House of Looptail Snake Belly Tires Reissue Review

One tire dominated the market when it came to the mountain bikes of the early 1980s: the Snake Belly. House of Looptail just reissued this classic pattern with the original Japanese tire manufacturer, Panaracer. John bought a set at their launch and has a hands-on look at and review of them below…

This 1985 Cunningham Indian donned the original Snake Belly tires in tan wall, while Jacquie Phelan’s iconic “Otto” bike (Noah Gellner’s 1983 replica shown here) was adorned with red Snake Belly tires…

Brief History

In my decade-plus of documenting early 1980s vintage mountain bikes, most memorably being the museum-quality specimens from Velo Cult and Second Spin Cycles, Snake Belly tires seemed to adorn them all. In 1979, a brand called Cycle Pro had National Tire Corporation, later renamed to Panaracer in 2015, make the original Snake Belly tire for 20″ BMX bikes and, soon after, 26″ BMX cruisers. Due to their abundance and affordability, they were quickly adopted by early mountain bike framebuilders like Tom Ritchey and Charlie Cunningham.

Tom Ritchey on the cover of Bicycling in 1981 with red Snake Belly tires…

Snake Belly tires checked all the boxes for these early mountain bike pioneers. They had a lot of traction in a variety of soil conditions. On the Araya and Ukai rims, they ballooned out nicely, optimizing the tread pattern’s traction. And they were readily available. No special ordering these from Europe like many road and randonneuring builders often did.

1985 Cunningham Indian restoration from Second Spin Cycles

NOS Snake Belly tires are still out there, with many collectors hoarding them for their period-correct projects. But if you actually ride your vintage bikes, riding 40-year-old tires is unsafe as the wire beads and sidewalls can split, causing catastrophic failures. Over the years, a number of manufacturers from Ultradynamico and Rene Herse have made tires that fit these vintage steeds nicely, but some people still crave the profile of the fabled Snake Belly.

This is what prompted House of Looptail to re-issue them…

House of Looptail Snake Belly Quick Hits

$85 each
26″ only
Measure 2.125″ wide on a 28 mm wide Saturae X28 rim
684 grams each (confirmed)
Gumwall (shown) and all black
The exact original tread design
Brand-new mold
Modern, lightweight 60tpi casing
Folding aramid bead
60 psi maximum
Panaracer’s proprietary ZSG™ Zero Slip Grip all-condition rubber

Backstory, Mounted, and First Ride

Founded by Wakeman Massie, an industry veteran, in 2023, House of Looptail worked with Panaracer to design and manufacture the closest to original form Snake Belly tires by using the original pattern drawings and new dies. These 2.125″ tires will clear a variety of vintage mountain bikes from the expedition-minded wide chainstays found in the early 1980s bikes well into the more racing-focused NORBA machines from the 1990s.

Because Panaracer makes them, they feel great at lower pressures, offering side bite in loose conditions, and pedal smoothly over hard-packed surfaces. Some might even call these tires “supple.” They remind me of the Bruce Gordon Rock n Road tires in terms of traction and pedalability, yet are not as plump or high volume as the Ultradynamico Mars tires, which are labeled as 2.25″ wide.

What is nice about the modern Snake Belly tires is they fit frames with less clearance, even in models with u-brakes like Rollercams that lose clearance at the chainstays. They also look the part. While the price might pinch, I’ve found Panaracer tires last longer than most and are well worth the price tag.

One thing to note on mounting these to vintage rims: you might have to work the bead repeatedly to get it to seat correctly. My method is to mount the tire with an innertube and slowly inflate it 10 PSI at a time, working the bead outward by grabbing the tire and pulling it back and forth. I’ll leave these sitting at 60 PSI overnight and then do it again in the morning.

Overall, for my early 1980s bikes, these are yet another fine option on the market.

Pros