AndyGrow

Finally found a picture from one of the roads we want to do some tandeming on, to do our Lighthouses of 'da U.P. tour.

If we are running some 700x32 tires, do you think we'd be ok running on this sort of road? Most of our riding is on pavement, but to get to some of the really good places, you gotta ride here...!

Thanks.

stapfam

Looks like a dirt road, but pretty smooth at present. If dry you should be ok, but if soft or mud look for a semi slick to give you some tread on the tyre.

Doggus

Are those ruts in sand? If so looks like you'll need an MTB like tire..

AndyGrow

It's a little bit of everything...mostly sand on this road, some soft-ruts, and around the corner a few miles some gravel.

gregm

Funny -- I found myself on some in-town shortcut (don't ask -- ok, ask, it's a new bike/ped trail under construction!) through what look like hard, wet dirt. I was on the tandem solo, no stoker and only modest cargo weight in the panniers. Before I knew it, I was pedaling round and round, and the rear wheel was turning, but the bike wasn't moving. I hadn't expected good traction, but was surprised at SUDDENLY having ZERO traction!

If I ever find myself wanting to ride on dirt/muddy roads on purpose, I'm going to get the fattest tires that will fit my frame...

-Greg

ken cummings

SAND?! Oh joy, keep a straight line when you hit it. Try tires with a center ridge and knobs out on the side. Try some sand/gravel near home before you tour please. On soft surfaces the wife and I use the fattest tires we can fit on our Counterpoint.

TandemGeek

We've ridden on stuff like that in Florida on our off-road tandem with 2.1" (53mm) wide knobbies... That experienced prompted me to change our default off-road tires to 2.4" (60mm) knobbies.

So, with regard to 32mm road tires, I'm thinking it will be pretty dicey and would recommended doing some solo "trials" before you start your journey on similar unimproved surfaced closer to home. My "guess" is that you'll end up hiking a bit on those roads.

AndyGrow

Yeah, we are considering reserving this part of the State for a mountain bike tour. I'm sure we'll try it with the tandem first, but I have a bad feeling about it...!

stapfam

Remember the pic at the start of your planned trail=== That is how our look in the summer but give it a winter anda bit of rain and this is how it looks. Fire XC 2.1's work in this but not much else

The back wheek is not cresting a hill. That is a rut full of mud

zonatandem

Should be do-able. Dry sand and/mud? A little touchy; let about 10 to 15 lbs air out of tires if its get to be bad.
Have done deep sand on a Florida road and all was fine till the tandem in front of us had problems and we had to quickly veer around them to avoid a collission. Yup, went down. Stoker had on lots of sunscreen and she looked like a sugar cookie from the white sand sticking to her. No body got hurt.
We were riding 700x23c at the time.

George Handy

Well, we try and stay out of the mud and sand, but we regularly ride on bladed/graded limestone hardpack roads on 700x28 Avocet Fas-grips with no problems.

blwyn

As you get close the beach, you're apt to be in a lot of sugar sand. There is no tire wide enough for that stuff. If you are lucky, it will be wet and might get across, otherwise plan on walking the bad stretches.