*^%@*&^!£%"*(!@!&^(!)*!

Went to Woosters this morning and took off a perfectly good set of SC Pro's and exchanged them for some spanky new Conti Road Attacks.

Got home and thought "I might as well pop out and run the tyres in up to 100 miles" only 70 to go and it was a loverly day.

Got back bang on 100 miles ready for a good ride out tomorrow and gave the bike a wash.

Just finishing up when I notice the *@'^%&^*! GREAT BIG NAIL in the back tyre. I haven't even worn the &@*&$£! whiskers off it yet and there's a nail in it. +~@@}_%£^!

22 years of riding and I've never had a puncture!

So, can anyone advise best course of action? I went for Road attacks so they'd last 6000 miles, not 60!

And to top it all off, I don't even like the tyres and was considering selling the **&^&%$£_) things and putting the SC Pro's back on. Can't even do that now.

Which is the best way to fix it? I can't believe I've wasted £180 for 100 miles.

A Very Very ****ed off Carl

Take it to any tyre fitting place and see if they can do a permanent reapir. Will be (almost) as good as new!

pretend that perhaps the nail came from their workshop ???

Now repaired (and for what I've spend on this pair now, I could have had new Top Spec tyres - hey Ho)

Now then. Tyre pressures. Anyone who's running their Road attacks at 36/42 will probably need a new set of kidneys and some new Fillings by the time they're worn out. I've never tried a set of tyres so "harsh".

I've spent all day playing with the pressures and I've finally found some that make the bike feel good. At 36/42 I've never been thrown out of the seat so much on B roads. Even on A roads they were way too harsh a ride. So all afternoon I dropped them by 1psi at a time front and rear and then tried some different combo's front and back. I used the same mixed 10 mile loop to judge the differences. Motorway, A roads and finally B roads.

The final pressures are very surprising (to me). I'm having to run the front at 30psi and the rear at 33psi (but may settle for 34psi this week).

When hot this increases them to 33 front and 38.5 rear. Running the front at 30 reduces harshness and also cancels out the front's propensity to "fall in". The steering is totally neutral now. They are very stiff tyres and feel a *lot* better at lower pressures.

I should have gone for the Sport attacks. In fact, I should have gone for Pilot Sport 2's. or Diablos. Live and learn.

If someone offers me £145 for them (inc Postage) I'll take them off tomorrow. Done just under 200 miles.

Carl

Just as a matter of interest, it should of cost you about £20 to have them repaired properly by the manufacturer - it does for me.

£9.50 plus VAT (loose wheel). no balancing facility.