Tire Question
 

What would be the best tire for riding in sand?

Wide, Skinny, Super Knobby?

I just found a trail real close to my house but it was made more for motorcycles and alot of it's sandy. Any suggestions?

intuition would tell me wide with knobs in a "paddle" pattern
https://www.universalcycles.com/imag...edium/7573.jpg

problem is mud tires will probably be narrow.

you might try azonic vigilante. https://www.universalcycles.com/shop...4&category=453

they are wide and very light. i would think width would be more important than tread pattern or you will be up all night searching for knob layouts. everytime you think you found a good sand pattern it will probably be narrow.

maybe another person on here knows of sand specific tires, but i don't.

What would the paddle pattern do as opposed to other knobby patterns?

paddle sand? :D

again, it's not like you will be throwing roost out the back, so i think width would be your best bet. i searched a sh*t load of tires and those azonics above were the lightest wide tires i found. granted they are single ply.

sorry i tend to give too much motorcycle advice on this mtb forum. i am sure a sand mtb'er will offer some better advice shortly. sit tight!

My maxxis Hansventures were super on sand!

Would a 2.35" tire fit on an 07 Specialized Rockhopper? The stock tires are 2.0"...

Here are the stock rims and tires

SUN CR-18, 26", 32h, double walled w/machined sidewalls, eyelets
Specialized Resolution Sport, 26x2.0", wire bead

my Panaracer Cinders 2.25 do great on/in sand. deep or shallow they do very well

I had a friend rig a bike for riding on beach sand in the Los Angeles area. He built a frame with an extra wide front fork and rear. He then laced two MTB rims together on long front and rear axles and installed two fat tires on each wheel. The extra width gave stability in loose sand. He also rigged a jack shaft or 5 in 1 reduction gear in the drive train for a low that went down to about 3 gear inches. I saw him pull his infant son up a 35% grade in LA with that set up. For sand yes fatter the better. If there are no rocks reduce the pressure too.

So I guess then all I need to know is how wide can I fit on my rims?

(Heres the info again)
07 Specialized Rockhopper? The stock tires are 2.0"...

Here are the stock rims and tires

SUN CR-18, 26", 32h, double walled w/machined sidewalls, eyelets
Specialized Resolution Sport, 26x2.0", wire bead

look at the frame
 

I'm pretty sure a 2.35 would work on the rim, but you really need to look at the frame clearance to see how much extra width you can fit in there. The front forks usually have more clearance than the rear stays. Remember that tire width numbers vary between brands.

Also, you may also want to look at a more flat profile tread pattern rather than a round profile tire. I know when running a rounded semislick on the back it felt like the wheel gained 50 pounds in the sand. I don't have any tire suggestions for you, as I just bare through sand with my currnet tires for hardpack. You may want to give it a try with your current tires as the 2.35 will have more resistance and weight that will be noticable off the sand.

Have fun cleaning out your shoes!

Yeah I was riding in it with my current tires yesterday...well...I was riding/walking through it. On some of the softer, looser stuff the bike just wouldn't respond at all, I would just get stuck. That's why I'm looking for something else.

Is there a flatter profile tire you could suggest?

Man...Cinders would be a little over $60 for a pair! If I just got one and put it on my back wheel would that help out the situation more?

I just looked at my back tire a little closer. The frame seems to leave plenty of room for a bigger tire, but the top of the brake is really close to the tire, it made me wonder if a tire with bigger tread would fit there without hitting the brake cable. Is there anything I can do about that short of getting new brakes?

From my sandrail days, remember to keep your tire pressure WAY down on the sand. This will help you ride on-top-of-the-sand instead of sinking into it.

. Performance bikes is clearing them out. I just got a catolog. $15 a tire, 2.25

as in performancebike.com? I can't find them on their website...

http://www.pricepoint.com/detail.htm?stylepkey=13660

cinders for 20

thanks dirtpedalerB, Performance, though they still have them , does not have them on their website ad under $20 still beats what I paid, $24

I got one Cinder and it's on my back wheel now, I'm gonna try it out tommorrow...If it works as good as it looks I'm set...the red sidewall with the red frame is nice.

Maxxis High rollers maybe?
http://www.maxxis.com/products/bicyc...ail.asp?id=237

Wow, that would be interesting to see. You need to get a pic of this. ;)

So I got the Cinders...Here' s what I think:

Great tire. I asked around and narrowed it down to this and a maxxis tire. I decided on this and couldn't be happier. Alot of the soil around me is probably 90% sand. The closest trail is a motorcycle trail that is mostly sand also. Riding with the default Specialized tires on my rockhopper just wasn't cutting it. Going into the main part of the trail (the 'pipeline' it is completely sand, and can be very loose sand in alot of spots at that. While I could hammer through it with the regular Specialized tires I was actually getting a little bit of speed with the Cinder on my back wheel. Even in the harder packed dirt trails that branch off of the main one I was getting better grip. It really really showed on the hillclimbing.
I was also impressed with it's ability on the hard packed gravel (think closest you can get to being pavement without actually being pavement). Everyone was saying it was really slow on pavement or anything like that. But I didn't really notice it being that much slower.
I have nothing bad to say about this tire yet. I love it.

you will still be saying the same a few thousand miles with it IF you stay off pavement. I got over 3k on my first set. it doesnt "feel" like a heavy tire at all