re-issue skinwall tires

[PaintedDesert]

as far as I'm aware, Panaracer did a re-issue of the Timbuk II upon request of First Flight, and more recently a re-issue of the Smoke/Dart combination.

Does anyone know how much effort has been put into convincing other still-exisiting manufacturers to do re-issues? First on my mind would be Ritchey. They still offer a Z-max, so an appropriate mould still exists. Did anyone already ask them how difficult a skinwall re-issue would be? And one step further: the grey version?

Perhaps we could try some crowd-funding to see whether we can reach a number that starts to be attractive to Ritchey (or other manufacturers)?

Just found out some nice tires I had stashed away are suffering from dry rot, hence the thread.

 

[Rodrigues]

I have no clue but it's a cool idea. You should ask them

 

[raidan73]

Specialized reissued the Ground Controls but only for the limited release of the 25th anniversary Stumpy. They must therefore have the moulds. I think they missed a trick when making that run of tyres.

 

[PaintedDesert]

The big question is whether they are aware of the size of the potential market. Retrobike (UK) + IBC (Germany) + MTBR/vintage-retro-classic combined represent quite a few hundreds (if not thousands) of bikes.

 

[raidan73]

I might take it upon myself to try and contact them......

 

[Rodrigues]

go on Adrian

Specialized are massive though - Ritchey in comparison must be a much smaller company. Not sure if this makes it easier or harder.....

 

[13]

Re:

IRC and Hutchinson could be worth a go. Both made good gumwalls and I know there were some On the rocks II's reproduced in the early 2000's so may still have the molds.
IRC (piranha pros etc) would be a hit with klein and yeti fans and the red or black missiles go for top dollar.
Recall Panaracer needing a minimum $10k order to make it worth their while??
Ritchey made some nice gumwall retro/modern tires but ruined them by plastering them with a massive ritchey logo

http://mombat.org/MOMBAT/PartsForSalePages/tires.html

 

[twain]

agree - Ritchy Z-Max skinwalls are up there. you only have to look at the price comanded by NOS pairs to see that there is some still some value held against them....

i'd also put it to IRC for their rustwall Kujos/Missles/Mud Mads/Notos/Mythos variants but believe they also did some skinwalls too
not sure demand would exceed that of Ritchey though.

 

[N/B]

Does anyone know how much effort has been put into convincing other still-exisiting manufacturers to do re-issues? First on my mind would be Ritchey. They still offer a Z-max, so an appropriate mould still exists. Did anyone already ask them how difficult a skinwall re-issue would be? And one step further: the grey version?

Erm, you can order a brand new pair of Z-Max skinwalls right now.

http://mombat.org/MOMBAT/PartsForSalePages/tires.html

 

[PaintedDesert]

Does anyone know how much effort has been put into convincing other still-exisiting manufacturers to do re-issues? First on my mind would be Ritchey. They still offer a Z-max, so an appropriate mould still exists. Did anyone already ask them how difficult a skinwall re-issue would be? And one step further: the grey version?

Erm, you can order a brand new pair of Z-Max skinwalls right now.

http://mombat.org/MOMBAT/PartsForSalePages/tires.html

As far as I can tell, these are no longer available through the normal channels. I guess First Flight still has some stock , but with the huge Ritchey logo, they are not really what most retrobikers are looking for (at least they're not my cup of tea).

It does however suggest that the effort would be minimal on Ritchey's side.