Today's Bike Ride

[daz h]

this may(or may not) have any relevance to the softness bit. a friend of mine who is a keen cyclist and was very good in his youth(National Squad) siad they used to buy tyres well in advance and put them away for a year or two to harden? not sure if this is true, Daz is this possible?

Yes its common practice in teams.Pro teams will put them away for 2 to 3 years

[daz h]

Dom i use the specialized butyl ones. The continental race ones seem okay as well.I dont get many punctures. 3 this year but serious mileage.Always pump my tyres up on each ride. A must.

[The devil's own]

Yes they DO come in Pink - although I'm blinging down the pinkness and have the white Michelin Pro 3 (none of those fancy pants gold skewers etc for me!) although they've gone a cack grey colour now.

Saw a nice black/white combo tyre on an event recently and they were the Scwalbe one's - on talking to the guy using them he said he always had the Michelin Pro 3 too but now swears by these - anyone use them? In need of new one's and not sure if it's best to stick to what I know

Yep, ultremo zx's. Great tyre, been happy with them but they do wear quickly.
http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/Bike+S...Tyre_46900.htm

£27 with VIP discount

I'm tempted to give some veloflex a whirl next, people rave about there tubs.

[The devil's own]

Butyl or latex innertubes

Latex are nice and light, but they lose air pretty quickly and are prone to puncture. They're also a tad on the expensive side. Some are meant to be way better than others, with verdstein apparently being the best. If you want to save some rotational weight try ditching the rim tape for velo plugs.

[daz h]

Yes they DO come in Pink - although I'm blinging down the pinkness and have the white Michelin Pro 3 (none of those fancy pants gold skewers etc for me!) although they've gone a cack grey colour now. Saw a nice black/white combo tyre on an event recently and they were the Scwalbe one's - on talking to the guy using them he said he always had the Michelin Pro 3 too but now swears by these - anyone use them? In need of new one's and not sure if it's best to stick to what I know

What about pirellis

[Hanneke]

Yes, I swear by Schwalbe. I use either Durano S or at the moment Ultremo r1's as I could not get the Durano's cheap enough in blue... EXCELLENT tyres, I rate them highly! Fast, great handling for a slick racing tyre and perfect for our 'smooth' roads... I.e. our roads here aren't all that smooth, but I still don't get any puntures with the Schwalbe's, as they have puncture protection as well...

Yes they DO come in Pink - although I'm blinging down the pinkness and have the white Michelin Pro 3 (none of those fancy pants gold skewers etc for me!) although they've gone a cack grey colour now.

Saw a nice black/white combo tyre on an event recently and they were the Scwalbe one's - on talking to the guy using them he said he always had the Michelin Pro 3 too but now swears by these - anyone use them? In need of new one's and not sure if it's best to stick to what I know

[Hanneke]

I use Conti race inner tubes, but now have some Schwalbe ones I won, so will be interesting to see how they hold out

[daz h]

I use Conti race inner tubes, but now have some Schwalbe ones I won, so will be interesting to see how they hold out

Doesnt schwalbe star in swamp loggers

[emmilou]

What about pirellis

Wouldn't he wonder where they'd gone?!

[emmilou]

Yes, I swear by Schwalbe. I use either Durano S or at the moment Ultremo r1's as I could not get the Durano's cheap enough in blue... EXCELLENT tyres, I rate them highly! Fast, great handling for a slick racing tyre and perfect for our 'smooth' roads... I.e. our roads here aren't all that smooth, but I still don't get any puntures with the Schwalbe's, as they have puncture protection as well...

Thanks for that Hann