When I flatted on Sunday we found that my tires had a non-optimal amount of Stan’s left, and what was there looked much like the floodwaters of Hurricane Irene, not like happy tire spooge. They were also Kenda Karmas, pretty good tires in almost every condition (and a great price too) but maybe not as knobby as one might want in late October in VT. In expectation that this weekend I will be riding around Burke Mountain and that it will likely be muddy, damp, wet, slick, rooty, and in general what they call, rugged — it seemed prudent to select a beefier tire for the task.

If it was possible, the Continental Mountain King 2.4 would be my tire of choice for this sort of thing. At least I think so. They’ve totally revamped the tire for 2011, so much so that the 29″ version has yet to become available. The new X-King would also be top of my list, but again, not available in 29 yet. So, I had to find something else. I turned my nose up at the Nevegals, they seemed too brutish and far too obvious. The used tire shelf was looking pretty bare since the summer-long yard sale, but I did find a pair of WTB Bronsons. George expressed distaste with them, but since we seem to have consistently opposite tastes in tires that sealed the deal and on they’re going.

wtb bronson

They’re only 2.2, but high volume and significant side knob. The web copy sounds promising enough:

The Bronson 29er tire from WTB is a fast rolling, high volume tire. The open tread pattern penetrates loose, wet surfaces for traction in less than perfect trail conditions. This tire features a lean, friendly profile with tons of grip.

I’m all about “friendly profiles” and it’s like I wrote the copy just for this coming weekend. I’ll let you know how they go.

SSUSA 2012 winners belt

SSUSA 2012 ladies belt

In other big news. I’ve mentioned before that SSUSA2012 is in VT. Welp, the date is set. Plan on coming to VT to ride bikes, drink beer, and make lots of awesome, new singlespeed friends on the weekend of July 28, 2012. There are a lot of details that we still need to nail down, but likely it’ll be here in the Stowe area. The course will be epic and fun. You should like the facebook page and follow @singlespeedusa on twitter and then go schedule yourself out of work for a long weekend in beautiful Vermont. I promise that all the organizational work will be done in advance so I’ll have plenty of time for hanging out and riding with all of the out-of-towners.