Classic & Vintage - old tires skinnier than new?

I had a blow out on my panasonic caused by a fool who pulled out into the middle of the sidewalk and i tried to swerve but hit the curb. I don't ride in the street along this stretch of road. too many dumb college kids in a high traffic area -> sidewalk for me.

anyway, this upset me since the tires I had were the original panaracer skin walls. the back tire was still good so I kept that one on but had the front replaced with a black walled continental.

now, i know they're two different brands and it could just be an optical illusion caused by the black wall tires but the new one seems bigger. they're both marked as 23c but the rear one is ~20 years old. have tires gotten fatter?

From what I hear, Panaracer Paselas have changed just in the past few years. You're not even comparing the same brand. The width is seemingly almost never what it says on the sidewall.

Measure it.

Sometimes visual appearance is more important than actual size, anyway.

To me, it seems funny to get a blow out because you "hit a curb". I can imagine a damaged rim or out of true wheel but a blowout?... hmmm,...???

well, a blowout might be overstating it. but it was a flat that lost its air quick. the sidewalk in this part of town have a slope from age so the side closest to the street is a little lower than the business side and the curb hasn't sunk so theres sort of an edge there with a bit of a rut.

it was a pinch flat that also ripped my tire at the bead essentially.

the visual appearence isn't really that important to me, though i admit it looks kinda silly to have one black wall tire. i'll probably finish out the season on it and replace both with modern gum/skin walls. hopefully i can find as close to the old panaracer size as possible.

This "fool" - was he a pedestrian?

This "fool" - was he a pedestrian?

on a sidewalk?!?!

In days gone by, tire manufactures would sell a tire as a 23mm for example but the tire might actually have been made smaller on purpose to reduce weight. This was a manufacturer's trick to fool the weight weenies back then but not so much today.

In other words, a tire defined as a 23mm might actually be a 21 or even 20 just to keep weight down. This does not happen with today's tires.

At least this is the information that was passed on to me by our local vintage bicycle guru who actually sold the ten speed bicycles back in the seventies and eighties. And, based on what I have witnessed many times with bikes I have found, I believe the guy was bang on the money.

My experience is the opposite. When I bought Specialized Turbos or Armadillos about 10 years ago, 28mm tires were at least 28mm wide. In contrast, my more recent 28mm Vittoria and Continental look more like 25mm.

This "fool" - was he a pedestrian?

no he was another one of the dumb-***** college students around here in his big white SUV that gunned it out of the wendy's drive-thru and stopped on the sidewalk.

all things considered, i'm glad the tire died instead of my fork.

Maybe. It was common to mislabel the width of tires in the old days. They were often 2-3mm narrower than labeled. Today the labeling tends to be more acurate. By the way, you know Panaracer still makes nice skinwall tires for like $20. If not an exact match it would be pretty close.

i was rolling on panaracer apex 23c slicks. original to the bike from '87. i'd like something similar and small.