Tires: black, tan-wall or color?
03-10-16, 05:11 PM
#1
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Tires: black, tan-wall or color?
I'm not very formal about aesthetic rules, so I'll throw this question to the forum;
When is a colored tire best used?
When is a tan-wall tire best used?
When is a black tire best used?
I tend to always use a tan-wall tire on bikes from 1985 of earlier, especially if the bike has tan, non-Aero, brake levers. But, newer bikes are more ambiguous.
When is a colored tire best used?
When is a tan-wall tire best used?
When is a black tire best used?
I tend to always use a tan-wall tire on bikes from 1985 of earlier, especially if the bike has tan, non-Aero, brake levers. But, newer bikes are more ambiguous.
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When I ride my bike I feel free and happy and strong. I'm liberated from the usual nonsense of day to day life. Solid, dependable, silent, my bike is my horse, my fighter jet, my island, my friend. Together we will conquer that hill and thereafter the world.
When I ride my bike I feel free and happy and strong. I'm liberated from the usual nonsense of day to day life. Solid, dependable, silent, my bike is my horse, my fighter jet, my island, my friend. Together we will conquer that hill and thereafter the world.
Last edited by Barrettscv; 03-11-16 at 02:14 PM.
03-10-16, 05:18 PM
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I only care that my tires match :-)
03-10-16, 05:22 PM
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Rules? There are no rules.
I seem to prefer tan-walls on basically everything however. It's just more "pro." Black can look real nice on dark-coloured bikes, and ones with a lot of black components. If decent mountain bike tires came with tan walls I'd probably run those as well.
I still haven't seen a bike with coloured tires that would look better with tan walls or all-black tires. Maybe a black and chrome bike would look good with tires with a red stripe on each side, but I bet I'd still prefer my red accent to be somewhere else, like the cables or grips.
I seem to prefer tan-walls on basically everything however. It's just more "pro." Black can look real nice on dark-coloured bikes, and ones with a lot of black components. If decent mountain bike tires came with tan walls I'd probably run those as well.
I still haven't seen a bike with coloured tires that would look better with tan walls or all-black tires. Maybe a black and chrome bike would look good with tires with a red stripe on each side, but I bet I'd still prefer my red accent to be somewhere else, like the cables or grips.
03-10-16, 05:24 PM
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I've always associated skin walls with low end crap bikes (I grew up in the 90s so my dream bikes were new at that time). Even now that I love vintage bikes, I can't push myself to put skinwalls on my fast bikes, they're more on my mixtes or cruisers.
03-10-16, 05:26 PM
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I'm partial to tan-walls across the board, but a little color never hurts, either:
DD
DD
03-10-16, 05:34 PM
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I'm doing a variety;
1971
1972
1985ish
1994ish
1971
1972
1985ish
1994ish
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When I ride my bike I feel free and happy and strong. I'm liberated from the usual nonsense of day to day life. Solid, dependable, silent, my bike is my horse, my fighter jet, my island, my friend. Together we will conquer that hill and thereafter the world.
When I ride my bike I feel free and happy and strong. I'm liberated from the usual nonsense of day to day life. Solid, dependable, silent, my bike is my horse, my fighter jet, my island, my friend. Together we will conquer that hill and thereafter the world.
03-10-16, 05:40 PM
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I think the rule is:
-Color if you're a hipster and the bike is a fixie
-Tan walls if the bike is good looking enough to pull it off
-Black otherwise
All your bikes above except the Serotta (and arguably the Pinarello) follow this rule, but I like your choice with the Pinarello.
-Color if you're a hipster and the bike is a fixie
-Tan walls if the bike is good looking enough to pull it off
-Black otherwise
All your bikes above except the Serotta (and arguably the Pinarello) follow this rule, but I like your choice with the Pinarello.
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03-10-16, 05:48 PM
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Be bold!
03-10-16, 06:21 PM
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That Colnago with the tricolore tires looks amazing! Just the right amount of flair, if the frame were any other colour it wouldn't work.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I'd swap the Serotta and Pinarello's tires to fancy tanwalls in a second.
I dunno what bike nlerner's example looks "good" on, but I love 'em for what they are. I'd rock them on a city bike that needs some flair for sure. I had a silver hybrid that I would occasionally consider putting those tires on.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I'd swap the Serotta and Pinarello's tires to fancy tanwalls in a second.
