Tourer tyre widths

[PaulF]

I've put some Schwalbe Big Apples on this year and am very pleased with them. Fast rolling, good grip and a comfortable ride. Only downside is that I can't use regular mudguards with them as they're too wide but, for me, that's a small price to pay.

You need some Planet Bike Cascadia mudguards, not cheap (I think mine ended up costing me about £80), but well worth it.  They cover up to 700C * 55mm and have proper mudflaps and everything...

Back to the OP, for the last 18 months I have used 700C * 48 or 52mm Big Apples.  I am currently trying out some Hurricanes(42mm, IIRC), I have 4 weeks to decide if I like them (the jury is still out due to the harsher ride), or just use the Conti SpeedRides I have on order.

Think my problem is clearance between the frame and the tyres though - I offered up the old mudguards, ignoring the fact that they were too narrow but the tyre really rubbed.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I've never had a problem with slick tyres on dirt roads. The mass of me + loaded bike means traction is rarely a problem.

Your MMV, but I've had fat kojaks slide sideways on dirty tarmac roads, whereas Paselas actually gripped.

Note that I'm talking about fat tyres (1.5" and up). If you are thinking of narrow tyres run at over 90psi, then it's a different story and I agree with you.

Recently I was in a group on a not quite finished cycle path of damp sand (it had been raining earlier) compacted but with a looser surface. I was on 28s at about 100psi, the others were mostly on wider tyres at lower pressures. I found lots of grip, they seemed to be squirming around a lot. But there are probably too many variables - luggage, frames, riders - to make inter-bike comparisons particularly valid there. On deeper, looser sandy tracks (roads through forest, flat but mostly trafficked by tractors and jeeps) I've found MTB knobblies much better than the 38mm Conti Touring on my hybrid.

[Kim]

I think it's fair to say that for an arbitrarily shallow loose surface (sand, snow, etc) a narrow high-pressure tyre will cut through and reach something solid.  Until it doesn't.  At which point wide and knobbly is your best bet.

All else being equal, pedalling style has a lot to answer for, too.  I can get the trike up slippery slopes that barakta struggles with, on account of being much better at pedalling in circles (I have to, otherwise I get knee trouble from over-emphasis on the downstroke).

[Cudzoziemiec]

I'd agree with that, and add to your point about pedaling styles, "familiarity". For me, the shallow loose sand made me think, a) This is much firmer than those sandy tracks I used to struggle through the forest on to get to the in-laws; b) This is just like the Bristol-Bath path all used to be 20 years ago. Whereas I'm sure some people were thinking "Ooo, sand!" I really need to add here that my actual level of skill and confidence on proper loose surfaces is just above absolute zero. And that these are all different situations, IMO, to dirty tarmac.

[mcshroom]

I reasonably frequently ride the Seascale-Sellafield 'cycle path' which is part of the Hadrian's cycleway on 25mm slicks (Krylions). That route runs along the sand dunes above Seascale beach, and varies from tarmac to sand drifts.

My experience is that the tyres grip fine until the point that a sand drift is too deep to cut through (though I have to do a lot more active route finding because of the uneven surface), then it gets interesting. I do find that I can ride it faster on 35mm Marathons though as it takes less work positioning the wheel precisely to keep grip, it rolls over the uneven surface better and I've not felt the front wheel try to wash out on the loose sand like with the slicks.

[tiermat]

I am still waiting for my SpeedRides to appear at the LBS

It looks like the trip to Catalonia might be undertaken on Schwalbe Hurricanes.  I'll swap back to Big Apples when I return, why not take the Big Apples? Weight mainly, each one being near 1Kg, the Hurricanes being under 1Kg for the pair!  A big difference when there is over 30k ft of climbing to do in 5 days!