The last time I was in the shop I mentioned to my mechanic that its almost time to start gluing tubulars...he said his thumbs hurt just thinking about it. Might have something to do with the stiff challenge tires I had him glue up last year. Well good news for my wrench! FMB casings are soooo supple. I put the new FMB/Fangos I got from Zanc on the SLs for some stretching. They went on so easy I don't even think they really "need" to stretch. But it is a tradition to stretch the tubes and I am not going to fly in the face of Belgian cross protocol...I can't even wait to try these. I liked the fangos last year. Liked them a lot. But repeat after me "they are not mud tires." They are good in the muck but they are also pretty fast. The FMB casings will make these tires phenomenal. What Francois has done in my mind with the tubular market is vital. He's brought the supple ride of a Dugast without a Dugasts terrible track record of falling apart after a season...hell even mid-season...I love Dugast tires but damn they are fragile...Francois has a whole newly designed website with specific Challenge tread patterns on his casings. This year according to reputable sources he has gone factory direct! No more cutting off the tread and hacking apart the tire to glue the tread onto his casings. Challenge is providing him with the rubbber tread so he can glue it up fresh. Should make for a lighter marriage of the two. Check out the new site when you get a chance FMB.
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