A little background information: I've been riding since probably before learning how to walk, have changed tires (tyres when I used to race in Europe) and over the years have had more flats than Thai hookers have had GIs. I only ride Vitttoria tires now (except Dugast tubulars sometimes - http://www.a-dugast.com/ - a real endulgence) - and then only the open corsas (the open pave are good for winter too, if you have the frame clearance) for clinchers. The tires are generally overpriced in the US so I sometimes order them from a store in the UK that rhymes with "dibble" or wait until my brother comes over to visit and trade for oreo cookies (apparently oreos are non-existent or way overpriced in the UK).
The story: So, my girlfriend has a lemond with bontrager select wheels. She broke a couple of spokes a year ago since the store she bought it from (referenced below) had the rear derailleur nicely adjsuted to "eat wheel". I gave her a spare wheel with tire at that time since she wanted to ride and didn't want to go to the store the next day. After a little while, she got the spokes replaced but didn't use the wheel.
Well, she had a little encounter with a honda element (apparently the element comes with a windscreen that makes cyclists invisible - especially those riding a red bike whilst wearing red top). The spare wheel is now toast so back to the bontrager select. The front tire is now pretty worn so let's replace both (brother is on the way over from the UK - buy oreos at costco and swap for vittorias).
So, we all know vittoria tires are looser than the above mentioned Thai hookers - see the venerable Hed's disclaimer: "Warning: we do not recommend using Vredestein or Vittoria clincher tires on our wheels. They are a loose fit, and have blown off of our wheels. We do not know whether the fault is in the tire or they were mounted incorrectly. Since loosing a tire while riding could be dangerous, we advise against their use."
So I try and fit the new vittoria open corsa cx tires on - front a little tight (relatively), but pushed on with thumbs - no problem. The back tire just won't got on. Vittorias are easy so I'm a little surprised. I wonder whether this the specific, individual, maybe defective tire. Take a tyre off my race wheels (mavic) that just slips on normally - same problem. Take tire off hed 3, same problem. So in my mind rear bontrager select is ****ed. "Hey, let's make a wheel where no-one can change the tire."
What do to: Send girlfriend to store in MA that begins with the word 'wheel' and ends with a word that ryhmes with 'jerks'. Dude in store says "I'm an expert at putting on tires. Takes three minutes doing whatever with Hed's claimed (potentially dangerous, maybe even fatally) loose tires, finally gets it on, and then says "yes, it is a tight fit. If you get a flat tomorrow, you'll have problem, but a month from now, it'll be looser." Plus, made girlfriend feel like spoiled, complaining, whining bitch.
Unacceptable?: Vittoria open corsa tires are super supple, loose and you shouldn't have this problem. The store's service seems absolutely unacceptable to me. So, what the frik should I do?
The story: So, my girlfriend has a lemond with bontrager select wheels. She broke a couple of spokes a year ago since the store she bought it from (referenced below) had the rear derailleur nicely adjsuted to "eat wheel". I gave her a spare wheel with tire at that time since she wanted to ride and didn't want to go to the store the next day. After a little while, she got the spokes replaced but didn't use the wheel.
Well, she had a little encounter with a honda element (apparently the element comes with a windscreen that makes cyclists invisible - especially those riding a red bike whilst wearing red top). The spare wheel is now toast so back to the bontrager select. The front tire is now pretty worn so let's replace both (brother is on the way over from the UK - buy oreos at costco and swap for vittorias).
So, we all know vittoria tires are looser than the above mentioned Thai hookers - see the venerable Hed's disclaimer: "Warning: we do not recommend using Vredestein or Vittoria clincher tires on our wheels. They are a loose fit, and have blown off of our wheels. We do not know whether the fault is in the tire or they were mounted incorrectly. Since loosing a tire while riding could be dangerous, we advise against their use."
So I try and fit the new vittoria open corsa cx tires on - front a little tight (relatively), but pushed on with thumbs - no problem. The back tire just won't got on. Vittorias are easy so I'm a little surprised. I wonder whether this the specific, individual, maybe defective tire. Take a tyre off my race wheels (mavic) that just slips on normally - same problem. Take tire off hed 3, same problem. So in my mind rear bontrager select is ****ed. "Hey, let's make a wheel where no-one can change the tire."
What do to: Send girlfriend to store in MA that begins with the word 'wheel' and ends with a word that ryhmes with 'jerks'. Dude in store says "I'm an expert at putting on tires. Takes three minutes doing whatever with Hed's claimed (potentially dangerous, maybe even fatally) loose tires, finally gets it on, and then says "yes, it is a tight fit. If you get a flat tomorrow, you'll have problem, but a month from now, it'll be looser." Plus, made girlfriend feel like spoiled, complaining, whining bitch.
Unacceptable?: Vittoria open corsa tires are super supple, loose and you shouldn't have this problem. The store's service seems absolutely unacceptable to me. So, what the frik should I do?