Riding on sand

thelawnet

Is it possible?

We have mtb hybrids with semi-slick tyres (1.95" Kenda Breaker), not had problems with anything else, but the sand we made the mistake of riding across today (Chobham Common) was unrideable. The wheel was sliding out from underneath me when going down hill (even at very low speeds) and uphill there was so little traction as to make it impossible to get up.

Is it crap bike/tyres/riders or should we just take to on-road route around that bit next time?

supersonic

Depends on how compact the sand is - I have had some good falls on MTBs when the front wheel slides away!

grantway

Make sure you lower the Tyre pressure

.blitz

Mud tyres are good in sand providing it's not too deep.

thelawnet

It was pretty deep TBH. Had some other slightly sandy bits en route where loss of grip was noticeable but not terminal, but this was a couple of inches.

bomberesque

best thing to do about soft sand IMO is swear at it loudly and avoid it next time

Dirtydog11

thelawnet wrote:

Is it possible?

We have mtb hybrids with semi-slick tyres (1.95" Kenda Breaker), not had problems with anything else, but the sand we made the mistake of riding across today (Chobham Common) was unrideable. The wheel was sliding out from underneath me when going down hill (even at very low speeds) and uphill there was so little traction as to make it impossible to get up.

Is it crap bike/tyres/riders or should we just take to on-road route around that bit next time?

Unless you've got money to burn then its probably best to avoid the sand completely as it really messes up your drive train.

joshtp

sometimes i take an old bike down to the beach to practice drifting, tis fun!

M1llh0use

personally found sand quite fun*










* working on the assumption that the bike you're riding is a singlespeed with massive baloon tyres running about 15psi.....

Kiblams

One Word... Pugsley!

The Surly Pugsley was made for sand and snow, just wish could afford one as I am a huge fan of the beefy tires.

Heres a linky

Mancunianfightingcat

you need these tyres






HTH

ride_whenever

Depends how far you need to go across it? Generally small patches of deep sand you can float the front across and the rear will make it with plenty of momentum. If you keep the fornt loaded it'll dig in and you'll stop.

fourcrossjohn

that wud be a killer on th uphill

going down the road you would need to make your own motor noises

vrooooooom or chug chug chug chug

Anonymous

I did a 5 foot drop to a sandbank once, and landed on my rear wheel al trialsy like, which is rare :oops:
Unfortunately, once my back tyre hit the ground, my bike continued to descend, and I thought I'd just bent my rear wheel completely in two.
I panicked for a bit, before realising it was all grass covered sand, and that my bike had just sund up to it's bottom bracket, the rear wheel was completely buried, front half of bike sticking out like a groundhog!

Northwind

Any bigger tyres will help, I use 2.35 kendas a lot of the time and they float OK even on soft sand, though it's still very easy to slide out unexpectedly as the sand shifts under your wheels, it's a bit like riding on ball bearings. Good fun though.

RealMan

Most tyres will cope with sand fine. Just spin a low gear, stay seated.

I dont think you need wider tyres, I ride with a few cyclocrossers now and then, and they can deal with sand fine.

Anonymous

depends what kind of sand, if it's hardpacked moist sand, or totally dry fluffy stuff.
The fluffy stuff is unrideable.