Michelin Mishaps and More

   After a rather hectic lead-in to the holidays, Sue and I decided that it would be nice to get away by ourselves and planned a trip to the shore for a few days around New Year’s. Tuesday afternoon we attended a party hosted by some long-time friends from the homeschooling sportsgroup I used to organize and afterward left directly from there.

   The traffic was predictably light on a Tuesday evening, and it seemed we were heading down the causeway into Stone Harbor in no time. I had never been on Seven Mile Island this late in the year and enjoyed seeing the Christmas decorations downtown and on the few houses belonging to folks who live there year-round!

   The weather forecast included more of the incredibly mild December temperatures we’d been having, so I had packed some cyclingwear, with plans to work off some of the holiday pounds. After doing some minor tinkering with the Cannondale I leave down there, I headed out on an invigorating 25-mile ride up to Avalon, out to the causeway there and looping back via the mainland.

   Cycling during the offseason down there is fantastic, since the island is so empty. As I pedaled block after block, I didn’t have to be as on-the-alert to potential cross-traffic collisions with daydreaming drivers. I didn’t really miss the crowds of shoppers downtown who pay little attention to the traffic lights or the scores of families zigzagging in front of me on their way to and from the beach.

   We didn’t get much rain, but unfortunately nearly every day was a depressing gray, with a rare peek of the sun through the clouds. I was happy to find a string of lights in the garage and decorated the living room to brighten up the mood a bit in the house.

   I probably could have gotten in another ride some time during our stay, but the temperature dropped and the wind picked up later in the week, plus I discovered a problem with my rear wheel/tire (more on that soon) and didn’t want to risk a blowout and be stranded out on the road somewhere. I decided instead to take a nice long walk with Sue down the beach and across the sandbar that now almost completely stretches across Hereford Inlet to Wildwood.

   I don’t know if I’d like to deal all winter with the cold, damp conditions that usually exist down at the shore, let alone the occasional nor’easters that blow in, but the peaceful offseason atmosphere really can’t be beat!

   I’ve had a preference for Michelin bicycle tires for decades because they have a great balance of affordability and tread life. A couple of years ago, Sue and I both had issues with their Dynamic Sport tires, which on a couple of occasions developed what can only be described as a twist in the tread. After a couple hundred miles you could visually detect an S-shaped “warp” in the tread when viewing it on edge.

   Sue brought the problem to my attention when she experienced a thumping or hop in the rear tire when out on an afterschool ride on the Schuylkill Trail. She was lucky to be able to return home without incident to have the tire changed. However, I was about 20 miles from home when a similar problem occurred, and I gingerly attempted to ride it out. Unfortunately the hop became dramatically worse as the tire quickly wore down around the flat spot and eventually exploded.

   Because I was well aware of the problem and had been going slowly, I didn’t crash. I felt a bit lucky on that note, but not so happy to have to call for a ride home. I obviously swore off of the Dynamic Sport model of tire, but wasn’t going to completely snub the Michelin brand, since it had otherwise served me well for so long.

   A few weeks ago I was cleaning and lubing my Bianchi trail bike and noticed a wobble in the wheel. Because I regularly traverse rough terrain with this bicycle, a wheel out of true wouldn’t have surprised me, but when I found that familiar S-shaped warping on these relatively expensive Cyclocross Jet tires, I felt a bit stunned. It was rideable, but I knew that it was only a matter of time that the uneven wear would become problem with that tire, too.

   After my New Year’s ride I had discovered that the rear rim on my shore bike had a bit of a flat spot, and I simply didn’t have the tools there to remedy that problem. I initially wondered why I hadn’t noticed the hop during that ride or during any of the rides I had done late in the summer. With closer inspection I found that, by sheer luck, a flawed part of the Dynamic Classic tire was mounted exactly in the location of the flat spot, and the resulting bulge sort of balanced out the wheel’s profile.

   The issue became more evident when I brought the wheel home, put it on the truing stand and smoothed out the flat spot pretty effectively. I could now see the tire flaw “in all its glory”, with the tire a couple of millimeters out of round.

   I thought four separate issues with Michelin was plenty and sent an email to their customer service department. To their credit, the company responded the next day with information regarding potential warranty. They had asked for an inspection by a qualified shop, and although I initially felt a bit offended that someone with my abilities and number of years of cycling experience wouldn’t be trusted to know when something is wrong with a tire, I had no problem taking the wheels over to my buddies at Bikesport.

   Once again, the guys stepped up by making a call to let Michelin know about the confirmed tire problems and stayed on the line for a good amount of time until it was agreed that two new tires would be shipped to me within the next couple weeks! I’m hoping for the best with the quality of the replacement tires and that somehow my trust in Michelin products will return.