My Quest For Tires

So last week I posted about the Continental Gator Skins. I’m sad they were such a fail but life goes on.  I put my old holey Specialized Mondo’s back on while I searched for a nice set of tires with puncture protection. I decided to look at some other Specialized tires since I’ve had great luck with the Mondo’s and Billy has had great luck with the Armadillos. Specialized makes a Mondo S-Works Clincher tire with a kevlar bead so I figured these must be exactly what I need.

Specialized Mondo S-Works

I rode 55 miles with them this weekend and they rode very smooth and I haven’t had any blow outs yet. So far so good! They even have a blue stripe around the tire that matches my white black and blue bike. 🙂

Continental Gator Skins

I got the Gator Skins as an alternative to the Specialized Armadillos. I had 2 side wall blowouts in less than 1 week and 1 of them was when I wasn’t even on the bike!

My boyfriend and I took a trip up to Oregon for the weekend to see his family and by the time we got there my rear tire was flat with a side wall blowout! I haven’t had these tires very long so I am very disappointed in the Continentals. I ran the Specialized Mondo’s WITH A HOLE IN THEM FOR MONTHS!! I think it’s time to take the Gator Skins back to Performance and go to Mike’s Bikes and get the Armadillos.

I guess I’ll put the Mondo’s back on for the time being until I can go get the Armadillos. 😉

FFBC Rides Last Week

Well we didn’t end up doing the 110 mile Cat 3 ALC Training ride due to Billy forgetting his shoes. I also forgot my water bottles but that’s not a show stopper like Billy’s shoes. We went home and dug up the FFBC ride calendar and decided to do the “Mission Loop” ride on Sunday that took us up an around the Mission side of Fremont, Milpitas & San Jose. I had a few bike troubles on the way. Guess Performance doesn’t know how to tune a bike so Billy did it for me when we got home. I also had a side wall blowout with my brand spankin new Continental Gator Skin tires!! I don’t even have 100 miles on these tires! They’re so new you can still see the little stuff on the seam that usually wears off quickly. I also bought these at Performance so I should be able to return them for a refund or something.

On Wednesday I did the FFBC “Pizza Ride” where you come you get the ride sheet you mark “yes” or “no” if you want pizza and then at 6:15pm sharp you race off around Fremont at high speeds just to be the first to get back for pizza. I heard jokes in the Cinderella Classic Training about the “Pizza Race” so now I really know what they mean! I had a great ride and I got to see some folks from the Cinderella Training and the Primavera that I haven’t seen in a few weeks.

2009 Fuji CCR 2 – Full Carbon Bike

I got a new toy this week. A 2009 Fuji CCR 2 Full Carbon bike on sale with Ultegra/105 components. I can’t wait to ride it some distance and see how it is.

2009 Fuji CCR 2

For my first real ride on the bike I decided go on the 110 mile “Ride With Chris” ride “Distance training #9” tomorrow with my boyfriend. We’re starting in Mountain View and riding to Gilroy and back. The weather tomorrow should be low to mid 70’s so hopefully we will have a great day!

Also I have raised $2500 for ALC!!! $500 to go! Hopefully I can raise an extra $2000 and get a jersey too. That would be so awesome and the perfect jersey to finish off my collection of event jerseys!