Back to our regularly scheduled program

On Thursday a box from the Mothership arrived (not that Mothership, this Mothership).
Marty had shipped me the Maxxis Aspens I had ordered.
On first inspection they looked kinda small.
On inflation they were kinda small. For some reason I was expecting something more voluminous. I had pictured a full 2.1 casing with minimal knobs. Like a slightly smaller Race King.
It looks like they just took the casing of the Crossmark or Ignitor and put a minimal tread on it.


Too small for the front I thought, so I swapped it out for a Crossmark.



Since I never used a Crossmark up front I had to second guess myself.
What do I have that's bigger on hand?
I went to my box of tricks and pulled out a Geax Saguaro.



In the past I haven't been happy with Saguaros, but I figured that's because it was so wet last year.



I was wrong.
I hate them.
The sidewalls are too stiff, so there is such a fine line between too hard and too soft. Even in ideal conditions they merely perform adequately. They are big, dumb, and slow.
In the dry SW, with abundant goatheads, and thorns, those too stiff Aramid reinforced sidewalls might do some good, or under a more "full-sized" rider, but for me in the NE, they SUCK!
Now the Maxxis Aspen on the other hand, I didn't even think about. It disappeared underneath me doing it's job of propelling me forward. Even on loose sandy, gravelly climbs, hardly any wheel slip.
When I'm up and running again (hopefully soon!), I think I will try it up front as well; even at a smaller volume, it felt much more supple than the a fore mentioned piece of crap.

On a final note, I could care less about the general populations rise in obesity...until it effects me. I had to buy jeans as work pants, because I couldn't find any Dickies in my size. I doubt it's because there has been a run on my size, but more there is a call for giant sizes. Thanks a lot you fat fucks.