26" Tan/Amber Wall Tires?

[Tootyred]

Another smoker here....front and rear.

There are the cheap ones a few of us tried....heavy, but cheap.

Curio were the company £8.50 a tyre!

 

[ishaw]

Splashbacks are rubbish, all show and no go. They perish quickly compared with most other.

That may be true, but it's all about the show.

 

[Canuckbiker]

Thanks for all the input and please keep it coming, good value for all I expect.

I'd still like an honest opinion running a Dart as a rear tire, silly idea? Expect poor traction? Laughter from your cycling community? The reason I'd toy with the idea is liking the rounder profile and the 70g lighter weight. Also a plus is the price, although both the Smoke & Dart are pretty affordable compered to other modern options.

On another note I just accepted an eBay offer on a set of NOS Vittoria Spinx 26 x2.0 tires I started watching yesterday. $45CAD each posted with taxes to my Washington state address is not bad. Limited info on these, mostly bits from RB posts. Curious on weight if anyone has weighted a sample.

@Tsundere I see you picked up a pair in January from a previous post, any details feedback you are able to provide?

 

[Canuckbiker]

These look lovely, but potentially too wide for a lot of old frames:
https://www.renehersecycles.com/shop/components/tires/26-inch/26-x-2-3-humptulips-ridge-tc-tire/Plus punchy price! Guess they don’t make them in huge numbers to enable a lower price point. The profile on these seems more suited to 80s MTB’s where they were more rounded with less aggressive side treads, but at 2.3” they may struggle to fit!

eBay can come up with random job lots from time to time too. In the past 6 months there’s been European sellers selling multiple pairs of knobbly amber wall tyres... Victorria (spelling?!) brand from memory? like all these things, keep your eyes peeled!

Thanks for the mention @27motorhead, I just placed an order for a set of NOS Vittoria Spinx 26 x2.0 and looking for a bit more detail with what's now on it's way if you are familiar

 

[27motorhead]

Splashbacks are rubbish, all show and no go. They perish quickly compared with most other.

Good to know. I have a set still in the sleeves. Better get them out and check on them... that’s if I can find them! think I paid about £35-£40 delivered for a pair including inner tubes so can’t complain at that price

 

[Repacker]

I'd still like an honest opinion running a Dart as a rear tire, silly idea? Expect poor traction? Laughter from your cycling community? The reason I'd toy with the idea is liking the rounder profile and the 70g lighter weight. Also a plus is the price, although both the Smoke & Dart are pretty affordable compared to other modern options.

Smokes are described (designed) as both front and rear ; Darts are front specific.
Personally, I wouldn't want to have specific front tyre on my rear wheel. The tread is designed for steering, with the long treads running parallel to your motion and surely can't work as well at converting your pedalling force into forward motion and good traction control.

I rode Smoke and Dart back in the day and continue to ride them now, they would be my first choice on any retro bike I'm still using.

 

[Canuckbiker]

Smokes are described (designed) as both front and rear ; Darts are front specific.
Personally, I wouldn't want to have specific front tyre on my rear wheel. The tread is designed for steering, with the long treads running parallel to your motion and surely can't work as well at converting your pedalling force into forward motion and good traction control.

Very good points made. Just a thought, think I'd avoid using it as rear tire

 

[MuchAlohaNui]

You mount the Smoke tire tread pattern (i.e. the rotational direction) backwards on the rear wheel. Iirc the higher end Stumpjumpers were sold with the rear Ground Control tire swapped rotated backwards. So to some extent, this was ‘a thing’. Take that as you will and results obviously vary.

Also, Specialized tires of the early 90’s were spec’d factory on many different high end bikes of different brands. There’s IRC Mythos for red wall. WildGrippers came in virtually every black/tan/green tread/sidewall treads and width imaginable. Ritchey MegaBites also.

 

[Tootyred]

No....you mount the smokes the correct way round on the rear.....they are a rear tyre!

I also would not use a dart on the rear....they are very much front orientated.

 

[Dr Dremel]

Here´s some history on the Smoke tire from Mr. OnZa himself

https://velobase.com/ViewBrand.aspx?BrandID=781b63f6-5aaf-4b7c-a290-78b9904cefa1&From=T
Not sure if it was supposed to be a rear only tire, but in the beginning (1990?) there simply was no front specific Panaracer tire. They promoted the Porcupine (front) and Smoke (rear) as "the winning combination".

As to the original question: IMHO the Panaracer Smoke/Dart are the only faithfully vintage looking tires. Maybe the Rider T1 also. To my eye all other tires (Schwalbe, Vee Tire Mission, Rene Herse) have a much to tall skinwall and thus are easily identified as non- vintage. That being said, I really don´t like the Smoke/Darts for actual riding, not so much because of weight, but drag.

It´s really a shame, I wish Ritchey would make a skinwall Megabite or Specialized a Ground Control again.