I dunno what bike nlerner's example looks "good" on, but I love 'em for what they are. I'd rock them on a city bike that needs some flair for sure. I had a silver hybrid that I would occasionally consider putting those tires on.
03-10-16, 06:40 PM
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The Faux Gov'nor forum is in a state of confusion....is white a color?
03-10-16, 06:47 PM
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What about cream?
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03-10-16, 06:49 PM
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Oh, I dunno. Wouldn't @Barrettscv's Serotta look even cooler with a blue front and white rear to match the fade?
DD
DD
03-10-16, 06:50 PM
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03-10-16, 06:57 PM
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I suddenly find myself craving spumoni.
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03-10-16, 07:05 PM
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Oh, I dunno. Wouldn't @Barrettscv's Serotta look even cooler with a blue front and white rear to match the fade?
DD
DD
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When I ride my bike I feel free and happy and strong. I'm liberated from the usual nonsense of day to day life. Solid, dependable, silent, my bike is my horse, my fighter jet, my island, my friend. Together we will conquer that hill and thereafter the world.
When I ride my bike I feel free and happy and strong. I'm liberated from the usual nonsense of day to day life. Solid, dependable, silent, my bike is my horse, my fighter jet, my island, my friend. Together we will conquer that hill and thereafter the world.
03-10-16, 07:07 PM
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When I ride my bike I feel free and happy and strong. I'm liberated from the usual nonsense of day to day life. Solid, dependable, silent, my bike is my horse, my fighter jet, my island, my friend. Together we will conquer that hill and thereafter the world.
When I ride my bike I feel free and happy and strong. I'm liberated from the usual nonsense of day to day life. Solid, dependable, silent, my bike is my horse, my fighter jet, my island, my friend. Together we will conquer that hill and thereafter the world.
03-10-16, 07:10 PM
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A classic look;
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When I ride my bike I feel free and happy and strong. I'm liberated from the usual nonsense of day to day life. Solid, dependable, silent, my bike is my horse, my fighter jet, my island, my friend. Together we will conquer that hill and thereafter the world.
When I ride my bike I feel free and happy and strong. I'm liberated from the usual nonsense of day to day life. Solid, dependable, silent, my bike is my horse, my fighter jet, my island, my friend. Together we will conquer that hill and thereafter the world.
03-10-16, 07:15 PM
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The tires will go on a 36h everyday wheelset eventually... They should look better with some miles on the sidewalls.
Killer pic, DD.
Killer pic, DD.
Last edited by Sir_Name; 03-10-16 at 08:02 PM.
03-10-16, 10:47 PM
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Vintage bikes look best with tan-walls IMHO, while modern bikes look lousy with any kind of tire so you might as well go with black because it is readily available. Colors = hipster.
03-11-16, 12:30 AM
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Agreed, vintage bikes look so much better with Tan sidewalls. I saw a 60's Bianchi with black tires and it did look off, later it was switched to tan. The look made it look like a vintage racer.
03-11-16, 01:00 AM
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Yeah, every time I see your Serotta posted here, I think, "Damn, I would not change a single thing on that bike."
Although in theory, I really like Jeff's idea, too. And I love that spumoni 'nago of his. Just very cool, and different.
Exceptions to every rule, of course, but over all, I think colored tires look at home mostly on fixies. I sold this hunk o' junk with second-hand everything for a hundred bucks (I kept the Brooks) to guy who practically wet himself with joy when he saw it:
Although in theory, I really like Jeff's idea, too. And I love that spumoni 'nago of his. Just very cool, and different.
Exceptions to every rule, of course, but over all, I think colored tires look at home mostly on fixies. I sold this hunk o' junk with second-hand everything for a hundred bucks (I kept the Brooks) to guy who practically wet himself with joy when he saw it:
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● 1971 Grandis SL ● 1972 Lambert Grand Prix frankenbike ● 1972 Raleigh Super Course fixie ● 1973 Nishiki Semi-Pro ● 1979 Motobecane Grand Jubile ●1980 Apollo "Legnano" ● 1984 Peugeot Vagabond ● 1985 Shogun Prairie Breaker ● 1986 Merckx Super Corsa ● 1987 Schwinn Tempo ● 1988 Schwinn Voyageur ● 1989 Bottechia Team ADR replica ● 1990 Cannondale ST600 ● 1993 Technium RT600 ● 1996 Kona Lava Dome ●
Last edited by Lascauxcaveman; 03-11-16 at 01:36 AM.