Here in East Carolina, there are great swaths of flat roads with moderate to deep sand. Given a limit of 700c 40mm, I’d like to know what folks consider the best tire for dealing with this surface? Many thanks!
For moderate to deep sand you need high volume tires. Nothing in a 700x40 is going to be good in that type of sand. You can get knobbier tires, but the knobs need to be large enough to penetrate the sand to the firmer surface below.
Fat tires to go over the sand or knobby cross tires to bite through. One of the worst bike rides I ever went on was on 40mm gravel tires at the MN River Bottoms. Just dreadful.
Yep as expected, no substitute for volume, TY. Aggressive tread seems to be my best option given physical limitations. I was wondering if anyone has experimented with really low pressures (I will ride 20/25 F/R already) with inserts and how that turned out.
Sand is a big issue in N. WI where our cabin is and a few places by our main home. The MTB size tires on our Fargo can do some but it's not great. Sand is fattie territory. Associates near our cabin who are into gravel riding mostly use their fatties on routes with a lot of sand. Some associates have faster wheels for them and their fat bikes set up as their touring and gravel rigs because they encounter sand a lot.
Wide tires with low pressure and not knobs seems best for my when it comes to sand.
Thijsvanderwal wrote:Schwalbe G-ONE Speed are imo the best tires for sand: they have micro nubs, are very thin & supple and can be ridden below 2 bars.
They come in 30-35-40-50-60mm in 700c / 29", unfortunately the 650b / 27.5" versions are only available in less supple non-EVO versions.
TheSubaruGuru wrote:Interesting I'd used G-ONE 40 on rear for awhile, and never had sand washouts...only with slicker fronts. Hmmm...thanks.
I'm not saying G-Ones are bad, but I think this gravel riding has a mix of riders where some know and others don't know how to work their tires the way you do with MTB riding. The very round tires like those Schwalbes and others don't have anything to help hold you if you know how to steer a bike like you carve skis. Riddlers have the edge to do that but are not as fast. GR1s have some of that edge and dual compound but you still can't push them like an MTB style tire or Rene Hearse knobby.
My observation has been the GR1 tires 40 PSI rear and little less front let me be on the fast center knobs for pavement but have more "got your back" than a round tire off of roads. It might be that an aired down round G-One is faster on pavement than the GR1.
My rides will be pavement and off road including sand. I like the not having to air down the tire during the ride.
I had to stop using the Schwalbes on the rear because although they're sold as 38c, they're marked 40c, and indeed stretched to 41.5mm on my Roval CLX, barely clearing the frame. So I went to SOMA Supple Vitesse EX, which are a true 38c, and essentially a RH Barlow Pass but with a thicker (yippee!) tread cap for MUCH longer life and puncture resistance. But now thinking about something that can bite more in the front when cornering on loose stuff. Not sure the "40c" Scwalbe will clear the front fork either (Diverge 1st Gen 2015, 40-45F/50-55R, 195lbs). Right now it's moot as I have a couple spares, and as I said, these last forever! Those GK SS beckon for front?
wanderer wrote:Here in East Carolina, there are great swaths of flat roads with moderate to deep sand. Given a limit of 700c 40mm, I’d like to know what folks consider the best tire for dealing with this surface? Many thanks!
You’re planning to race the Croatan Buck Fifty aren’t you? Lot of the fast guys ride @35mm filetreads. I’m heavier and run the 2.0 g-one speed liteskins, which are essentially giant Cotton Turbos. Zero flat protection, about same rolling resistance as cotton turbos on pavement if I pump them but rockets on the one-two inch deep sand on hard-pack patches there. Liteskins are the thing, though. You don’t want standard ones in their various guises for sand.
Fat tires are king for sand but in the size you're looking for you might try a Schwalbe Marathon Plus Tour HS 404 or Surly Extraterrestrial 700 X 41 if you can find either of them. Either one should work pretty well. Added bonus, either tire is fairly puncture proof. And be sure and run proper tire pressure, don't over inflate, find that sweet spot.
baric wrote:Fat tires are king for sand but in the size you're looking for you might try a Schwalbe Marathon Plus Tour HS 404 or Surly Extraterrestrial 700 X 41 if you can find either of them. Either one should work pretty well. Added bonus, either tire is fairly puncture proof. And be sure and run proper tire pressure, don't over inflate, find that sweet spot.
We had those and a similar Marathon on a gravel and commuter bike. They are absolutely craptacular tires if you value bike handling and performance. Compared to popular gravel or fast MTB tires the only thing good about them is a way to cut flat tires and ride slow if you don't have a tubeless setup. Soulless hard rubber tires with nothing to lean into. I would choose a same size G-One all around if you insist on Schwalbe, and a GR1 if you want a speedier type supple tire and you know how to ride a bike like carving skis.
The Conti RaceKing were pretty good in sand but a RH knobby though expensive is better.
I'm not talking Maxxis type shoulders but I ride I do has a sandy 3 mi single track loop off of it. You just can't corner it as well with a very round tire yet some tires with some edge are fast on pavement and hard pack.
I ride 47mm wtb horizons in some soft sand areas. Not the beach type depth but maybe like 2 inches here or there on top of hard pack. The volume is barely adequate and only for quick patches. My 2.6 inch aggressors on my mtb handle sand pretty well.
Since I don't ride sand here in PA. Here's my question. Knobbies or file tread for sand. I probably can put 700 x 44 or 700 x 45 on my Roker. Any tire suggestions?
Was the GR1 ref above the Bontrager? Too heavy for my front end! I might try the Schwalbe 38 (really 40) again, but it might not squeeze into my old Diverge fork.
Zurichman wrote:Since I don't ride sand here in PA. Here's my question. Knobbies or file tread for sand. I probably can put 700 x 44 or 700 x 45 on my Roker. Any tire suggestions?
Zman
I don't know about the Stravasshole factor, but for function few knobs, maximum width and low tire pressure have always served me well with sand. Sand is a big issue by our cabin so with decades of experience with lots of bike types I got the feeling big knobs can dig me deeper.
TheSubaruGuru wrote:Was the GR1 ref above the Bontrager? Too heavy for my front end! I might try the Schwalbe 38 (really 40) again, but it might not squeeze into my old Diverge fork.
I think you need to swap your Subarus for something 3x more expensive if you think a GR1 is too heavy. Stay away from touring, commuting and all sorts of fun where the right tires weigh more than a GR1. FWIW, I did a lot of rides with associates who have the Schwalbe tire like the GR1s. We roll down paved hills the same, do same long rides etc.... All I could figure out that I'd get if I didn't take the GR1s the came with my Moots is the Schwalbes would be throwing money away faster.
Ha! I'm just now retiring after 38yrs as Boston's TSG, keeping a couple of 2019 last 'o the best OBs that I modify with stiffer swaybars until the EV revolution. 3x pricier? That'd be a wonderful Lucid Air Touring ($96k), but I think I'll await the IONIQ 5 AWD as a possible Tesla Y killer. The pricier Genesis GV60 may be too boring....
Reading that the new Conti Terra Speed 40, although still a bit porky, is indeed quick, and maybe will tame the front end from washouts? The Contis, unlike the Schwalbes, run a bit narrower, so may fit my fork...and last longer.
If anybody wants a pair of new Barlow Pass ExtraLights let me know before I list 'em on eBay next week.
