from nashbar.com and in doing so decided to take my bike in a different direction by going bigger and rubberier.
Thankfully they arrived today and I was able to inaugurate them with tonight’s regular L.A. River roll. It may not look like much but I went from a 700mm x 28mm (roughly 27.5″ x 1.1″) roadbike tire to a 700 x 37 commuter/hybrid type. Those nine little millimeters make a big difference not only in their beefier profile and wider track but also in the better bump absorption they provide over rough patches of pavement.
Sure there’s a touch of additional weight that they add, and maybe they don’t roll as quick as the old slim tires they replaced, but I’ve never been about weight or speed. All I know is I can tell The Phoenix is happy and when she’s pleased so am I.
P.S. At the end of tonight’s ride the odometer stood at 1,425. At the middle of July I’d crossed the 700-mile threshold. Since I was able to double the output of the first seven months of the year in less than the next three, I’m fairly confident The Phoenix and I will tally up more than 2,000 miles by the year’s end.
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