Originally Posted by
BobbyG
I bought a pair of Forte Metro ST 700x35 tires on Sunday. Got an email confirmation, and a subsequent confirmation that they shipped. The clickable tracking number in the email takes me to UPS and shows that as of today (Wednesday) I should have them tomorrow by end of day. The tires were the same $13.99/ea. as in the store, but of course now I payed $12.25 shipping.
Total cost $40.23, or ~$20 apiece. That's still a bargain for decent tires these days. I really like these tires, and I couldn't find any 700x35s at any bike shops in town. My next choice would have been a pair of 700x32 Kenda Kwests from an LBS for about $25 apiece.
I've run the Kwests in that size before (or possibly 700x34) and they were okay, but didn't 'speak' to me like the Metros.
But I was already familiar with the Forte Metros. I can't see myself buying an unfamiliar tire online. I need to see, touch and feel the tires before buying, and that can't be done online.
Those were nice tires, I use them on my commuter/beater bicycle. The only issue I had with them was their weight (quite a bit heavier than other similar size tires), but for the price they couldn't be beat. When the shop near me was going out of business I bought 4 of them and that should last me quite a while.
The shop near me was in a convenient location so a great place to stop and pick up tubes, tires, and tools (a
great selection of bicycle-specific tools that was second to none). Their on line shop looks very generic, nothing on the site that makes them stand out from all the other on line merchants.