Almost forgot

I cleaned both my bikes on Saturday.

Guylaine was working all day, so while the kids played in the pool, I got down to bid-ness. With my de-greaser, rags and toothbrush.

I had forgotten that my cogs were shiny silver in colour - I had just assumed, that they were flat black - but imagine my surprise when I scrubbed off the grime, and could see my own face smiling back at me. I'm trying something new: KryTech chain wax. My LBS recommended this over White Lightening (which they also sold).

Next on the list was to rotate my tires on my road bike. The back tire was significantly more worn than the front tire - attributed to many, many, many winter miles on the mag-trainer. I popped them off no problem, and as I was hooking the tire onto the front rim, I discovered, that I truly hated my tires. They are Kenda Koncepts (which are rated fairly well as training tires). Don't get me wrong, I'm no bike aficionado - I'm sure I can't tell the difference between a $15 tire and a $100 tire - but I know this - the Kendas are REALLY FRINKING TIGHT to get on the rim- so tight that it has taken me (on several occasions) a Loooong time to finally get them back on after changing a flat.

This has kept me awake many nights wondering "what-if". What If I get a flat in a race. Sure, I would resign myself to a slow time, I'd fix the tire, and I would still finish - but what if I couldn't get the damn Kendas back on the rim?!?

So .... on Sunday, we went down to the bike store again. There were 2 options:
$30 / tire = Kenda Koncepts (no thanks, already have them, they suck).
$50 / tire = Vittoria Rubino Pro (pricey, very pricey .... sexy, very sexxy).

To my surprise, my official sponsor (wife), said, "Ah, go for it."

And so it was.


With so many delicious colours to choose from, I went for......

black on black. (All the others would clash with my Orange/Blue frame).

The question: How much easier were they to get on my rims?
The answer: Marginally. Maybe it's the rims and not the tires. But at least now, I'll feel like a pro at 120PSI on my racing tires.