Tan-walls – hot or not? - Matthew Allen / Immediate Media
I recently put tan-wall Maxxis Minion DHFs on my Giant Trance long-termer and I think it looks fabulous - Matthew Allen / Immediate Media
Green tyres and cobbles go together like chamois and taints - Jeff Jones / BikeRadar
Talk to your friends about the dangers of excessive colour coordination - BikeRadar
The S-Works Tarmac looks divine wearing tan-walls - Oliver Woodman / Immediate Media
Tan-wall tyres are back in a big way. For a few years, black rubber ruled the road, but light-coloured sidewalls are now ubiquitous in every cycling discipline, from gravel to downhill. Tell me, how does that make you feel?
Also referred to as skin-walls (with inconsistent hyphenation and spacing), true tan-walls have little or no rubber on their sidewalls, meaning that the tyre’s casing is exposed.
This may make the tyre ever so slightly more supple (I’m sceptical) but more importantly, it provides a pleasing bit of contrast, which in my most humble opinion looks fantastic, particularly when combined with all-black (or all-grey) rims.
I recently put tan-wall Maxxis Minion DHFs on my Giant Trance long-termer and I think it looks fabulous - Matthew Allen / Immediate Media
Don’t get me wrong, I happen to think that coloured tyre treads are an abomination. With certain honourable exceptions (green Vittoria Pavés for Paris-Roubaix, green Michelin Muds for cyclocross…), I am of the sincere belief that the part of your tyre that grips the road or trail should always be black.
Green tyres and cobbles go together like chamois and taints - Jeff Jones / BikeRadar
I don’t really have a good reason for this, I just think brightly coloured tyres look rubbish and attempts at colour-coordination — matching tyres to bar tape, for instance — invariably cheapen the overall look of a bike.
Talk to your friends about the dangers of excessive colour coordination - BikeRadar
Tan sidewalls get a pass from me, however. They good on all sorts of bikes, and they make otherwise sombre machines pop.
The S-Works Tarmac looks divine wearing tan-walls - Oliver Woodman / Immediate Media
Green tyres and cobbles go together like chamois and taints - Jeff Jones / BikeRadar
I don’t really have a good reason for this, I just think brightly coloured tyres look rubbish and attempts at colour-coordination — matching tyres to bar tape, for instance — invariably cheapen the overall look of a bike. Talk to your friends about the dangers of excessive colour coordination - BikeRadar
Tan sidewalls get a pass from me, however. They good on all sorts of bikes, and they make otherwise sombre machines pop.
The S-Works Tarmac looks divine wearing tan-walls - Oliver Woodman / Immediate Media
Green tyres and cobbles go together like chamois and taints - Jeff Jones / BikeRadar
I don’t really have a good reason for this, I just think brightly coloured tyres look rubbish and attempts at colour-coordination — matching tyres to bar tape, for instance — invariably cheapen the overall look of a bike.
Talk to your friends about the dangers of excessive colour coordination - BikeRadar
Tan sidewalls get a pass from me, however. They good on all sorts of bikes, and they make otherwise sombre machines pop.The S-Works Tarmac looks divine wearing tan-walls - Oliver Woodman / Immediate Media
So, are tan-walls the height of style or a cheesy throwback to a bygone era? Vote in our poll and share your best and worst photos in the comments...
Matthew Loveridge (formerly Allen) is BikeRadar's former senior writer, an experienced mechanic, and an expert on bike tech who appreciates practical, beautifully-engineered things. Originally a roadie, he likes bikes and kit of every type, including gravel bikes and mountain bikes, and he's tested a huge variety of all three over the years for BikeRadar, Cycling Plus, Cyclist.co.uk and others. He looks like he should be better at cycling than he actually is, and he's ok with that.
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