sloar 

I wanted to try blackwall tires to keep the black and red theme. Then I tried the tanwalls, huge difference. Keeping the tans.

SJX426 

Yup:
P1030546 on Flickr
P1030572 on Flickr

sloar 

Much better!

kfro12

Tan sidewalls just look classy, especially with those red bikes.

SurferRosa

They would look even better with the labels centered on the valve stem.

bOsscO

This was what I was always taught. But then someone recommended I line up the valve stem with the spot on the tire where the recommended pressures are printed, which makes more practical sense to me.
Anyways yes, I agree, tanwalls over black.

Trueblood

This has been discussed in other threads. It is really a matter of personal taste. Having said that, the color of the bike will undoubtedly affect the choice. For instance, some say that blue or yellow bikes look better with black, while black bikes look better with tan. I do like tan with the red though.

Realsteel95

I like the tanwalls. All my bikes have to have them. I don't think black detracts from the look of at vintage bike but tanwalls make them look better IMO.

canklecat

My main reason for switching to skinwalls is for the improved ride. In summer 2019 I snagged a pair of Continental Gran Prix Classics with the reddish-brown skinwalls and was very pleased with the softer ride over our worsening roads, which are mostly being resurfaced with chipseal rather than smooth blacktop.

Back in August 2020 I decided to try for a full century on the hottest day of the year. Just a stupid personal challenge. I made two mistakes: I got started much too late in the morning when I should have started before dawn; and I switched from the 700x25 Conti GP Classics to my old reliable Conti Ultra Sport II 700x23. I don't even remember why I did that now. I think maybe the rear GP Classic had a cut that was a little larger than I was comfortable with and it was too late to order a replacement.

Huge mistake. A 10 mile or longer segment of my planned route had been resurfaced from perfectly good smooth asphalt to the coarsest, roughest chipseal I've ever encountered. It felt like railroad ballast embedded in tar. That segment took twice as long as usual to navigate and the ride was brain-jarring. It literally exhausted my energy reserves. While Conti Ultra Sport II tires are very good values at around $15 each, they don't have the supple ride of the GP Classics.

I had planned to reach my turnaround point before noon, which would have gotten me home before the day's peak heat of 110F. Instead I didn't reach the turnaround point until nearly 2 pm. And I was going through water much faster than I'd anticipated -- two 24 oz chilled bottles and a 5 liter backpack of chilled water. I was 10 miles from the nearest place to resupply with water. So I bailed out and headed home, finishing with 65 or so miles and a few drops of hot water left in the backpack, along with two flat tires. Stopping to fix the flats in the still hot air was more exhausting than riding in the heat.

I'd like to believe that day would have been more tolerable if I'd kept the Conti GP Classics on the bike.

Last summer I added some Soma Supple Vitesse SL tan skinwalls to another bike. Easily the nicest riding 700x23 tires I've tried so far, much more durable than I expected from tires weighing just under 200 grams each.

They look nice too. I'm partial to the reddish-brown Conti GP Classics.

I still have several blackwall tires with plenty of tread, but I'm using them only for the indoor trainer, or bikes on which I'm less picky about the ride quality.

Phil_gretz

I like the tan walls, too. But by a slim margin.

John E

With blackwall tires, I almost always wear out the tread before the sidewall starts to crack or otherwise visibly deteriorate.

I have had to throw out several skinwall or tanwall tiresk, including Specialized Armadillos, with decent tread remaining because the sidewalls got "iffy."

tiger1964 

Seems to instantly "thin" the appearance of otherwise thick tires... optical illusion? Until recently, both my wife's bike and my daily rider had red-n-black tires, I liked those too, aesthetically. I have to go look: Schwalbe, perhaps?

SJX426 

@SurferRosa - LOL My bike is using tubulars! Not much choice where the labels are, only which side!

Now I will have to check if I mounted the front wheel backwards when I replaced the skewer!

......

Nope, got it right
late 80's De Rosa Professional on Flickr

francophile 

This is why I never give anyone hell about tire placement. Sometimes there's legitimately no control and everyone has their own preference/OCD.

PS - nice touch with the spokes. I may need to steal that one.

SurferRosa

For me, that's not "practical," because required pressure is a function of total weight and tire width.

​​​​​​​Oh, that's weird. I don't think I've seen tubulars with the label not centered over the valve stem. That would definitely bug me.

SJX426 

I agree, not mine. I picked up the wheel set for less than $150 with the Campy block, Record hubs and Ambrosio Nemisis rims! One of the best deals ever for me and drove the whole "make this a 10 speed Record bike."

Pompiere

Generally, I like tan on darker colored bikes, and black walls on light colored bikes. On a red bike, I could go either way. The tan tires do have a visually slimming effect, at least after years of "skinny tires good, fat tires bad", that is how my brain is programmed to see it.

tiger1964 

Are the red spokes to facilitate finding the valve stem? Betcha this is "a thing": and I just don't know about it.

nlerner

Now I thought you'd go for one of each and have a black AND tan.

ridelikeaturtle

My one bike that I /don't/ have tanwalls on. I like the murdered-out look at the moment.

But I probably will with the next set.

cocoabeachcrab 

now all you need is a batman decal to make it the Bat Bike.

Classtime 

I saw the first picture and thought, "Black!" And when I saw the second picture, I looked for down tube shifters. No one can mess up a red De Rosa. One day I would like to try.