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Update 10.18.24:
Snakes are hot! And coming off the mold, all day, every day. All month! They'll be here soon, so let's talk about details and what to expect.
In particular, I'm talking about SIZING.
I've spent the last several months utterly consumed by the details of tire design and production. In particular, casing height, casing width, casing profile, and the relationship between the three. You'd think that a tire mold is like any other mold, but it's not. There are variables on top of variables, all of which interplay and affect the end result. Without attention to these details, what we are doing here is pointless.
Anyway - let's look at an original Snake Belly™ tire vs. our new tire.
All of Yinz have been around and know that when we talk about tire sizing, a "2.125" tire is a nominal size. Meaning, the size is in name only, and actual sizing can be far different. In particular, tires of the 80's and 90's tended to be smaller than their named size, often significantly.
The red tire in the photos is an original, brand-new, never-ridden Snake Belly from 1981 or so. The black tire is a new House of Looptail™ pre-production sample, and exactly what you can expect to receive.
Both of these tires are mounted on 26 x 1.75" Araya 7x rims. inflated to maximum pressure, and have been allowed to sit for 24 hours.
You can see that the original tire is far from being 2.125 inches wide. Measured in four places, the tires average about 1.88” wide. Our new Snake Belly™ averages 2.00" wide, or about 1/8” wider than the original tire.
Additionally, our new Snake Belly is about .100" taller per side, making for a tire just over 3/16" of an inch taller overall. Taking into account tread depth - which is equal - the additional height and width of our new tire combine to make a tire that has roughly 10% more volume between rim and terrain.
In attempting to balance the look of the tires, their ability to fit bikes of the era, their riding performance, and their manufacturability, we believe that this size represents absolute best possible balance between all factors.
As a side note, cost remains of no concern in the design and production of these tires. To reiterate what I have said in the past, these are the very best period-correct tires that we - or anyone else - can make at any price.
So could a 26 x 2.2" or 2.3" Snake Belly happen? I'd like that for the bikes that could accommodate it. By all means, Hit me up with your suggestions.
As always, thank you for your support. Wakeman
