Hey Tigermom,

Urgh, what you say is true, Indysteel may not have realized about the discount factor. Thanks for weighing in, I think I will go for it and get the recommended lightweight tires~ $400 w. discount/ $550 without (expensive but heck, I'm restraining myself from getting a $2900 Fate which would kill me dead financially). I am going to be riding with more experienced people and want to be able to keep up, plus getting a flat sounds easy to happen with tube tires.

I read your post about the Fate and remembered your user name, I guess one way to think about it is that the Fate just came out and give it a couple years and they will really have perfected the technology and maybe offer more lightweight 29er models to consider as well. One of these days we will both have one :-).