Originally Posted by
intransit1217
Like wise on the brutal but fun. I'm having the same experience in finding traction. I've heard the vee rubbers aren't the best. But I don't have them on my Moose, so.
I'm betting summer on the sand will be easier because grains of sand can only compress so much whereas each snowflake is crushing and is ever breaking apart beneath us. Sand grain will eventually lock up and provide a hard surface. (insert fellow forumista to explain how wrong I am, here)
I've has a bit better luck in lower pressures, 6 I think. But I'm not sure I've dealt with the depth you have. Until I went over the bars yesterday. I anticipated a deep spot that turned out to be a small hill beneath and I sank to a stop quickly enough to send me over in slow motion. What a hoot!
Wet sand can become weird (Google oobleck). We've as many types of sand conditions as rain. I run at ~4 psi and even in the hardest sand, friction becomes a test between being on the sand at low pressure or in the sand at higher pressure. Because I can transition from wind blown dry sand and wet (wave) deposited wet sand in a few yards, I always run low pressure. I can almost climb a dune face trail in winter because it's wet from rain but no way possible in dry summer sands. Dry sand is akin to millions of tiny ball bearings, it just keeps moving out of the way so you're always pushing a minature sand "bow wave". I weigh 190's and less weight means lower ground pressure. Fat bike or roadie...less weight is better. On sand that you can drive a 2WD car on, I can maintain a speed of 7-8 mph...but I'm working for that. Winter dry sand...4.5 mph. Summer dry sand...sub 4 and in some areas, can't ride it. Speaking of taking a header, I rolled off the edge of a beach creek straight into wind blow sand over part of the creek that looked hard but was really 2' of quicksand. I did an instant header and spent a few minutes dragging me and the bike out.