At last, cream Delta Cruisers

I've wanted cream tires for ages.  I've seen them on a number of favorite blogs and tried to order them several times.  Each time I tried, the supplier turned out to have none in stock and my order was canceled.  Apparently, they were much easier to come by in the 700c size.  I was looking for 26 x 1 3/8 to fit one of my vintage Raleighs, and those were scarcer than hen's teeth.

In fact, I'd given up on the idea of owning any for the time being.  I set my sights on Panasonic Col de la Vie tires instead -- and even started thinking they might be a better look.  While browsing for a deal on the Panasonics, I came across the Schwalbe Delta Cruisers from a supplier who claimed to have them in stock!

This is what they look like after a ride around the block.

I ordered them in a flash, half-scared that this supplier would run out before mine were shipped.

They came today, and I put them on Geordie, the 1971 coffee Superbe.  I like the look very much (although I suspect the gumwall Panasonics would have been a hit as well.)

I'm already a fan, if only for the fact that they were easy to install.  Some 26" tires are nearly impossible for me to mount.  My hands and thumbs ache for days after fighting them onto the rims.  I realize there is some degree of operator incompetency here, but still... these new tires went on the way I'd always assumed tires should.  A modicum of stretching/pushing to get the beads in place but no swearing, sweating and struggling.

After one ride around the block, they had picked up some gray road tint, but I've read that they reach a kind of static point in terms of discoloration.  In other words, they get a bit dirty and them stop getting dirtier... allegedly.  We'll see.  In any event, I can't imagine the sidewalls -- the only part anyone really sees -- getting all that dirty or being all that hard to clean.

Now, I've got at least one more Raleigh in need of new tires.  Do I snap up another pair of Schwalbes while I can, or do I go with the Panasonics?