do tires soften?

[Thomas Lynn Skean]

I recently started using the Schwalbe Delta Cruiser tires which RBW sells on my Hillbornes (brown on green, creme (non-RBW) on orange).

While I initially noticed a reduced cushy-ness compared to the $15 Kenda 40-622 tires I'd used before, I on the whole preferred the 37-622 Schwalbes because they felt rounder, more controllable, and cushy enough.

Now, though, after a few hundred miles on each set, I feel that they are *more* cushy than the Kendas were. Yet they retain the roundness and controlled-ness (not "squirmy"). Now I like 'em even more. A lot, in fact. I'd go so far as to say they are a "good value", even though they cost almost twice what the Kendas did.

I generally maintain the pressure in my tires at 60-70 PSI. The increased cush in the Schwalbes seems apparent even at 70 PSI.

Could they really be softer (more deformable) in a detectable way in hundreds of miles? Yet somehow remain more reliable/predictable in leans? Am I simply high on cycling? I feel I'm approaching the "laterally stiff yet vertically compliant" territory of marketing-speak. Whatever... I really like these tires.

No flats or any other adverse tire experiences on 'em either. But that means little; I almost never have those anyway. Presumably that's mostly a factor of terrain. The Illinois Prairie Path and the Great Western Trail sucketh not.

Yours,
Thomas Lynn Skean
who is mystified and happy