Maxxis Columbiere????
 

Hey all,

I was on a long ride today and half way through it my front tire starts "hopping". What the duece? It gets worse. And worse. And worse. So I limp into a LBS I'm not too familiar with. I spend about 45 minutes unmounting/remounting/inflating/unmounting my tire to try and relieve the "bulge" that has appeared on the right side of the tire in a particular point. I just thought the bead wasn't hooked in the rim. Turns out the bead was seperating from the tire. Argh...... I didn't like these Conti Gatorskins to begin with and I let someone talk me into them and it turns out the one I got is defective.

Anyway, this lbs is REALLY low on their tire stock and the only thing they have is a Maxxis Columbiere. I'm a captive audience at this point. Pretty much don't have a choice so I buy the thing at $42. Anyone know anything about this tire? The rubber seems really soft. The rest of my ride was ok with the new tire. Seems like it might be fairly decent? Just never heard of this dang thing. ;)

Found this at all3sports.com where they sell the tire for $33.95.

Named after the penultimate climb on the 2002 tour, the Maxxis Columbiere Tire is designed for true road racing enthusiasts. The Columbiere's slick design, with subtle siping, allows racers to cover ground in any conditions with plenty of confidence. It's tire of choice for Health Net presented by Maxxis professional cycling team.
Features:

M204A Grooved Slick Design - front or rear
2-Ply Nylon Breaker for increased puncture resistance
120 TPI
Max 130 PSI
Weight: 225g
Bead: Aramid (foldable)
Size: 700c x 23

thanks - yeah, came across that too. Just wanted to get some feedback on these as I'm now stuck with one. Oh well, might as well put a few miles on it and see how it rides....