Well, I've had the Grand Bois 26mm Cerf Blue tires in
service for two weeks now, and so far - so good.
Rather than baby them along, I introduced them almost
immediately to the thrilling world of Ohio Roads in
Winter, so in two weeks time they've seen a couple hundred
miles with temps ranging from 23F to 66F, ice, snow,
rain, salt, gravel, mud, silt, carrion, glass, sticks,
and pot holes the size of your head. In all cases the
tires have behaved admirably.
The look and feel is very much like the high-end tubulars
I remember from the 1980s - very comfortable, not too
bouncy and not too abusive, low rolling resistance, good
grip on in all conditions so far. They go "blimp" if you
tap them just right, same as my old Del Mondo setas.
Since installing them on my Assenmacher I've been able to
stay with the fast group (at least until the hardest
climbs when my advanced weight still holds me back). That's
something I haven't been able to do for quite some time.
I'm guessing the Cerf Blue are
worth at least a mile per hour over the
similarly-dimensioned Panaracer Pasela Tour Guards they
replaced. I haven't done any "scientific testing" yet, but
I can most certainly feel an improvement.
No visible wear or cuts
yet on either tire - perhaps that's just luck, but time
will tell, as there's lots of junk on the roads this time
of year...
Yesterday's ride included a bit of wading - the bike
trail was partially flooded about midway to my turn-around
point, but I thought I'd try fording, expecting the water
to be a few inches deep. About 200 feet later the river
was up over the axles, and I opted to stop and turn
around rather than risk riding off the invisible trail into
the mud. Oh, well... it was probably about time to check
the grease in the hubs and bb anyway. Would like to say
I came out with rainbow trout netted in the spokes, but
all I caught was some duck weed a good freezing soak up
to the knees. What fun! ;-)
Another Cerf Blue follow-up in a few weeks.
Aldo Ross
Middletown, Ohio, USA