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Tires
mountain bike, noun : An all-terrain bicycle with wide knobby tires, straight handlebars, and typically 18 to 21 gears. Webster's Dictionary, mirriam-webster.com
Fat, knobby tires define a mountain bike. They are perhaps the most important single component to a mountain bike's handling yet are often neglected, maybe because of their non-durable nature or low relative expense. So much print is spent reviewing expensive frames and components - but where are the articles or books devoted to bike tires? 1)
Schwinn was the first to promote “balloon tires” on bikes in 1933 and they proved so successful that within two years, a full 97% of all bicycles sold used Schwinn Balloon tires 2).
1933 Schwinn Balloon Tire, 26” x 2 1/8“
thecabe
Fast forward to Marin, 1976...
Cheap and available cruiser and BMX tires were sourced for early mountain bike and klunker tires. Their popularity pushed most early mountain bikes to be designed around 26” rims using 2 1/4“ balloon tires. The first mountain bike tires were either the Uniroyal Nobby, which weighed 1344 grams each or the nearly identical Carlisle Stud, both at 26” x 2 1/4“. In 1980, the new Cycle Pro Snakebelly dropped about a pound per tire with their light weight 26” tires and by 1981 the Mitsuboshi Skinwall, at about 896g each3) became the new standard.
Everything changed when the Snakebelly tire, the first lightweight fat tire, and the first wide aluminum rim made by Ukai became available. Now it was possible to build an awesome mountain bike! I started building CCPROTO in 1978, designing every part from the ground up for minimum weight and maximum performance4). Charlie Cunningham, from Jacqui Phelan's blog
Uniroyal Nobby tires, on a 1977 Breezer JBX1
Smithsonian
650b Nokia Hakkapeliitta tires on a 1978 Ritchey 650B
Vintage Mountain Bike Workshop
Cycle Pro Snakebelly on a 1980 Ritchey MountainBike
Vintage Mountain Bike Workshop