This is the sum total of my efforts to mount some very fetching folding test rubber to my common or garden Mavic wheelset. Never in the history of tyre fitting, (notwithstanding my notoriously stubborn downhill rim and XC tyre combination) has a 700×23 with the supplest of casings induced this degree of carnage, let alone agricultural language. I shall return in a fortnight with a comprehensive report detailing their performance where it matters most but must now mourn my swollen thumb and the passing of a much revered tyre lever…