Ok gang I have thoughts of doing some sand races in the future. I have only done 1 sand race so far and it was the Wild Chicken at Fitzgerald GA. this year. They had lots of rain the night before the race and all the locals dropped back to the 60 miler instead of the 100 miler. I knew nuthin of the course so yeah I did the 100 miler. I also didn't know the course so had my tires(Donnley xplor Mso's 700 x 40) pumped up to the max which didn't help. There were a few times I was going 20 mph say/ hit sand and was stopped dead in my tracks. I know I need a wider tire but have no clue how wide a tire you can get on a Roker. With the price of tires right now that could be a costly mistake if I go too wide. Know I can get a wider tire on my Roker than 700 x 40 but was wondering what size tire I can go to.
Have a few sand races in mind for this season and would like to try a tire first on my spare wheel wheel set. What is a good sand tire? I did search at least one thread but that OP couldn't put a wider tire than 700 x 40 on his bike which isn't me. Want to stay in the 700 series size tires.
Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Zman
There are different kinds of sand like there are different kinds of snow. I've hit some silty stuff that my fat bike could barely handle. You may want some skinnier cross tires with good tread to keep you moving forward
Hopefully we both had a nice laugh. Good luck with your search.
Thanks Dangle. Yes I did get a laugh out of it. Freely admit that have Senior Moments at times. Get 3 paychecks at work in Dec. Probably go buy some WTB tires. Not sure if I will buy 2 700 x 44 Raddlers or put Raddler on the front and some other WTB tire on the back.
MSO are good tires in sand. Your coming to a fast stop in a hurry could be helped by technique. I see it happen in fat bike and MTB races too. If terrain is not solid and stable think "light hands heavy feet" and get your weight off the front when you see sand or soft snow.
imwjl wrote:MSO are good tires in sand. Your coming to a fast stop in a hurry could be helped by technique. I see it happen in fat bike and MTB races too. If terrain is not solid and stable think "light hands heavy feet" and get your weight off the front when you see sand or soft snow.
Thanks for that info imwjl. Guessing you men you have to slide back on the seat some then. Curious how that works in a long race that has lots of sand though as that just seems like a quick fix?
Thanks for that info imwjl. Guessing you men you have to slide back on the seat some then. Curious how that works in a long race that has lots of sand though as that just seems like a quick fix?
Zman
In some situations slide back on seat, but in general "light hands, heavy feet" keep the weight on bottom bracket with pedals at 3 and 9 o'clock and move your weight back or forward. Also carve you turns like on skis but be careful with that too.
I've observed really great racers work the subtle bike handling skills you might associate with trick, trials and MTB riding. I've worked corners, tough spots etc... to see the crashes, pile ups etc... to spot those differences. I don't think there's any magic bullet but those are helpful skills for any riding.
If you can do snow biking that also really helps with the skill building and being comfy with your wheels moving around under you. The hard lesson moments can be much less painful.
Zman - FWIW I have GK 43's on my Roker with stock rims and they measure 43 mm and there is lots of clearance to go to 45's front and rear. The rear has less clearance so maybe go with a 45 or wider in front and a 43 in rear. My Dean CX bike has a 40 in front for more float and 36 in rear as this is the maximum I can fit between the chainstays.
My tire pressure typically is below the tire's rated minimum (yes minimum). A tire which is too hard is going to knife into the sand more and bounce over hard stuff. In general higher pressures are slower rolling. Lower pressures help a lot in more technical spots.
One thing to note is that as you go fatter there will be less clearance for mud. Not a concern where I ride out here in Colorado.
My suggestion is to find a friend or a shop with some larger tires already setup on a bike and then see how they fit. Rim width will change the shape of a tire but the rims which came stock on Rokers are pretty much mainstream with what is being used these days.
I like to use metric allen wrenches as feeler gauges to measure the room between tire & frame. The allen wrenches are far easier for me than to try and use a tape measure or other device.
NoCoGreg wrote:Zman - FWIW I have GK 43's on my Roker with stock rims and they measure 43 mm and there is lots of clearance to go to 45's front and rear. The rear has less clearance so maybe go with a 45 or wider in front and a 43 in rear. My Dean CX bike has a 40 in front for more float and 36 in rear as this is the maximum I can fit between the chainstays.
My tire pressure typically is below the tire's rated minimum (yes minimum). A tire which is too hard is going to knife into the sand more and bounce over hard stuff. In general higher pressures are slower rolling. Lower pressures help a lot in more technical spots.
One thing to note is that as you go fatter there will be less clearance for mud. Not a concern where I ride out here in Colorado.
My suggestion is to find a friend or a shop with some larger tires already setup on a bike and then see how they fit. Rim width will change the shape of a tire but the rims which came stock on Rokers are pretty much mainstream with what is being used these days.
I like to use metric allen wrenches as feeler gauges to measure the room between tire & frame. The allen wrenches are far easier for me than to try and use a tape measure or other device.
NoCoGreg thanks for all that info. Not haven't ridden in the sand except for one race last year. The Wild Chicken @Fitzgerald GA. I still have a lot to learn about sand riding. It rained kind of hard the night before and so all the locals dropped from the 100 miler to the metric 62 miler. I had no clue that I was in a sand race so heck yeah I had my tires pumped up way too hard/high.
I am still kind of looking for somebody saying yeah I like file tread or knobby tread for riding thru sand or this is a tire I like for sand riding. I m clueless other than I know I want something wider like 700 x 43 or 700 x 45 tires.
BTW NoCoGreg the ride/race I am trying to get sorted for is CouT2. Do you know anybody that has done it? Looks like an awesome ride.
Zurichman wrote: BTW NoCoGreg the ride/race I am trying to get sorted for is CouT2. Do you know anybody that has done it? Looks like an awesome ride.
Thanks Zman
No, I'm not familiar with the CouT2.
As for tire treads, I've only use the MSO's and GK SK's in sand and I can't say there was a huge difference between the two. It would be great if Guitar Ted had some sort of table listing the strengths & weaknesses of the various tires and handling in sand would be great to know.
A key technique is to keep one's weight back and let the front end float. If you have friends who race CX they'd be a good source of knowledge and technique as sand pits are pretty much a standard "feature". A local CX club used to do lunchtime rides where they had a course setup at a park and the area for the kid's swings was filled with sand.
Thanks for your input here NoCoGreg. I was really hoping for some feedback here from riders that rode desert Sand and saying yeah I either like file tread or knobbies. All I know right now is that I want to go wide.
I did see a set of Donnley EMP knobby tires at my one LBS yesterday in 700 x 45. Never heard of that tire before though.
I do know a gal that did the race last year so maybe touch base with her,
