Originally Posted by
base2
Traillink
So far I've been up & down the western section bunches of times. Even making a gravel century once by way of the Samammish Valley Trail. Unless it was on my mountain bike it was always unloaded and recreational on 32mm or 28mm tires of one variety or another.
But being loaded with camping stuff, tent, food, water, etc, combined with the quoted text above & the "loose sand" description of the transit across the army training area has me concerned. It sounds like it would be tough on tires
The Marathon Supremes have my interest, oweing to the ballast rail bed & having been mentioned several times already. The Continentals Top Contact getting honerable mention for their 3 layers of 60 tpi casing.
I am very pleased with the current 559x32 Panaracers & may go larger to ~2 inch size Gravelkings if anyone here has experience on the Eastern section of the trail & can illuminate with first hand knowledge whether my concerns are founded or not.
The Supremes seem to thread the needle in my mind between the Gravelkings lightness & the Top Contacts seeming toughness.
Thus far, you all have been very helpful, & I thank you all.
to begin with, if you've done a gravel century (Imperial right, so 160kms 100 miles?) then you must be fairly comfortable on diff dirt and riding at a reasonable speed, so already thats a good sign.
re the Supremes, if you havent seen my reviews of them over a few trips, here is the link
https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/1...ly6000kms.html
the main point about them is that the sidewall is rather thin, and the term "track ballast" seems a bit risky, and fat tires would certainly be best. When I think of this, it can be with rather large and sharp stones, and while Ive ridden over stuff like this with my 2in supremes, I was very careful of my line and took it really easy--but thankfully not too much distances with this sort of thing.
On the other hand, I've really found the wide 2in tires at a nice pressure, to work really well on loose and bumpy surfaces. The main advantage to the supremes is that they roll really nicely and efficiently on pavement, and in my case, were remarkeably tough and long wearing, way more than I expected.
I guess it really comes down to the trails, and I carried a spare tire with me on the farther away trips, but didnt take the spare in France, as I figured I'd be able to easily find a good tire if needed, less so in Latin America, and if on a trail far from stuff and maybe with large sharp rocks, I'd personally go with another tire with a bit more protection on the sides.
good luck getting more details of how the surfaces are where you want to go.