A New Rear

A few weeks back, after having had five flats in two weeks, and having read Lelak's posts on her several flat tyres, I decided to run a Schwalbe Marathon Plus on my rear wheel.

A Marathon Plus costs just a bit less than a new Bridgestone for my Corolla... but I love my Scott MTB more, and in any case changing two flats on Pyrmont Bridge Road in the wet, and barely making it to the school in time to pick up the kids will put one in mind of this sort of extravagance.

"Punctures become obsolete with the MARATHON PLUS!" is a big claim though, so I've waited an extra week or two before enthusing. Of course it's tempting fate (which is to say 'a tyre-shredding on the roads of Glebe and Pyrmont') to endorse a tyre like this, but bugger it, I'm that happy with my new slick

My only other fear was that having gone from a 2" profile to 1.75" (the Monkey's didn't stock the fatty), the bike might handle a little too sharply, but I needn't have worried - it's all very solid.

In other tyre news: after years of injuring my arm and my dignity with a nasty little hand pump comprised of one too many moving parts, I recently upgraded to decent floor-standing pump - a Joe Blow Sports. It's good for AFL balls too!

On the road 80psi is like having new legs. Look out damianm - you'll need every ounce of advantage that fancy road bike can give.

Although I suspect going from 20psi to 80psi is most of the reason my old rear tyre let through so many sharps, I wouldn't recommend running Continental's 'Town and Country'.