Pedalling through treacle

In September last year I purchased a Panaracer Crosstown to replace the Schwalbe Marathon rear tyre on my Brompton.  The wet weather handling was greatly improved with the Panaracer which has also proven to be quite good in the snow. But I thought I would get more than 4 months life out of it...

I had a slow puncture on Friday and replaced the inner tube over the weekend without spotting anything wrong with the tyre. On returning to work on Monday I could feel a weird wobbling sensation from the rear wheel and thought perhaps the hub nut and cone had loosened or maybe I had broken a spoke.  I checked the spokes and hub on Monday evening and couldn't find anything wrong.

This morning the wobble was still there, maybe worse, so I stopped and spun the wheel and could hear a rubbing. The rim wasn't rubbing on the brake pads and the wheel appeared true but then I noticed the bulge in the tyre with the inner tube protruding like a black egg. 

In desparation I went into Evans Cycles at lunchtime and they had a Green Label Brompton tyre in stock (but nothing else). I fitted the tyre surprisingly quickly without the need to use levers to pop it over the rim, so that was an improvement on every other tyre I have tried.

My evening commute - much quicker!

The new Brompton tyre is noticeably faster than the Panaracer which, by comparison felt like cycling through treacle.  Result. I just hope it is good in the rain (and snow).