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Tan or black tires?

Old 01-03-21, 08:28 AM
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Tan or black tires?

I’ve had this Holdsworth Nuovo Record for about 3 years. I love the simple black and silver scheme, but since it’s snowing and I’m bored I thought tan wall tires might look nice. What’s everyone’s opinion? Thanks.






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Old 01-03-21, 08:30 AM
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Black
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Old 01-03-21, 08:31 AM
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I'm a fan of tan sidewalls, so I say go for it. On modern bikes I see that tan sidewalls have made a strong comeback. There are some very attractive gravel and mountain bike tires these days.

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Old 01-03-21, 08:32 AM
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Keep It Black.
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Old 01-03-21, 08:38 AM
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Tan. And silver rims.
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Old 01-03-21, 08:41 AM
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What he said; tan and silver rims since bike is vintage.
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Old 01-03-21, 08:47 AM
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Looks good as is, but tan sidewalls with silver rims would have been the original configuration. Posts in a similar thread from a year or so ago revealed that some newcomers to C&V associate tan sidewalls with low-quality bikes and black sidewalls with high quality whereas it's the opposite for us old-timers.
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Old 01-03-21, 08:49 AM
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I think tan would look nice in contrast with the black, especially since you have some tan hoods. Ultimately, though, whatever it takes to get some better quality tires on there!
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Old 01-03-21, 09:00 AM
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Originally Posted by Spaghetti Legs
I think tan would look nice in contrast with the black, especially since you have some tan hoods. Ultimately, though, whatever it takes to get some better quality tires on there!
I hear a lot of negative comments about these tires, but I love them. I get a lot of trouble free miles on them and you can’t beat the price. I’ve never noticed any difference when riding on expensive tires.
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Old 01-03-21, 09:12 AM
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Tan. It will tie in with the brake hoods.
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Old 01-03-21, 09:17 AM
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I have these Contis on many of my bikes. LOVE THEM.

Now I am no racer......but move along at a pretty good pace

Tan is more Vintage......but I like the black.

Looks VERY sharp.!!!!!!
I just bought a 1985 EM. Blue color

It has brand new tan side walls. I would probably have preferred the black. But for ME, I will leave the tan tires on. Heck....they are brand new high quality tires
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Old 01-03-21, 09:18 AM
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I think you should expand your aesthetic horizons:

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Old 01-03-21, 09:26 AM
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Originally Posted by non-fixie
Tan. And silver rims.
+1. Well, certainly silver rims. Once that's done, I suspect either tire color will work.
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Old 01-03-21, 09:28 AM
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Black! That bike is perfect, leave it alone. If your bored get another bike to redo.
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Old 01-03-21, 09:39 AM
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not tan, but mocha sidewalls. gravel kings have'em, but conti gatorskins are even darker+++. it would add some contrast, but not too much....particularly with the ano'd rims
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Old 01-03-21, 09:57 AM
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When I first started riding seriously, black sidewalls were associated with heavy, nasty, cheap K-Mart type tires. Tan skinwalls were found on high quality tires. That's still the first thing I think when I see black sidewalls.
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Old 01-03-21, 09:58 AM
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otoh, some tires with thin white walls or stripes. buuuutt, maybe nlerner's got the idea ...ha
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Old 01-03-21, 10:23 AM
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Originally Posted by nlerner
I think you should expand your aesthetic horizons:

link? Do they come in 700x25? They would look smashing on my Speckled Trout
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Old 01-03-21, 11:03 AM
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Black or tan, drinking a Black and Tan.

And trim the cables.
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Old 01-03-21, 11:17 AM
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Originally Posted by sloar
I hear a lot of negative comments about these tires, but I love them. I get a lot of trouble free miles on them and you can’t beat the price. I’ve never noticed any difference when riding on expensive tires.
If you haven't taken out a loan to buy a set of tires, you haven't ridden the expensive ones yet.

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Old 01-03-21, 11:49 AM
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Originally Posted by SurferRosa
Black or tan, drinking a Black and Tan.

And trim the cables.
Pretty sure this was brought of several times in the “things that annoy you thread”. I like the cables.
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Old 01-03-21, 04:01 PM
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For me the tan implies a better tire. BITD sew-ups were always tan as the rubber compound was applied to the casing that was naturally tan. Low-end sew-ups are a more recent (last 20 years) development!
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Old 01-03-21, 04:32 PM
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I think that tan walls will compliment the gum hoods well. The black doesn't necessarily take away from the look of the bike but I always think put tan wall tires on bikes with downtube shifters and they always seems to look better than black tires.
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Old 01-03-21, 06:07 PM
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I'd leave it as is.

But if you get tan sidewalls, you'll need to go all in with new silver-rimmed wheels, a honey colored Brooks saddle and old school pedals with toe clips and tan straps . . .
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Old 01-03-21, 06:12 PM
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I think it looks awesome how it is. I probably overall prefer black but I do think gum walls look good on certain colors like on my gold Falcon but have black on the other bikes.
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