tkamd73 

Actually wanted to use tan sidewalls on this Supercourse, but they did not look right with the non vintage Velocity A23s.
Tim

JohnDThompson 

The tires look fine, IMO. But you need to do something about that chain.

tyler_fred

+ What he said!!

Wildwood 

As stated earlier - Experimental, racing, drop hbar, none-speed.

(.… or re-read post #1 , ie, 'newly acquired wheelset')


edit: still mulling 5sp (as original) or a Suntour narrow 6sp - recently arrived from PastorBobinSomewhereNH and his www.freewheelspa.com

Salamandrine 

FWIW it was later than that before the thinking changed, more like the late 90s - at the earliest. Hard to put a precise date on it since it happened over time. I can say with certainty that tan skinwall tires were the rule throughout the entire 80s and into the 90s.

What I remember is initially there was a sort of resurgence of retro looking all white tires among the hipster types. Shortly thereafter these were joined by gum red tires, and then tires of all different colors. After a while, people got bored of all that and tires settled down into mostly all black.

RiddleOfSteel

Looking through a couple of catalogs, I will amend my statement to reflect that stock offerings definitely featured tan wall tires (often with dark anodized rims). From a returning-to-the-'80s current year perspective, and with the advent and use of wheelsets with machined brake tracks (regardless of what the rest of the rim/wheel color was), and given the coloring and graphics that evolved during that decade, black wall tires often look right at home on those bikes (they certainly do on mine). A black rim with a machined brake track coupled with tan/black tires can be a tricky look to pull off, IMO--it's very dependent on the coloring of the rest of the bike and components.

Chombi1 

Black sidewalls are "Blahhh sidewalls" on most C&V bikes, IMO......

Salamandrine 

Clearly this is the sort of trivial trivia that only matters to us here on this forum, but curiosity led me to look through some catalogs as well. If we go by Trek - sure why not, the year that black walls took over is 2001. It's a little more abrupt than I expected.

I hadn't thought of your point about machined brake tracks and dark rims, but that does make sense. In ye olden days, after about a week the tan wall tires were covered in grey streaks and dirt, and the formerly black/grey rim sides became a mottled mess from the brake wear. That always kind of annoyed me.

One period authentic middle ground approach to 80s bikes would be to run Continentals. They were that dark root beer color even in the 80s. It was kind of their trademark. I've noticed they've been phasing it out lately though. Not available on all tires.

Wileyone 

I don't think they look bad at all.

You won't care once you ride them.

Are these the 27mm ones?

If so your in for a treat.

Slightspeed

I'm seriously on the fence between skinwall and black wall depending on frame color. On my gold bikes I kind of like the black wall look. On my blue Legnanos, I like the skinwall Paselas. On a dark green Raleigh, I like the skinwall Paselas, especially with the dark MA40 rims.

Gold Peugeot with black Gatorskins.

Gold Pug with Pasela skinwalls.

Blue Legnano with Gatorbacks (my Clunker Challenge bike, no $$$ for Paselas yet).

Different blue Legnano on Paselas.

Dark green Raleigh on Gatorskins.

Green Raleigh with Paselas.

In process gold Raleigh, leaning towards Gatorskins.

tkamd73 

Nice Bikes, Gatorskins go with everything, tan sidewalls not always, like colors close to tan, ie gold.
Tim

davester

I gotta say, the bright yellow color of the Veloflex tires in the OP look a bit too bright and it would look better with a more conventional gumwall color. That said, I am not a fan of black tires, and although some of the bikes in this thread with blackwall tires don't look terrible, I think all of them would look much better with gumwall tires. However, as the dude says..."That's just like, your opinion, man".

SurferRosa

Whoever overhauled that bike did a helluva job. you can just tell.

But he should have pushed that rear brake cable to the other side of the stem.

And this mock-up ...



... has me thinking silver fizik tape ... wait for it ... for the win!

Yes, I said silver fizik tape for the win! Twice, I said it!

Nguyen Dang

Black tape is the best match for the whole bike!

RiddleOfSteel

I think so, too. A tuxedo-smart look.

delbiker1 

Trying black

roccobike

Not sure if others have noticed, the Specialized Turbo Cotton, one of the fastest rolling tires available for use in racing today, has tan sidewalls.

Slightspeed

Heres a couple from Sunday's Amgen Race. I like the look on dark color frames.

These are Vittoria Corsa.

Not sure what these are, from the women's race.

RiddleOfSteel

Same here, but I think tan walls have absolutely saved modern pro peloton bikes from the murdered out look that theme that's been en vogue for the last few years. I'm glad you found a picture of a pro cyclist on a Felt. They make great bikes, and as a smaller CA company, it's good to see them out there. It makes me happy that although the American representation in the pro peloton as riders is low, Specialized and Trek and Cannondale as manufacturers are in there being successful. Win.

tashi

Nope, I never have thought that. Your bike though would look better with black tape methinks.

I think black (or dark grey) rims look great with tan walls, modern bike or vintage. My default with vintage is everything silver and as shiny as possible but the black rim, silver brake track, tan sidewalk really makes bothe the tires and wheels POP! Best done with low-pro rims on vintage bikes however, black aero rims look out of place combined with skinny tubes IMO.


Re modern bikes and the murdered out look: look at a pro peleton and a road bike catalogue and then tell me there isn’t enough colour. Even the “example” above doesn’t have a black bike in it. Also if you didn’t notice that tan walls are currently the hot choice for nice tires than you just aren’t paying attention. They’re even coming back to mountain bike tires.

seypat

What I notice in order of appearance is:

The green tape. Not feeling it or the brown hoods either. I'm seeing shrink wrap from Lowes or Home Depot.
The faded red straps. Those would be ok, if not for the tape.
The chain. What's up there? Ok, no freewheel. I get the chain thing now.
The tires. They look ok. Black might be better with the rims and the black/chrome/grey/silver theme of the bike. I really like the bike overall though, just not the tape. Still hot.

seypat

You could get some dark rims/black tires or dark rims and some of those dark gummy Continentals. That would look hot.

seypat

I agree with black tires on vintage look cheap. Or as my wife would say, "classy with a K."

seypat

This silver tape is Fizik. Very close to chrome. It might look good. I think black is the best choice for the Botty.

squirtdad

IMHO

OP bike looks great with tan walls

tan works great on the team miyata (pic below)

but I think the all black are good on the de rosa (pic below), but will get to choose again as I will move to tubies on it in mid june. Open to opinions



84 Team Miyata


90/91 De Rosa