I'm a little late posting this, but Thursday was interesting... My morning commute was pleasant. For lunch i rode over to subway to grab a sandwich. When I was almost there I heard a thumping rubbing sound. I slowed down and coasted into the parking lot. Low and behold, I had a big bubble out the side of my rear tire. I locked it up to grab food and come back and investigate. My first thought was that somehow the bead had come unseated and the tube was coming out. Upon closer examination, the bead was still in place, but the sidewall had torn off from the bead.



I was about 2 miles from my office and now late for a telecon. I deflated it enough that it wouldn't rub and slowly and carefully made my way back. My wife was going to be in the area at the end of the day, so I called and asked her to bring the car rack.

After work, the wife took me to REI and they agreed it must be a defective tire. I bout it in October and had at most 1000 miles on it. They switched it for free (thanks REI, you rock!). While waiting, I found a Novara Verita for nearly half off. It looked pretty sharp and I had been eyeing them as a N+1. At half off how could I resist? The wife had no issue, so now N=2!

New(free) tire and new bike! Woohoo!

Tomorrow is my first commute on the Verita. It should be a little sportier than my current ride, a Novara Buzz (aka The Beast).