I rode around Tyninghame woods and beach this evening to try out the Surly Moonlander with the On One Floater tyres i fitted after writing some notes on beach riding tyres in Part 1
Stunning spring day with a bit of heat if out of the cool breeze...
I remember fellow fatbike owner John Climber saying he found the On One Floater tyres useless on the beach. \i kind of found this hard to understand as the chunky Surly Nate tyres are ok...
It was nearly high tide so no chance of riding some greasy low tide exposed rocks, but that would not matter as after i tried to ride some dry loose sand through the dunes.
I was running 6 1/2 psi in the rear and 6psi front. I dropped off down the big dune fine if a little bit loose steering (see film below), then when i tried to cycle through the soft dry fluffy sand the front end would wash sideways as soon as i was on an off camber/dune ridge and the rear would not grip-spinning if i pressed too hard on the pedals.
Then onto wet soft sand and again the front washed if i turned, see the pic below...
Could not really understand why, the pressure was low enough...
I reckoned it must be the thicker sidewalls, there is not enough give in them to get that float needed.
And i always thought the Surly BFL tyres were too squidgy and weird steering!-which the BFL is until you get onto stuff like i had just ridden and that is when those BFL`s start to work...
Here is some film riding the sand, not very good as the bike slid out on the front and the rear would spin on the slightest soft sandy climb but i still had fun as always!...
Song is `Nosebleed Section` bu Hilltop Hoods
click on the cog icon to view in HD
So if there is not enough float with these for sand on 100mm rims then i may as well stick with using them on the 65mm Pugsley wheels which they are not too bad for on the beach are they are fine on trails etc...
Sandy coastal trails;
I also tried them on sandy single track above the coast, they work not to bad!, still a bit vague and drifty as i honked along some of the secret trail...
This film shows the Floater tyres on some coastal singletrack...
Click on the cog icon to view in HD
Song is `Rooster` by Alice in Chains
I stuck the BFL`s back on once home...
These will stay on until i either buy a new pair of Surly BFL`s and live with the wear on the sidewalls, or maybe buy a pair of Surly Bud tyres both ends, or wait and see if Surly bring out a new sand specific tyre that will also be good for rock crawling. A man in the pub said last weekend there may be something new coming...
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