Well until today I've been very pleased with my 650x23C Michelin Pro Race 2's I mounted up after wearing out my first 2 sets of Kenda Kalientes.  I've been pleased with the ride and speed as both are improvements over the Kalientes, a little pricier, but I got a great deal on ebay so they were pretty close.  Unfortunately though I had a pretty signifigant blow out last night with no immediate cause found.  Today when pumping up my tires to pressure I noticed the tube starting to escape from a truly nasty shoulder cut on the tire, bad enough that a boot will likely not save the tire.  I've only got about 500 miles on this set, and I'm a little ticked.  I know there is a trade off on speed vs longetivity, but now I'm doing the whole tire evaluation thing all over again.  I've had good luck with the Stelvio's in 26x1.1" but they're never discounted so almost a hundred dollars for a set of tires is a bit too much!  Anybody have a recommendation in the 650x23C my Corsa takes.  I've resisted the Conti Ultra gatorskins for a long time, I'm prejudiced against treads I can't bend, but my desire is for a Rando capable 650c tire that still rolls well.  My main concern over the Kalientes was how fast they wore.  1800-2000 miles a set.  My Stelvio's on the Rando wheels are closing on 3000 miles and only look half done at best.
 
Opinions welcome!
 
Take Care,
Nelsin.

Nelson ,sorry to hear about the tire issues.  
 
We've been using the Michelin Ironman tires(not much difference from the Pro race 2 tires that I can tell). On a recent MS-150 training ride across Joe Pool dam ,I had a chunk of tire removed by some foreign object(I found this out after I inspected the tires post ride).
 
I found a website that has Hutchinson Brand 650 tri-tires(the same specs as the Michelin's) for $29.95 a tire(https://www.greenfishsports.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2724) .  
 
Another website( http://bethelcycle.com/page.cfm?pageID=227)  I was on, rated the Hutchinson's as the 2nd best road tire on the market(behind the Vittoria Open Corsa).  In their opinion the Conti Grand Prix 4000 were the worst rain tire.
 
The Hutchinson's have low rolling resistance ,puncture protection(Kevlar) ,& are lightweight. Besides at $29.95 ,they're HALF the price of the Michelin's. Also ,the Hutchinson tires are pre-stretched at the factory,while most other tire mfgs. allow for stretching after mounting.
 
 

Nelson ,I spoke with Foo-rider & few others & all said very positive things about past experiences with Hutchinson tires. I've seen other reviewers post comments about how they prefer the Hutchinson over thew Michelin Ironman tire.  
 
Here are the specs for the Hutchinson tri-tire.  
 
http://www.hutchinson-pneus.com/us/pneu-route/fusion2triathlon.pdf
 
I will be installing my tires as soon as they arrive via UPS(tomorrow) ,so they will be on the bike for Tour Dallas & the Rbent ride Saturday. I can offer a better opinion then.
 
Also ,I found the Bethel cycle tire review interesting on several levels. The review mentioned desirable "crit" tires. When I read that ,I thought of your Crit riding.
 
-Steve

Yes that was a good write up, I sure see everyone talking up the Vittoria Open Corsa EVO CX, maybe some day I'll spring for a set, but I've put the hutchison on the queue for my next set of performance tires.  I've been ducking the crits for the last couple of weeks.  I really should get my butt in gear, but I looked at the pictures of this weeks crit, and there were alot of riders,  hmm a little concerned that every week there is an incident.  Remember I've become quite trauma *averse*.  Hey any of you USCF licensed people with a DF want to join me next week?

No bents, would be unfair you know  The last couple of weeks I've going out other nights to the crit course when the fast guys are doing group intervals and sprints.  The Corsa does especially well on the intervals,  sprints are tougher, keep pushing myself off the slick ventesit seat.  Still usually middle of the pack on the sprints, sometimes win the intervals by hundreds of yards!  I'm afraid that wouldn't go over well in a race.
 
Take Care,
Nelson.

*shrug* I know Jim Verheul's area lets him ride in the crits, and he often wins. But I get tired of banging my head against those walls and have to settle for beating them on the distance rides.

Speaking of racing, and our earlier power discussions I just saw this about Tyler Phinney
 
http://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=3501
 
 I've heard he maintained 550-600 Watts for the race, with peaks at 1000.  Thats at least 7W/Kg World class at 18, Wow!  His Dad creamed me several times back in the 80's, one time memorably at the Athens Twilight Criterium where he won every prime and the race and the rest of us could do nothing but watch helplessly.  Tyler has cycling genes from Mom and Dad (Connie and Davis)!
 
Take Care,
Nelson.

I'm sorry but SWB recumbents have an unfair crit advantage over LWB recumbents, in that they can corner more sharply...   (at least more sharply than MINE)