I recently converted my Rivendell Road to 650B and equipped it with 38mm Grand Bois Lierres (Hetres won't fit between the fork stays). I love love love this setup. Fast AND comfy!
However, I went to air up the front tire last weekend and the tube blew. POP! So, with mild cursing, I replaced the tube, remounted the tire, and inflated it. POP! Now, with more determined cursing, I dismounted the tire completely and inspected it. I saw no foreign objects, punctures, or rips in the tread. Upon further inspection, I noticed that a rip on the sidewall, maybe 2mm above the bead. Damn. Turns out, I mounted my brake pad too high and it had been braking against the sidewall. I saw a very faint "kool stop salmon" stripe on the tire; the pad had been rubbing away at the sidewall, probably since I mounted the tires in July. I replaced the Lierre with a spare crappy Kenda (pasela-clone). So, lesson to users of what are among the most supple road tires around, the Grand Bois line: ensure you're not tearing up your sidewalls, inspect the brake pad alignment. I was thoroughly warned about the fragility of the Grand Bois' supple sidewalls against external threats (thorns, etc), but hadn't thought about this eventuality. However, I did mention that I love how these tires ride. Especially compared to the Kenda, which has an uneven casing (it's about .5mm taller on one side than the other. the second tire in the pair was even worse) and has ugly yellow gumwalls. Oh well, the Kendas were free with the wheels, and I have another Lierre shipping to my house today. Tim Cedar Rapids, IA '97 Rivendell Road '97 Giordana XL-Eco -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
