I don't normally post twice in a day, but I haven't been on for a few days and I have a few things stored up. This one relates to tyres too (see below). I regularly got punctures and I remember it being miserable - I got so many, in fact, that it almost put me off cycling.
So I went to the bike shop and demanded the most rugged tyres they had. (Slightly reminiscent - though only slightly - of the "Withnail and I" scene where he demands "the finest cake and wine money can buy"). They fitted me with
Schwalbe tyres. I think I can safely say (and this is so clearly tempting fate that I'm almost not going to say this at all) that I haven't had a puncture in more than a year, and that's riding in fairly rough London conditions sometimes 20 miles a day.
Chatting to a friend at work (a different one to the
Brompton one) he revealed that he's just switched to Schwalbe after a miserably high number of punctures in the last few weeks. I'll give an update on how he gets on (in fact he reads the blog so you could just comment here!) because it would be interesting if there was a pattern emerging and whether it's really worth spending the extra money. And by the by, my Brompton friend also has Schwalbes ... not quite sure what that means though.
4 comments:
On my old Dutch bike, that I ride in Berlin, I have Schwalbes. They are pretty amazing. They are actually coming apart at the seams with the inner tube almost visible. About a year ago I asked the guy in the bike shop to change them for me (I'm a bit nervous about getting involved with the complexities of the gears and braking system) and he told me "oh don't bother, they'll keep going for ages". I was obviously suspicious, but a year later they're still going strong. They're probably really dangerous, but hey ho.
I'm due a new back tyre, will check out that brand. I think cycling in the snow and frost has taken it out of my bike a bit this year - seem to have a lot of small problems all of a sudden. Possibly grit from the road has got into my brakes and gears. Everything's creaking.
Specialised Armadillos are pretty indestructable. At a push you can still ride on them if they do go flat!
Thanks Paul and Sabata - I'm sure no one brand is the best, but those Armadillos sound pretty tough too. Paul - did you ever get them changed?
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