Some of you know I bought Joe’s Fuji GranFondo bike back in May. After I took it for several rides – and changed my mind a couple of times – I bought it. The first thing that needed attention was the gearing, so I went to SpinDoc for a new cassette/derailleur set up. While Kirk was working on the bike, he called me and said the rear tire had a herniation. He added that 3 years ago he discovered the same tire model had identical failures on many customer bikes, and he recalled them all for replacement with different models. Further, he said he returned them all to Schwalbe with every scrap of supporting info he could. (We who know Kirk, know the body of info he sent would not have been trivial!)
After he blew off some steam at Schwalbe in a 2-3 minute rant of supreme frustration, he encouraged an immediate replacement, which I approved, of course. (Ignore Kirk? Umm, No!) Now here’s the fun part … I was hanging up my bike after the En Medio ride, and noticed 2 bulges in my front tire! There’s one on each side about 3-4 inches apart, making a cute little s-shaped wiggle in the tire.
The tires were new when I bought the bike from Joe. I had under 200 miles on the rear when it was replaced, and I doubt I have more than 500 miles on the front now. I don’t think I have had any hard hits on pot holes, and never had a flat. Here’s the full info from my tire side wall … Schwalbe Lugano Active K-Guard 25-622. I’m on Continental Gatorskins now, and I won’t be buying any Luganos. I guess Schwalbe never read Kirk’s memo!!
(For readers not in the Santa Fe, NM area, SpinDoc is one of our local bike shops and a Santa Fe SOB club sponsor. (http://www.spindoc.com) SpinDoc is owned by Kirk and Chandler Rhinehart, and I suspect they know more about cycling and cycling-based fitness than any 30 other people combined. If you are in the area, stop in there and say Hi … great folks.)
Ward
Ward P. Freeman
Ward@WardFreeman.com
Editors note:
Click here for the review of the Schwalbe Lugano from Roadbikereview.com
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