Hey, Paul:
Your posts are always* the best*, enjoy reading every one of them...and
some of our conversations, too.
Especially your tire ovations.
I say this, because it is *important & necessary* that tires look good and
make proper sounds on good pavement. It's the only music I listen to out on
the road.
BEST / Jock Dewey / Athens, GA
On Tuesday, June 23, 2020 at 8:35:52 PM UTC-4, Paul Brodek wrote:
>
> You can order from Scott in Mpls, as already mentioned, or buy from him on
> ebay. He's always got listings for tires there, makes it handy to see what
> he may have in stock.
>
> Ordering direct from Grand Bois has been mostly smooth for me. Recent
> covid-related shipping issues have cropped up, they switched from EMS to
> DHL when delays kicked in, not sure what they're doing now, but Japan seems
> to be getting back to a quasi-normal.
>
> Nobody's mentioned the Soma Supple Vitesse tires, which are another
> high-zoot Panaracer OE product for a US-based brand/company. I use 'em a
> lot, like 'em a lot. They have std and extralight versions, and are
> generally less expensive than Rene Herse. You can buy direct, might help to
> wait for one of their occasional/seasonal sales if you're not in a rush.
> ModernBike seems to have the lowest everyday price on them.
>
> The Challenge tires are also very nice. Just be aware they are "open
> tubular" design, not vulcanized, so they lay flat against the rim out of
> the package, with no natural upward curve whatsoever. I don't use tubeless
> tires, so I can't compare mounting a Challenge open tubular to those, but I
> can say that Challenge open tubulars are the most difficult tires to mount
> of any tires I've used over the past 10yrs+. I'm cranky and stubborn, and
> only when death is the only other alternative (yes, I'm exaggerating) will
> I use tire irons to mount a tire, but I've come close with Challenge. I
> recently got some fat, puffy Strada Bianca Pros, and they look just
> beautiful, but every time I look at them I can almost feel palm and thumb
> pain again. Once they've gone on, and had some time inflated, subsequent
> mounting isn't inordinately difficult, but the first time is a real bear. I
> recently got a Kool Stop Tire Bead Jack to spare my palms and thumbs next
> time around.
>
> [image: 49837732981_ce1b8c5de4_c.jpg]
> I'll also say that tire mounting experience is akin to flatting
> experience, in that it is a certainty that someone else thinks mounting
> Challenge tires is easey-peasey, they never have a problem. ("Tire X is a
> flat magnet!" "I ride mine thousands of miles and never get a flat." Like
> that...) One man's death fit is another's no sweat. But Challenge does see
> the need to have a video on their website showing their preferred mounting
> technique. And boy howdy the dude in the video doesn't seem to struggle
> like I do. I've bought more than one pair near-new from somebody on a forum
> who gave up trying to install them. So it ain't just me.
>
> But they are dead sexy.
>
> Paul Brodek
> Hillsdale, NJ USA
>
> On Sunday, June 21, 2020 at 11:07:49 AM UTC-4, Tom Goodmann wrote:
>>
>> I've long enjoyed the suppleness of these tires, but they seem not to
>> have been available in the U.S. now for some years; I think they can still
>> be obtained outside the U.S.. Any recommendations for near-equivalents?
>> (Labeled as 700 x 30, but seem to measure out closer to 32). Thanks in
>> advance for any recommendations. Tom, Miami
>>
>> Sam Hillborne
>> Legolas
>> Goodrich-built 650b prototype
>> '94 RBT
>>
>
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