To skin wall, or not to skin wall

[GTHOtrod]

Open to suggestions here. Found a great deal on a pair of Maxxis DTH in skin wall.
I like the all black look on my Redline, and the Powerblocks are awesome. But I'm an olds cool guy and dig skin walls

 

[Wildcat]

Skin wall.

 

[GTHOtrod]

Maxxis DTH on

Vs Tioga powerBlocks

 

[MattiThundrrr]

To me it's Powerblocks. The black graphics, hubs, etc, all work out for a modern, aggressive look. In my mind, skinwalls give a more retro vibe. They still look good, but not my style.

*I haven't run skinwalls in about twenty years, I kinda remember sidewall fragility issues, is that a thing still? I had a pair of Specialized Umma Gumma grey skinwalls that I rode until the sides were shredded and tattered

 

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

I'm warming to skinwalls as I age. That looks good.

 

[Captain Awesome]

Looks great either way. Both amazing tires in their own way. I think you'll find the Maxxis more resilient and a better all arounder

 

[Chuy]

I put skinwalls/gum walls on 99% of my bikes. I prefer the look of them over all black tires.
The powerblocks look like skinny tall Fixie tires with those wheels. I also bias when it come to tires lol.
Ps. I do love how my DTH wheels ride, super smooth and have a high psi.

 

[Wildcat]

I like the skin walls and that got me looking for a set today, found a pair on sale.

 

[Karate Chicken Industries]

I run skinwall, blackwall and whitewall tires. Some skinwalls have durability issues, to answer that question. In reference to the bike and tires in question, for aesthetics the blackwalls go better IMO. That said, if the skinwalls run better for what you want to do with the bike, run them. Performance always comes first for me on bikes that are meant to go fast on..

 

[Chuy]

Also, I’m a cruiser dude. I will occasionally hit a downhill. So for me any tire is pretty much a good tire.

 

[GTHOtrod]

I think it simply stems from my child hood.
The bikes at K mart = black walls.
The bmx's at the race track = skin walls.

The durability issues are not there with the Maxxis, as it's a coloured rubber side wall.

 

[GTHOtrod]

I do agree the power blocks tie in better with the colour theme of the bike. But that old school feel of the tan walls is hard to beat.

 

[buses 'n bikes]

I would've titled the thread " For skinwalls or against?"

But in all honestly I find you just have to play around with tires to find the right look on each bike. On my Cook, the heavy 80s blackwalls were a drag but when I added high end kevlar Maxxis tires, with their big text, it REALLY did not look right. So the vintage blackwalls went back on. I guess that's why it's good to keep a stash of varying rubber around.

 

[horsefarmer]

I think the blackwalls say, "Hot Rod", while the skinwalls say "Beach Cruiser".

 

[GTHOtrod]

The power blocks won this round. I worked to black this thing out, then the tan adds an extra colour, Too much going on. So keep it simple with black.
Plus those Tioga's are fast and smooth.

I am getting parts together for an mtb build, so you will see the maxxis again. (That is what I got them for, but had to try them on the redline)

 

[Baron von Zach]

Yes to slugwalls.

 

[JA331]

I like the powerblocks on that bike. I don’t mind skin walls and had a pair of the dth s’walls myself. Great tyres. I just can’t stand the huge Maxxis branding in them.