Sand Trap?

[hotpink]

Ok, yes this another Segway tire question... I am outfitting a group of Segways for a tour that will have a short sandy beach component to it. I am looking to find a tire for an I2 that will work for novices in the sand. I have no problem redesigning fenders to fit them. I also run a tour in a different location with X2s, so I am aware they may be the only way to solve the problem, but I am trying to find a solution that does not create the extremly wide wheelbase of the X2 vs the I2. I am open for creative suggestions that may take some additional fabrication.

Thanks for your input!

[Bob.Kerns]

From an engineering standpoint, what you're looking for is a wider tire -- which implies a wider unit.

Softer tires will help -- for example, letting out some of the air from the stock tires, or better, use the IRC snow tires.

Sinking in is what will cause the most difficult, and the way you avoid that is by spreading the weight. Lowering the pressure will spread it a bit fore-and-aft, but that still gives you time to dig in as you travel; the broader tires will be more effective.

But sand varies enormously in its characteristics. Some sand will be no problem.

Even sand that you sink into up to the platform base won't be a problem for balance, so long as you don't try to overpower the machine. I'd suggest telling people if they get stuck -- to just stand there and wait for assistance. "Step off" would be good advice, but in the excitement, I'm not sure a novice wouldn't mess up and do something silly, especially if he sank into the sand himself!

(And I *have*, from time to time, gotten into sand so soft I sank in half-way up the platform. It's not hard to recover -- step off, and let it climb back to the surface, but we're talking about novices here).

[KSagal]

Originally Posted by hotpink

Ok, yes this another Segway tire question... I am outfitting a group of Segways for a tour that will have a short sandy beach component to it. I am looking to find a tire for an I2 that will work for novices in the sand. I have no problem redesigning fenders to fit them. I also run a tour in a different location with X2s, so I am aware they may be the only way to solve the problem, but I am trying to find a solution that does not create the extremly wide wheelbase of the X2 vs the I2. I am open for creative suggestions that may take some additional fabrication.

Thanks for your input!

Years ago, I sold and used a tire made by chen shin that was considered a trials tire. Jon called them ketts, and super ketts, depending on the aggressiveness of the tread. They worked on Gen 1 but were a tad too large for gen 2. Kings also made a trials tire in the right 14 inch size.

I had bought at the time some experimental tire sizes. The chen shins were 14 by 2.75 inches. (14 inch rim, 2.75 inch sidewall and 2.75 tread width)

The metric sized tires that segway uses, at 100 mm wide, is not quite that wide. (and they use a shorter sidewall) The result was a slightly larger tire, so the machine went a fraction of a mile per hour faster, but also it cornered better, and rode nicely.

Currently, I am using a chen shin 14 by 3 inch tire. It has a 3 inch side wall, and 3 inch width. Of course, since I am using an i2, I had to remove the fenders. I was looking for something between the width of an x model, and an i model. My 3 inch wide tires give a much better ride, yet the total width of the machine (with cargo racks) is not any wider at all, because I only went wider by a fraction.

I was planning on going to a 14 inch by 4 inch wide tire, but since the ones I already owned worked so well, I used them. (I am cheap beyond most all other factors)

You may try a simple casual fix like this. Only marginally wider, but not as wide as an x model.

Also, I have seen several custom tire/wheel combos if you are willing to go to a modified or altered wheel, then your choices expand exponentially.

Good luck. Show us your results.