Quickie Bulge

I hemmed-n-hawed but fortunately got on the road this morning on the SSFT for the commute. I barely, scantly noticed a "feeling" in the handling but I got to work fine. The "feeling" was more perceptible rolling down the very-smooth marble (?) floors of school. To my surprise, when taking a look at the front wheel, I found this:

This is a barely-used Conti gatorskin, one I mounted yesterday. I don't know how old it is or where I bought it, but the tread wear is just about nonexistent. The tired has separated from the bead, at the greatest point where the bulge presented itself, but also another 6" or so down the bead of the tire. Very surprising for a almost new tire. I stopped in OYLC and picked up 2 Conti Ultrasports for a rich $20 a piece. Guess I should've read some reviews before biting b/c, boy, do these things have bad reviews. I won't reserve judgement yet, but I had as hard a time mounting the rear tire as any i've ever done. I actually used a bit of soap to ride the 2nd bead onto the rim. Imagine having to fix a flat on the road. Yikes! If these flake it'll be the end of my Conti tire usage; after many a year I had a pair of dogs in some city tires I stopped using due to flats, then the wacked gatorskin. If these are bad, I guess it'll be Schwalbe or Panaracer. We'll see.