[QUOTE=maryellen;235214]

I'm curious about the tires though. I noted that you said that your friend looked at your tires. Hard to imagine that young tires with less than 2000 miles would look particularly bad. QUOTE]

He took one look at them, said "Do you see all of these holes? It's time for new tires." I just can't believe it happened so soon! There are quite a few holes from rocks and glass. I am bad. I'm so used to riding over rocks on my MTB that when I see a pile beside the road, I just ride over them, especially if I have a friend beside me and we are chitchatting away. Perhaps I need to be more mindful of what I ride over!

Thank you for all of the input so far. It seems to me I should be more concerned about the chain than my tires at this point. I don't get too many flats. If anybody knows a good text or website on bike maintenance, I would really appreciate the insight. I have so much to learn and I hate going into the LBS and feeling stooopid.