A Dugast tires
So I got a new job last year, screwed-up the withholding somehow and I got a much larger tax return than expected.
I decided to do something non-frugal and splurged on a pair of 27 mm A. Dugast Paris Roubaix tires with the cotton side wall (the silk ones are crazy expensive). I did get a good deal though, $160 delivered from a guy in Austria, but still twice as much as I ever would want to spend on tires.
To paraphrase Ferris, if you have the means I highly recommend picking a pair up. I took them for a ride and words like sublime and butta are an understatement. My crappy roads felt like a velodrome during a short 10-mile ride. And they just snapped around corners even with the extended wheelbase of my bike.
I bought them for my Grail, which I don't have yet. They are on Ambrosio non-eyeletted rims laced to some chrome FB flip-flop hubs, 36-hole and a 3x lacing. I had to do a test ride but they now have wheel covers and are away from UVs in my basement. I must find the Grail so I can ride these wheels again. But only on Sundays. On nice days. I've got to make these tires last. So let it be written, so let it be done. (Sorry, Moses was on TV last night and I couldn't help myself)