Tyres for Desert Dash

[Musashi]

From what I gather, the Desert Dash involves gravel roads and patches of sand. The Race Kings that I'm running is getting quite smooth and it is time to replace. The Desert Dash is however not a very technical race, so grip won't really be a problem.

 

Would smoother tyres work better on gravel/ sand or should I get new knobblies?

 

And what works better on gravel: normal pressures or higher pressures?

[Trackside]

I did the DD a few years ago and any tyre will basically do. The key to the sand is not to go too fast into the dips/river beds at night as you don't have much time to react in the dark at high speed. The surface of the roads are quite good and a tyre with a reasonable amount of tread should work fine. Close to Swakop there are sand patches but by then it is light.

[Wheelsuck]

Yeah any tyre will do but you need soemthing that's gonna make the 340km easier. Last year I ran 2.4 Killer Bee's and no issues. There is no technical sections and the loose sand is only for a small section and there is plenty of road to correct in the loose sand the rest is like secondary roads.

 

The only thing that I would take along that I never thought of is a Buff to protect ur mouth and nose from the dust during the 2nd last stage.

[Slowbee]

Mushashi .. are you trying to go flat out ? From us chatting with Steve at the FC talk I would say you are ready. Just do yourself a favour and take it really really easy on the first stage up the pass. Just take it easy and then you will be fine.

[SUPER M]

I would say the crossmarks.

 

They are great tyres with low roling resistance, and work great in dry conditions.

[Musashi]

Thanks for an update on the road. I wasn't 100% sure what to expect.

 

Thanks Slowbee. I'm aiming for 17 hours, but I'm going to start out easy and see how things go. I've done a few ultra-long races and have learnt the hard way what happens when starting too fast. I just want to catch a nice group to work with.

 

So you guys are saying the amount of tread won't make a significant difference on gravel/ sand. What about tyre pressure? Harder or softer? I'm thinking harder for the gravel, seeing as the sand is fairly limited.

[Slowbee]

sheesh dude 17 hours ?? thats like a craking pace !

[sias]

Geesh musashi - you must be a bit of a racer to go for 17 hours?

The roads last year were reasonably good, so tyres won't make that much of a difference - just don't go horsing around on racing slicks!

[Santa C]

killer bees or race kings

[Musashi]

Thanks guys. I think I'll try the smoother tyres then and see how that goes.

 

17 hours is the aim. Whether I'm actually going to make it is another story. I just really don't want to ride over midday in the Namib dessert!

[Flea]

Just changed my front to Race King 2.2 (29er) from Mountain King, so will be Race King on both. By the way there is a good deal on Bikebay

[sias]

I'm being lent a KTM 29er hardtail with Race Kings front and rear. Very curious to see how it goes...

[Musashi]

Just changed my front to Race King 2.2 (29er) from Mountain King, so will be Race King on both.

 

I made that change some time ago and never looked back. For the 1% of the time that one rides in mud, MK's are just not worth it.

[Musashi]

I'm being lent a KTM 29er hardtail with Race Kings front and rear. Very curious to see how it goes...

 

That sounds very interesting. The 29er will definitely have better traction in sand and should also perform well on gravel. The only question mark: hard tail for 340km... But is will be better than a 26" hard tail!

[sias]

You don't really need a d/s for this race as there are no technical sections. Also, from all the write-ups, it would appear that a well sorted 29" h/t has the same ride as a 26" d/s. We'll see...

[Lucky Luke.]

I know a top 5 contender who swears by spesh fast tracks.