Bikes 2022!

[5DLightworker]

If I bring my road bike, will I be sorry?
Skinny wheels on playa?
I hear fat is best but I got skinny ones!

[Lonesomebri]

Not gonna like it. And it'll chew up your bike, so if it's a special one, it won't be the same after.

[some seeing eye]

Most people bring beaters you can find for say $50 or less at a garage sale.

[Skuzzy61]

There is no way I would take a nice bike out there.

We have a couple of old Huffy's I rebuilt (replaced gear set with better ratio, wider rims/tires, heavy duty tubes, better chain, better bearings, better pedals,....) and they are great for Burning Man.

After we get back from BM I power wash them, repack all the bearings and they are good to go for another year.

[5DLightworker]

Sorry I should have been more specific about this. It's a beater road bike, it's just the only bike I have! So instead of buying a beater bike for BM I was hoping I could just use what I have. It's been retrofitted to be a fixed gear so it's really easy to control.
My question is more about the skinny wheels than anything else. I've read that most people have fat tires or medium/hybrid tires. Will skinny wheels be impossible on the playa?

[BBadger]

Depends on the playa conditions, but you'll be better served with fatter tires when going through areas without hard playa. I also like much lower gears so that I can power through any dust dune I encounter.

[Ano]

Will it work? For the most part, yeah. People underestimate road bikes with skinny tires; you can actually make a decent cut through rutted playa, it just takes a lot of effort. A lot more effort than everyone else.

Is it a good idea? Not really. Honestly, if you can retrofit some larger tires on it, you'll be happier. Much much happier.

[Skuzzy61]

If you want an easier riding experience, then the fatter balloon tires are much easier to ride on the playa.

On our old Huffy's I installed a slightly wider rim and run Schwalbe 26x2.15 Big Apple tires. I also changed to a 36T front sprocket, from the stock 44T. I can ride all day long. Just have to avoid any wet playa, at all costs.

[sepudo]

why oh why do people automatically think 'fat tire bikes only' as if regular bikes automatically stop working. I've had a blast several years with my fixie. a small bonus was that no one would steal it cause they judged the tires lol. gave me zero problems as I zoomed by people riding with no hands.

[Sham]

why oh why do people automatically think 'fat tire bikes only' as if regular bikes automatically stop working. I've had a blast several years with my fixie. a small bonus was that no one would steal it cause they judged the tires lol. gave me zero problems as I zoomed by people riding with no hands.

Does that probe insertion pole on the seat hurt when going over bumps? It looks uncomfortable. That looks like a deterrent from people taking the bike.

[Skuzzy61]

why oh why do people automatically think 'fat tire bikes only' as if regular bikes automatically stop working. I've had a blast several years with my fixie. a small bonus was that no one would steal it cause they judged the tires lol. gave me zero problems as I zoomed by people riding with no hands.

No one ever said other tires would not work. There is no denying different tires change how much effort you put into riding the bike. The tires I put on my old Huffy made a world of difference in the effort needed to get around the playa.

As a bonus they work even better on the street, but if riding effort is of no concern, then put anything you want on the bike and be done with it.

[sepudo]

why oh why do people automatically think 'fat tire bikes only' as if regular bikes automatically stop working. I've had a blast several years with my fixie. a small bonus was that no one would steal it cause they judged the tires lol. gave me zero problems as I zoomed by people riding with no hands.

No one ever said other tires would not work. There is no denying different tires change how much effort you put into riding the bike. The tires I put on my old Huffy made a world of difference in the effort needed to get around the playa.

As a bonus they work even better on the street, but if riding effort is of no concern, then put anything you want on the bike and be done with it.

considering the OP directly mentioned he's heard skinny tires won't work on playa I'd assume he heard it from somewhere other than the abyss. so yeah, *somebody* has said skinny tires would not work and/or that they take more effort. both are false.

[Skuzzy61]

why oh why do people automatically think 'fat tire bikes only' as if regular bikes automatically stop working. I've had a blast several years with my fixie. a small bonus was that no one would steal it cause they judged the tires lol. gave me zero problems as I zoomed by people riding with no hands.

