Morning all,

Looking for some opinions on skinwalls. I generally like them. I think they look sweet on a steel hardtail.
Im in the process of building up a Silver 2005 Turner 5 Spot HL and pretty much decided on / purchased full spec and Im tempted to go with Onza Skinwalls, but other than last years meta and mondrakers I’ve never seen any on a full sus build. Will it work? Would it just be wrong?
I appreciate it doesn’t really matter what others think, it only really matter if I like them, but I can’t decide.
PICS PLEASE?

On an 80s BMX yes. On a modern MTB? No no no no – wrong very wrong.

Its your bike do what you want

Shirley, you’d choose tyres that work well? If they work for you, great, but, as it’s the only point of contact, I’d choose tyres that work, not look pretty

I can only ever remember seeing one FS with skinwalls:

(OK they’re tubs, but still skinwall-ish)

I’m tempted to get some for my bikes. They’re actually meant to be pretty good tyres – the skinwall thing is an added retro bonus!

I love how they look but there’s not really enough choice imo

I remember seeing some Commencal full sussers shipping with them last year.

I’ve got some skinwall 29er small block 8’s for the summer 8)

Look great, but only 2.1″ which makes them both retro looking, retro fast accelerating and retro relatively uncomfortable.

I stuck some Charge skin walls I had knocking about on my old Orange 5 for a ride. It looked sweet but the tyres were not the best for what I used the bike for.

Speeder whaddya mean ’80s’ BMX? Skinwalls still look cool and loads of the guys down the park run them 😀

Never on anything other than a BMX though, in my opinion!

Skinwalls look ace mostly, but your issue is the silver rather than being a full sus. A silver bike works better with the sharpness and contrast of black tyres.

If you build a bike for looks then don’t bother riding it. Put the rubber on that works

Are skinwall tyres just about looks or is there something different in the construction or performance?

Continental used to do them but they were a funny colour…like a baby poo brown…and not wanting to hijack the thread I have just bought a 2005 5 spot for refurb and was wondering what colour to powder coat it?.

silver and then put skinwall tyres on quickly before the OP does it.

wilko1999 – Member
Speeder whaddya mean ’80s’ BMX? Skinwalls still look cool and loads of the guys down the park run them

Never on anything other than a BMX though, in my opinion!

A skinny skinwall on a Tioga Comp III is a great thing to see.

The oversize modern version above just looks offensive.

But I’m over 40 and that was 30 years ago – what do I know?

Are skinwall tyres just about looks or is there something different in the construction or performance?

Tyres are made from 3 or more bits of rubber, there’s the fabric carcas and some ruber, and various layers/areas of tread. Nothing to stop the mnaufacturer colouring most bits any colour they like. The black is added to make them black to match the tread which is black as there’s added carbon, silica and other stuff to make it grippy and hardwearing, skinwalls are just the natural rubber colour.

The reason they made a resurgence in XC is the re-apperance of tubular tyres which tend to be skinwalls in part due to the way they’re made, although I suspect it’s more marketing these days, tubs being the traditional/racer choice.

skinwalls look great. I love em.

any excuse to post a pic of the AMP:

and here’s a Canyon strive with skinwalls. Not mine as i’m still waiting for Canyon to build it…

I think what Speeder is trying to say is:

“SIR,

I am writing to you about an affront so ghastly it caused my titanium sport monocle to pop forth from my very face: The so called “skinwall” tyre. In a past rose-tinted time, a certain kind of such tyre was tolerable and perhaps even appropriate on certain kinds of bicycle, but these days they are appearing in places most unacceptable, such as mounted on otherwise well-esteemed and fully suspended rigs. A less refined mind may mistake such a contraption for a beach cruiser, and the unchecked spread of such tyres will surely impart an unseemly dimension of complication to what tyres threads.

I am most perturbed by the issue and it is disturbing the sickness of my lines. This egregious rubber is the preserve of buffoons, and if neither designers, nor manufacturers, nor retailers, nor even the press shall police the refined and subtle aesthetics of mountain velocipedes, then we must take it upon ourselves to do so. I humbly suggest a mass campaign of sternly worded letters pleading for the purity of our hobby. This is not about personal preferences; aesthetics are a science.

Yours faithfully, I await your swift reply &c. &c.”

Ardents come in skinwall.

Got them on the wife’s Swift. Silver rims, spokes and hubs, 2.25 on the back, 2.4 on the front. I think they look good and, more importantly, so does she.

Cheapest I could find was from some place in Frarrrnts. Probike maybe?

Exactly what I was thinking Nach I just couldn’t put it down quick enough so it came out in a slightly less flowery manner.

One thing I would pull you up on though – I’d never use the word “rig” to describe a bike*

* Though I may have done at some point in my life if someone were getting picky. 😆

This thread is making me think that my next set of wheels should be polished with chrome spokes though, dammit

Skinwalls? On an FS!!?!!?

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, MAN, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?

Cheers for the input guys. Appreciate skinwalls will always divide opinion 🙂
Think I’m going to go for it. Onza Ibex 2.25 look like a decent bet. I’ll post pic once it’s built. If I end up hating them I can always keep them for a future hardtail build.

What travel.I think they’ll be all right between 125mm and 135mm of travel but if your’re going to run 140mm forks…..well,it’s best we don’t discuss that on a forum where there may be children (and Hora) present.

Phwoar. I wasn’t really into Canyon’s blue frames, but matched up with skinwalls that looks great.

My Pitch would look great with skinwalls, been considering some myself.

They look the boll*cks. When I first got back into riding about 5 years ago, I couldn’t believe you could no longer buy then. Black tyres just looked dull in comparison.

Just make sure you run them on black rims

I love the (admittedly few) comments from people saying – if you’re choosing X on a bike because of looks, you shouldn’t disgrace our trails with your impertinent aesthetic.

I mean, it’s not like anyone, ever, has ever bought a bike, or chosen a component on the basis of looks, is it? 😉

I love skinwall tyres. Like above, I was devastated to find out you could no longer buy them when I properly got back in to riding ten years ago. Not quite sure why black walls took over as the norm, though perhaps it was driven by a marketing-lead perception that skinwalls were ‘XC’, whereas blackwalls are ‘Gnar’?

I still have a stock of skinny skinwalls for my original MTB retro bike anyways.

A complete bugger to clean oil off of, though..

Yes. Skinwalls are epic. I agree with the reservations expressed above about the silver frame though, I’d change that.

🙂

They look sh*t. That’s why you see virtually nothing with them.

On iPad, so I’m not sure if it will let me paste an image, but here’s an fs bike with skin walls, and I reckon it looks the dogs danglies!

http://www.mtb-check.com/fr/hot-or-not-yeti-asrc-2015/

Have it now 🙂

I was fully prepared to jump into this thread with comments like “awful”, but I quite like that Yeti above.

I love that Yeti. Blends modern with retro very well IMHO.

Some skinwalls, yesterday-

I like them. “Pfft!” to the haterz 😀

Yes – to that yeti. Muted blue and skinwall works imo.
Silver….hmmm, not so sure.