I can't say I've ever had sidewalls disintegrate on me, tan or black walls. But of course YMMV.
I typically ride tires that aren't known for their durability in terms of expected mileage. Hetres and Jack Brown greens are at the higher end of expected mileage amongst the tires I use, with Vittoria Open Corsa CXs at the other end. I'm also on the fastidious side when it comes to taking care of my bikes, to the extent of even ensuring parked bikes (at home) aren't exposed to direct sunlight unnecessarily. Again, you may not be nearly that extreme. And as I explained in my other reply on this thread, the ability to visually verify the tire pressure while riding isn't entirely marginal for me. At least in one case, I maybe could had mitigated a crash (that was fairly expensive since it took out my Assos costume) if I was able to do that. Horses for course, really. You and I have different problems. :) On Saturday, August 29, 2015 at 12:49:48 PM UTC-7, Eric Daume wrote: > > But I'll trade those marginal benefits of tan sidewalls a thousand times > over for the greater UV resistance of black tires. It's rare I can wear a > tire's tread out before the sidewalls are disintegrating--except for > Blackwall tires. > > Eric > > On Saturday, August 29, 2015, Benz <benzo...@gmail.com <javascript:>> > wrote: > >> Tan sidewalls also have a functional benefit of being more conducive to >> visual verification of tire pressure. In other words, it's easier to do a >> quick check of tire pressure while riding by glancing down. That's in >> addition to tan sidewalls being able to show the "marks of hard men", >> aka stained sidewalls from rim brake effluent when riding in the rain, of >> course... >> >> >> On Friday, August 28, 2015 at 11:17:19 PM UTC-7, Jan Heine wrote: >>> >>> There isn't a technical reason... but the issue of how many tires we can >>> produce and stock. We figured that somebody who absolutely needs black >>> tires can upgrade from Standard to Extralight casings, whereas downgrading >>> from Extralight to Standard just because you want black would be giving up >>> significant performance. That said, I think tan sidewalls look great on >>> many modern bikes, as they emphasize the wheels, which are the most >>> important parts of the bike, after all. Modern all-black bikes tend to look >>> like amorphous blobs to me, with little to catch my attention. >>> >>> Jan Heine >>> Compass Bicycles >>> www.compasscycle.com >>> >>> On Friday, August 28, 2015 at 7:51:49 PM UTC+2, Chris L wrote: >>>> >>>> Is there a technical reason for this? Some of us much prefer the look >>>> of an all black tire over one with a tan sidewall, especially those of us >>>> running MTB's. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On Friday, August 28, 2015 at 12:48:33 PM UTC-5, Jan Heine wrote: >>>>> >>>>> The Rat Trap Pass 26" x 2.3" measures about 53-54 mm wide on most >>>>> rims. It's pretty much the largest tire you can fit on a custom bike with >>>>> "road" cranks (and thus a narrow tread/Q factor). >>>>> >>>>> As to the black sidewalls, they are available only with the Extralight >>>>> casing. The Standard casing is available only with tan sidewalls. The >>>>> Extralight comes both in tan and black. >>>>> >>>>> Jan Heine >>>>> Compass Bicycles Ltd. >>>>> www.compasscycle.com >>>>> >>>> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. >> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
