I’m ordering a couple new tires for my TE.  Decided to give Schwalbe Marathons a try.  Have read quite a few good reviews and comments from TE owners riding on these.

My tires are 4-5 years old, have held up very nicely, but I decided the time was right for a change.

I think I’m going to get back in the commuting groove come Fall quarter.  My wife and I were able to ride together all Spring quarter—saved us about $600 in gas.  Our schedules are not as close together in Fall, so the opportunity is right for me to start riding to work.

The Marathon’s have a good reputation for those who do light touring.  I use a set of under seat panniers to carry my goodies back and forth, so want to make sure I’m using a set of tires that will give good service.

In prep for Fall, I’m going to do more 40+ mile rides rather than sticking with my comfortable27 mile round trip from Xenia to Yellow Springs.  That should get me ready.

To start, I’m going to ride up to the Bicycle Stop in Spring field tomorrow.  They are an Easy Racers dealer and that’s where I’m going to purchase my tires.  I could order them online, but think ordering from a LBS is a little more important than convenience.

Enough rambling… 

~ Randy

I ordered the Marathons today, just not from where I had planned.  I was all set to head into Springfield, when I spotted a group of riders at the Yellow Springs Station coming in from the direction of Springfield.  They said that the section of city road I would need to travel to get to the Bicycle Stop was in bad shape.  Glass, etc.

So, I decided to order them from K & G Bike Center in Xenia instead.  Actually makes more sense, as K & G is closer to me and will be easy for me to pick up the tires.  While I was there, I picked up 2 cyclecomputers.  My wife needed one for her new bike and I decided to replace teh one on mine that has been giving out false readings recently.

~ Randy

Time to order my set of studded tires from Bicycle Tires.com
http://www.bicycletires.com/bicycle_tires.asp
to think when I was first looking for them the various sites only had one or two studded tires to pick from now the sites like Bicycle Tires.com had a new tire company each week.
I will be going with the Innova Ice Husky set for my Sun Sport.

I found out why I was wearing out my back tires so fast. Due to the fact that my back wheel has most of my weight even when off the bike I did not notice that when I parked my bike I slid it over a few inches towards the bike rack each time to lock it up. Upon my routine inspection I noticed that the wear was on the left side of the tire and bottom were I dragged it across to and from the rack. Now I still find myself repeating the same bad habit pulling it from the wall at work.
The wear on the tires were smooth and even just about all the way around the tire. Remember to pick up the bike and move it over and you will prolong the life of the tire.

I put on the new studded tires front and back without too much modification. I had to remove the back fender.
20x1.75 in the front and 26x2.10 for the back.
I do notice a slight rolling resistance with the combo, but, the ride is really secure and sound. I road on the side of the road this morning. Enough ice to get the feel, breaking and turning was easy without slipping at all.  With only about .5 inch of snow on the ground the ride was nice.
The dry spots do make the tires sound off and on top of that the faring is like a amplifier.
It was fun today to ride on the ice and snow with the new studded tires.