No one ever said other tires would not work. There is no denying different tires change how much effort you put into riding the bike. The tires I put on my old Huffy made a world of difference in the effort needed to get around the playa.

As a bonus they work even better on the street, but if riding effort is of no concern, then put anything you want on the bike and be done with it.

considering the OP directly mentioned he's heard skinny tires won't work on playa I'd assume he heard it from somewhere other than the abyss. so yeah, *somebody* has said skinny tires would not work and/or that they take more effort. both are false.

Skinny tires are more difficult than balloon or fat tires, but not impossible. The ones mentioning fat tires were doing so under the context that fat tires do make it easier to ride on the playa.

When I read your post it read like fat tires are the only option if you want to ride on the playa. I did take issue with that and posted back that is not the only option, but it is an easier to ride option than skinny tires.

I have done both and fat tires are a world apart easier than skinny tires.

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

[Elliot]

And then.... Someone gifted me a Mongoose Beast with 4.00-wide tires, and suddenly I could FLYYYYYY! Absolutely amazing how it sails over Dust-dunes, even with the Beast (and Dolomite, etc.) weighing over 50 pounds, as opposed to a Huffy Crankbroke at 35 pounds.

Beast resize.jpg

[Token]

The absolutely best bike for the Playa is the one that doesn’t break or get stolen by Tuesday.

I guarantee it!

Don’t overthink it folks.

Some of the best years I had out there was when I left my bike at camp and got to taste BM from slow speed locomotion.

[Skuzzy61]

And then.... Someone gifted me a Mongoose Beast with 4.00-wide tires, and suddenly I could FLYYYYYY! Absolutely amazing how it sails over Dust-dunes, even with the Beast (and Dolomite, etc.) weighing over 50 pounds, as opposed to a Huffy Crankbroke at 35 pounds.Beast resize.jpg

Air pressure is definitely king. We run our tires at 50 pounds as well.

Be nice to the Huffy's Elliot , you know as well as I do they can be upgraded to work well. The best thing about that is no one steals those old Huffy's. Someone would have to look closely, at ours, to know they were not stock. I think the frame is the only original part left, and it has been beefed up a bit.

[Elliot]

[tunes up his lyre, then sings]

O ye'll tak' the high road, and I'll tak' the low road,
And we'll be on Playa together.
But mass is mass and pressure is pressure,
And never the twain shall meet.
On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lahontan.

[tosses lyre on scrap pile,
and laughs with his ePlaya friends]

[Skuzzy61]

Now Elliot, don't get me started talking about inertia, mass, acceleration, and energy. Last time I wandered that deep into physics it took my Wife a week to get me back to where she could talk to me.

[sepudo]

No one ever said other tires would not work. There is no denying different tires change how much effort you put into riding the bike. The tires I put on my old Huffy made a world of difference in the effort needed to get around the playa.

As a bonus they work even better on the street, but if riding effort is of no concern, then put anything you want on the bike and be done with it.

considering the OP directly mentioned he's heard skinny tires won't work on playa I'd assume he heard it from somewhere other than the abyss. so yeah, *somebody* has said skinny tires would not work and/or that they take more effort. both are false.

Skinny tires are more difficult than balloon or fat tires, but not impossible. The ones mentioning fat tires were doing so under the context that fat tires do make it easier to ride on the playa.

When I read your post it read like fat tires are the only option if you want to ride on the playa. I did take issue with that and posted back that is not the only option, but it is an easier to ride option than skinny tires.

I have done both and fat tires are a world apart easier than skinny tires.

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

I invite you to check out this random 1 minute video I found of me riding to deep playa to watch the sun rise after getting off a work shift. it was so effortless that I could film and enjoy the view while pedaling a fixed gear 23 lbs bike, with no hands. doesn't get much more effortless than that.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/unzV9Xo23qiHnK3E7

[media]https://photos.app.goo.gl/unzV9Xo23qiHnK3E7[/media]

look mom no hands


sincerely, team no fat tires

[BBadger]

Just about any bike is going to do well on hard-pack. Even those terrible high-geared single-speed cruisers. It's when you hit those damned deep dunes that the tires reveal their true colors. How well do those narrow tires do in dunes?

