I was looking through my garage and found an old pair (all dried out though) of 'snake belly' (style) tires. Now, I want a pair for my restoration project. Does anyone know where I could possibly find a pair of these? Thanks

Good luck, I've been looking for years for some blue 20" for my Haro build. You can always find 24 and even 26", also mini size 1.375" size but never 20" and NEVER in blue. Maybe yellow...

Thanks. I figured it might be a lost cause. I used to have a pair of yellow 20's on my old diamond back (back in 83'). Thanks for the input...

Thanks. I figured it might be a lost cause. I used to have a pair of yellow 20's on my old diamond back (back in 83'). Thanks for the input...

I'm in your boat...I'd love a pair NOS black 20s. I had these on my 82 Freestyler bitd. I can remember the great sound they would make on the asphalt and on wood half pipes.

There's a set of black 20" on ebay now but I have no idea what brand they are. Bad pix of a copy tire.

Try searching on ebay under "snake belly" for at least one nice listing. You'll know it when you find it... PG13.....

Saw those on ebay. Blackwall 20 x 2.125 and a 20 x 1.75. I'm looking for those sweet skinwalls (black tread) from bitd.

I have a GREEN snakebelly made by golden boy, NOS, cheap if anyone needs it.

I have a set of 20" blue. Of course they are all worn out and dry rotted. Well, one of them might still hold air.

Good luck finding them. I think they were so popular back in the day that they were all used up.

Hey,

Can any of you post a pic of the tires you are needing.

I may be wrong, but I think I remember there being more than one style of Snakebelly's.

Thanks,
dave

Snakes were my favorite tires from 1980-1983. I loved those things but I remember they were real soft and wore down easy. All I rode were reds and i heard colored tires were always softer than black ones. I have a set of nos blues but I think they are dry rotted too. They are just nice to look at...and remember fondly.

I have a set of NOS ( not dry! ) early 80's Cycle Pro ( yellow lable ) Snake Bellys in blue skinwall but, mini size 1 3/8 . Could trade or sell .

I think this is a snake belly tire. I'm looking for some as well. I have another question though--I bought some 20x1.75 comp IIIs and when mounted they seem kinda skinny, not like remember my tires looking BITD. Is is possible that I ran 20x2.25 tires on 20x1.75 rims BITD? Was that common? The comp IIIs i have look skinnier than the tires I see on people's build bikes here on the site. I got them from Rinny, anyone have any thoughts on this?

It was VERY common, in fact the standard to run a 2.125 tire on a 1.75 rim.

pk, is that how most people set up wheels today on their rebuilds? the 1.75 tire looks very odd...damn. live and learn.

In the early days the 2.125 sized tyre was standard on both front and rear.

If you recall the tracks tended to be a lot gnarlier and muddy back then - a fatter set of tyres would get you through it.

As tracks got slicker and smoother skinnier tyres did the trick.

As things progressed and weight became more of an issue (how to save as much as possible) 1.75 tyres became more common place on both ends.

The 2.125 front / 1.75 rear combo became pretty standard but the dual 1.75 was pretty much the norm around '84.

I guess the theory was the 2.125 offered more traction at the front end and the back didn't matter so much.


To me 1.75 tyres look the best on 1.75 rims.

At one point around '84 when the weight saving thing was really dialing in some of us used 1.5 sized tyres on our 1.75 rims.
In this case it was common to run a 1.75 tyre on the front and a 1.5 on the rear.

This worked fine and was the best compromise for weight vs. size when you were too heavy to run 1/38 rims (skinnys).

Araya 7xN rims (1.5) with Comp III 1.5 tyres were pretty trick.

As for Snakebelly tyres - good luck in finding 20" 2.125 & 1.75 versions in any colour.
Virtually impossible unfortunately as they were stock standard on many bikes BITD.

I myself did not like them (the Comp III was IT) although they seem to have the market cornered when it came to guys who ran 1/38 set-ups.

[ June 07, 2005, 10:26 PM: Message edited by: AndyDiamond ]

johnson99;
are you sure that the tire is a 1.75 and not a 1.5?

most restorers would use the appropriate rims for a "correct" build. 1.75's for race bikes, and maybe something like a steel araya 2.125 for an old mongoose or similar bike.

dave

p.s. i have a nos ntkk snakebelly 20 x 2.125 blackwall to trade for a skinny nos ntkk blackwall (only), if anyone has interest.

i dont think "restorers" is actually a word. my bad grammar.
dave

You can get NOS Union Snakebellies in red 20x2.125 from m2mphatwheels on eBay cheap.

[ June 08, 2005, 09:58 PM: Message edited by: DOUG ]

I used to run a 1.5 on the rear, and a 1.75 on the front, both on 1.5 rims. I liked the feel of the smaller tyre in the front, as it tended to make the bike actually feel lighter.

I used to have a pair of 20" Mongoose tires that were like Snakebellies. The tread was a bit "squarer". They were off my brothers Supergoose. What I remember most about them, was that on asphalt, they stuck like glue. I won two indoor meetings here on them, racing on asphalt back then.

From memory, black Snakebellies seemed to last forever when ridden on ashphalt. They'd be an ideal tire for bikes that dont get ridden on the track.

Anyone know where I can get some 20 X 1.75 Cheng Shin snakebelly's in red?

Ginny has them if you are not particular in what color you want. $8 a piece. LOL!!!!

http://home.comcast.net/~rinisbikeshop/tires.htm

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Dave, thank you for the info. The tires do say 1.75 on the sidewall. I'll take a picture of them and see what you think. They are mounted on 1.75 Araya Aeros so maybe that has something to do with the look seeming so off. Much thanks for all the info Andy!

Was wondering if anyone knew where I could get a pair of hopefully black NOS genuine CyclePro snakes in 26x2.125" size that I want to use for my mountain bike project consisting of a brand new production frame and tons of mid 70s-mid 80s NOS/NIB/NIP unused and hopefully unmounted parts? ;-) Thank you very much and email me if you know! Also, if anyone similarly knows where I can get some NOS never used IRC Competition II black tires in the same size as the snakes, let me know! :-)

Was wondering if anyone knew where I could get a pair of hopefully black NOS genuine CyclePro snakes in 26x2.125" size that I want to use for my mountain bike project consisting of a brand new production frame and tons of mid 70s-mid 80s NOS/NIB/NIP unused and hopefully unmounted parts? ;-) Thank you very much and email me if you know! Also, if anyone similarly knows where I can get some NOS never used IRC Competition II black tires in the same size as the snakes, let me know! :-)

loved snake belly's. Someone needs to re-pop them!

Justin needs to add them to his list!!!

With respect to the OP's old Diamondback yellow 20's, Caezar over at 'another' vintage forum has them.