A Continental Break(fast)

As regular readers will be aware I have had an ongoing love/hate relationship with the tyres on my commuter bike. A combination of a Gatorskin and a Sport Contact, both from Continental I absolutely love them when they are on the bike but loathe getting them on or off. They have reduced me to screaming depression on several occasions as I have been unable to refit them after a puncture. Simply enough it may be a combination of the rims from Mavic and the specific brand of tyre, but it made me dread punctures and doubt my (solid, if not spectacular) tyre fitting skills over and over again. The thought of a puncture stressed me out to a huge extent and could spoil an entire weekend. Broken spokes went unfixed as the thought of removing the tyre to access them was just too much to bear.

On Friday night the rear tyre (the Gatorskin) was soft and closer inspection showed that, after a considerable amount of miles on the bike, the tyre was simply worn out, and the roads of London, with their broken glass and all-sorts, had finally broken through, slashing the tyre and puncturing the tube.

After some soul searching I decided to replace the tyre with a different brand in the hope that fitting it would be easier. I have gone for a Schwalbe tyre (sticking to German brands) which is unfortunately not as narrow, and has a higher volume than the Conti, but went on with a minimum of fuss. Despite being in theory only slightly wider, at 1.5” rather then 1.3”, it seems to be much larger. In my opinion it's not as good looking, but the reduced stress from knowing I can refit it at will should make it worth it. I will report back on any performance changes as I ride it. For now I'm happy to have replaced the three broken spokes in the wheel and will be rocking a slightly drag-car look, with a wider back tyre than front, on the streets.

A