Laing: How deep is this sand you are describing? How deep can the sand be that 3.8 Black Floyds handle easily, meaning without extreme exertion and bottomed-out gears? Is it much deeper than 3"?
I live almost literally within spitting distance of the Rio Grande. The *bosque* -- the belt of cottonwoods and shrubs on either side of the river in the midst of the otherwise typical regional high desert scrubland -- extends for about a mile on either side of the river, actual width depending on the local pattern of the regional *acequia* irrigation ditch network, dating from the late 16th century (at least for the Hispanos), which draws water from the river. So, the soil throughout this belt of green is essentially river silt; until a couple of generations ago, when "they" dammed and diverted it, the river would regularly flood, and big "jetty jacks" still litter the bosque woodland. Thus the trails I ride are composed of fine, silty sand, and the degree of compaction and firmness depends greatly on moisture content; being high desert, this content is often very low, so that the soil gets dry and loose and churned up, and in spots can be 4" deep. (Locally sourced horse shit can add another 1/2".) I love riding in this environment. So far, the optimum bosque cycling compromise -- juggling my preference for typical old fashioned road bike geometry; drop bars; taller wheels for soft and rough surfaces; good pavement rolling for at least 1/3 of mileage on asphalt with thin, supple, and nice-rolling tires; the sand described; and manageable Q -- has left me with a bike that can take 700C X 60s and fenders, and also 584 X 75s. The Matthews has 700C C X 61 mm 1 lb/each Big Ones at ~18-23 psi, tubeless, and so far, after riding many other combinations in this environment, this is by far the best compromise. Your description of riding sand on ~4" tires, and especially your description of the Black Floyds rolling along nicely on pavement, intrigues me. Perhaps I need to shift the "compromise line" a few riding units toward shorter/fatter ...? So: how deep can the sand be that your Black Floyds handle without pain? And when you speak of draughting the local CF club: are you speaking as a geriatric has-been, or as a youthful 40-something? On Mon, Jun 18, 2018 at 11:56 AM, lconley <lcon...@brph.com> wrote: > Fatbikes rule in the sand. I have been on a few group rides on my cheap > fat bike with expensive tires (SE Bikes F@e - 26x3.8 Surly Black Floyds - > basically slicks) and I rode away from the much younger, much lighter, > much, much better condition riders on expensive full suspension carbon > fiber bikes with narrower tires when on the sand. They were in the sand, I > was on top of the sand. Same thing a couple years ago with two of my > brothers in law on some sandy back roads in North Carolina. They wanted to > ride my cheap fatbike over their full suspension steeds, because it was a > lot more fun and less effort. Yes, the handling is pretty strange for a few > miles, but then you adapt and it feels normal. It is no a cure-all though - > there is some sand that even the fat bike sinks into (with a fat rider). I > have never ridden a mountain bike or a fat bike in actual mountains, just > on back roads and trails in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. On > pavement, I can draft the local spandex and carbon bike club on the same > bike - very little rolling friction at high pressure (20 - 25 psi), but the > Black Floyds are big lightweight slicks compared to most fatbike tires. > > I am in the middle of reconfiguring my Bombadil from Bullmoose bars to > Randonneur drops. It has 650b Atlas rims and I am going to see how big of a > tire I can get under Honjo H-95 fenders. > > Laing > Cocoa, FL > > On Monday, June 18, 2018 at 1:07:40 PM UTC-4, Ryan M. wrote: > >> You aren't specifically asking about dedicated mtb fatbikes, but I've >> ridden a fat bike in snow, sand, and dirt and can say that the rolling >> resistance is enough to take notice; the plus size (3" is still an issue >> but not as bad). I honestly did not like it, and did not like the way the >> bike decided to turn when it dang well wanted. I really didn't like riding >> the fat bike on twisty single track as the bike just behaved weirdly and it >> was something I was not used to. It seemed to just not want to turn when I >> wanted it to and then moments later it would. Odd. Plus, exact tire >> pressure was hugely important. The bikes definitely have their following >> though, but they aren't for me. >> >> On my mtbs I usually run 2.3 or 2.4 (29'ers) on the fronts and 2.2s on >> the rear and the combination works great on the single track I ride and the >> gravel roads around me. >> >> On Saturday, June 16, 2018 at 1:53:28 PM UTC-5, Patrick Moore wrote: >> >>> My personal suggestion for any new Rivendell mountain bike is that it >>> accommodate 3" wide 650B tires, or at least, 3" wide 26" (559) tires. Or, >>> that it be built for 65 mm 700C tires. Fat and tall really does make a >>> difference on soft surfaces, and on high-frequency, low-amplitude bumps (at >>> least, if you keep the tire at appropriately low pressures). 2 inches just >>> isn't fat enough. >>> >>> Aside: Curious: has anyone here had the opportunity to personally >>> compare 584 X 70 with 622 X 60 in sand? >>> >> -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- Resumes, LinkedIn profiles, bios, and letters that get interviews. By-the-hour resume and LinkedIn coaching. Other professional writing services. http://www.resumespecialties.com/ Patrick Moore Alburquerque, New Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique ************************************************************************** ************** *Auditis an me ludit amabilis insania?* -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