[Skuzzy61]

considering the OP directly mentioned he's heard skinny tires won't work on playa I'd assume he heard it from somewhere other than the abyss. so yeah, *somebody* has said skinny tires would not work and/or that they take more effort. both are false.

Skinny tires are more difficult than balloon or fat tires, but not impossible. The ones mentioning fat tires were doing so under the context that fat tires do make it easier to ride on the playa.

When I read your post it read like fat tires are the only option if you want to ride on the playa. I did take issue with that and posted back that is not the only option, but it is an easier to ride option than skinny tires.

I have done both and fat tires are a world apart easier than skinny tires.

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

I invite you to check out this random 1 minute video I found of me riding to deep playa to watch the sun rise after getting off a work shift. it was so effortless that I could film and enjoy the view while pedaling a fixed gear 23 lbs bike, with no hands. doesn't get much more effortless than that.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/unzV9Xo23qiHnK3E7

[media]https://photos.app.goo.gl/unzV9Xo23qiHnK3E7[/media]

look mom no hands


sincerely, team no fat tires

Are you really trying to argue skinny tires take the same effort to ride than balloon/fat tires, on soft playa?

[sepudo]

you either watched the clip or not. What's there to argue? feel free to post your own sample clip (your own or from the web riding on playa)


or not.

either way, I was pretty clear

[Elliot]

Children, children, behave!
What will 5DLightworker think of our manners?!

[Agaton]

Motion to close debate and vote.

[Elliot]

I second the motion!

[Skuzzy61]

you either watched the clip or not. What's there to argue? feel free to post your own sample clip (your own or from the web riding on playa)


or not.

either way, I was pretty clear

The clip has no merit without a comparison.

Back to the original question. Fat or skinny? Fat. It is a no-brainer for most.

[sepudo]

Sorry I should have been more specific about this. It's a beater road bike, it's just the only bike I have! So instead of buying a beater bike for BM I was hoping I could just use what I have. It's been retrofitted to be a fixed gear so it's really easy to control.
My question is more about the skinny wheels than anything else. I've read that most people have fat tires or medium/hybrid tires. Will skinny wheels be impossible on the playa?

your beater road bike turned fixed gear will be just fine. pump up the tires nice and hard and you'll glide right over anything short of a sand dune.

check out this clip around the :45 sec mark of me effortless on a fixie.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/unzV9Xo23qiHnK3E7

feel free to ask any other questions. see you on the playa

[5DLightworker]

Thanks everyone! It sounds like fat tires are "easier" but not imperative, so in the spirit of radical not-shopping, I'm going to bring my old fixie... say hi if you see me flying by!
Thanks for all your input.

[enchantress_elfina]

Aloha!
Wondering if anyone knows about there being used bikes available for sale right outside burning man, on the way in? Coming from overseas and hoping to figure out an easy way to secure a bike as close to Black Rock as possible. 🫶

Mahalo for any info on this!!

Xo
Elfina

[Elliot]

Hello, Elfina!

In case no-one already welcomed you to ePlaya, please allow me to hereby do so. [fanfares and drum rolls, marching bands, giant key to the city, speeches, fireworks ]

Why, yes, come to think of it, as a matter of fact... I do know about used bikes available for sale right outside burning man, on the way in.

Those used bikes available for sale right outside burning man, on the way in... have always been the most gawdawfully useless piles of rusty scrap metal we have suffered the grave displeasure of feeling obliged to repair at Elliot's Bicycle Service & Piano Lounge.

There are reasons why Elliot's Bicycle Service & Piano Lounge no longer exists. And those pathetically derelict used bikes available for sale right outside burning man, on the way in – which were summarily discarded with extreme prejudice on the way out from last year's event -- is one of those reasons.



In all possible kindness.

Your humble servant
Elliot