Well, I got three new tyres. This time I chose to go with the Greenspeed Kevlar Lines Scorchers. So far my findings are:
- They, like thier unarmoured cousins, give a much nicer ride than the small, hard, Schwalbe Marathon Plus.
- I was able to put the tyres on with out tyre leavers for the first time in my life. They tyres are a little bigger makin them easier to put on the rim.
- I need to get a better pump. Iwas only able to pump them up to 35 psi. (This is not really about the tyre.) (I did get a new pump, a cyclair and a replacement for my old one that was stolen).
- Unlike the Scorchers and like the Marathon Plus tyres, they have a reflective rim. I have not yet tested this in the dark.
- I have had one flat that was very easy to fix. It was caused by reusing an old tyre with a couple of patches and that one of those patches failed.
I have not found that I have noticably less grip with the slicks. The famed Sheldon Brown says that tread on bicycle tyres is a waste of time. And the times I have had wheel slip had always been uphill on wet surfaces and also been with the Marathons as they are the tyre I have used most. I’ll keep an eye on this issue.
16″ x 1-1/2″ (40-349) Greenspeed “Scorcher” slick tyre, with Kevlar belt, 40-100 psi.
