going retro: the proper atTIRE....
I have been looking for options for white tires for a while now and have run across a number of other colors as well, so I thought we'd dump all the options for retro tires in one thread.
I was searching for for 26" tires only, preferrably ones with retro-styled tread, and unusual tread or colors and perferably with small manufacturer logos, if the logos are colored differently than the tire. I'm also skipping whitewalls, because they're fairly easy to find at places that deal in cruiser bicycle parts and you can even get whitewall rubber paint now, to make your own.
First up--Worksman sells an all-black retro-tread kevlar-lined tire that's 2.125 wide, these came on my Worksman and there's no manufacturer info on them except the name "W.T.C. SUP-R-TIRE". There's no country of origin on them, or any other info except relating to the tire size and a small red "Kevlar" emblem, and the only sites that seem to sell this tire are the worksmancycles site and industrialbicycles.com, which also sells only Worksman bikes. If you want a black retro-tread kevlar lined tire then this is one; the invoice for the bike I bought wasn't itemized so I don't know the price. This tire appears to be identical to the "Cheng Shin C241 Street Tire 26 x 2.125" you can find on Amazon for about $10 each, except for the kevlar belt.
Second up--Coker tire sells a few which may fit current 26" wheels (I have emailed them but not gotten an answer yet). They have button-tread 26x2.5" and 26x3" tires in black and white, for $145 and $240 each, respectively. They also have a couple BF Goodrich tires in black and what they call red, 26.55x2.5" for $20 and $27. The red looks more orange-brown to me, but it's definitely got the retro look going on. I don't know that these will fit on current 26" mtb/559mm rims, I have emailed them to find out.
Go to Amazon and search "sports and outdoors" for the names "Cheng Shin" and "Kenda", there's a few retro-style tires in both assortments. Most are black or black w/whitewalls, but most of them don't cost more than $10 each. The only non-black tires they list are the white Kendas, mentioned further below.
Felt has the Quick Brick tires in 26x2.125" in cream or dark brown, they're dealer-sales only and I can't turn up an MSRP online.
The website chainganglowrider.com shows color photos of the Schwalbe Fat Frank cream tires (listed there for $77/pr), and the Felt quick brick cream tires (they list for $126/pr). The Fat franks have a nice looking "gumwall" color all over but they also have the usual long Schwalbe logo and the reflective stripe as well, so that might be a job to get rid of. The "Grand Tycoon Red Brick Tires" they list for $50/pr seem to be the same "red brick" tires available at bikeworldusa for $19.49 each. The Kenda balloon tires that they say are discontinued (and want $80/pr for!) are available at Bike Nashbar right now for $9.99 each, as the K130 26 X 2.125 Tire". Nashbar has them marked down from $15 to $10, so they may be discontinued (I just ordered four, these are only rated 40 psi and are likely pretty cheaply constructed. You 45 mph guys may want to skip running them, but they might be nice fer showin').
Earlier was mentioned the Schwalbe ReTurner tires--with blackwall, whitewall or redwall, but the north american distributor only gives prices for the black and white variants.
There's also a white 26" moderate knobby tires (I think Kenda makes them also) that turns up various places. I didn't include them due to the non-street tread.
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