Ok ... Time to get new buggy .... I have few options that I am considering and one question pop up on the way ...

What is the difference between Big Foot wheels and Beach Racers ?

Is there a thread on that somewhere on PKF ??
What are benefits to ride each of them on sand or grass ??

Thanks....

Good question.
I would guess from you question that you are asking about the tires and not the wheel. Or not?

I would have to ask what wheel you plan to use with the tires and what width are you thinking of. From my comparisons of the tires on a few different buggies and with different wheels those 2 things make a big difference in how they perform. Granted most of the buggy world would never know the difference, most of the racers would know and have a preference.

From a simple part of the buggy world the bigfoot lite are more than adequate for 90% of the time. If you plan to race than I would recommend to look into a tire with grooved tread. Now the width of wheel will ether add or take away from the performance of the grooved tire. The flatter the contact point of the tire, the less grip it has. I would not use a rim of 8" wide because it creates a flat contact point. You need a rounded tire to make a better grip in turning. But the real determining factor is all about BLING and has nothing to do about buggy handling.

I would have thought that beach racer (which is what my Kenda's are labled as) were big foot tyres and that big foot is just a generic term for tyres of that size.

The advantages of the Kenda Beach racer's for me so far are much better ability to handle soft sand - I can actually run into the dunes and keep going. Although I've only ever done that on a couple of occasions. In the paddock, the ride is more comfy as the large tyres provide good suspension.

Disadvantages....and this may well be how I've mounted them...they feel vague and wobbly at speed and make it much harder to slide and scrub off speed. Bloody expensive too. I've also ridden one other buggy with Kenda's and found the same thing.

Bottom line...I would not buy the Kenda's again. I much prefer the handling of my midi's and would investigate the midi xl's (18 x 8.5) for my next set of tyres.

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Originally posted by John Holgate Disadvantages....and this may well be how I've mounted them...they feel vague and wobbly at speed and make it much harder to slide and scrub off speed. Bloody expensive too. I've also ridden one other buggy with Kenda's and found the same thing.

I'm surprised to hear that. I find the opposite to be true. I agree they do provide less grip, which is why I use them. Personally I have to say they are easier to slide than any other type. They also have the most rounded tyre shape compared to eurotrax and BFL's.

Maybe there's more than just one manufacture of bigfoot tyres with different processes and end results. I ordered BFL's copies here in the UK and they are just laughable when you spin them by hand.

The hi-speed eurotrax bf's have a more oval shape which helps prevent lift off and therefore more lateral grip. The grooves on these are designed in such a way as to prevent clogging with sand. These tyres are probably considered the best bigfoots available. (if you're into grip)

A rider from England liked the handling of the beach racers much better when he cambered the back wheels. Better contact and grip and less catching while in sliding turns. They might be better as well on the 4 inch wheels like Bigkid suggested.

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Originally posted by BeamerBob A rider from England liked the handling of the beach racers much better when he cambered the back wheels. Better contact and grip and less catching while in sliding turns.

True. After cambering the wheels, the Kendas gained much needed grip without the catching and skipping as some BF's can do.
I feel that a cambered Kenda is the best compromise for me. It really is a different animal when tilted.
Of course no two locations are the same and no two riders are the same.

Up here the one really good has a mix of sand surface. Some areas are very smooth hardpack and can be dry and some areas might have a slight wet surface. Then areas of slightly spongy and then a bit softer and then areas of very soft sand further away from the waters edge.
Riding a bigfoot light (smooth on 4" rim) vs bigfoot on a wide 8" rim both could go in most places but the bigfoot like would start to feel increasing sluggish as the sand became softer because it didn't have as much contact. The wider rim allowed getting into softer sand. On the hardpack with a slight skim of water enough to feel greasy the lights were slippery whereas the wider had more grip. On the dry hardpack the 4" mounted tires are generally a little faster but a lot of pilot skill and type of kite etc can make up the difference. Because we have a mix of conditions and the smooth tires were feeling slippery on the wet hardpack a few guys have gone with the beachracers mounted on wider asym hubs on the back. Whether it's a smooth or grooved tire on really soft sand shouldn't make any difference for grip, it's the width that gets you rolling over it.
We haven't had a great fall for buggying so the guys that got beach racers this fall didn't have a chance to compare on that beach.
But because we have this mixed condition and a lot more beaches that are very soft the option to go with wide hubs on the back was used for the bigfoot buggies but the wide hubs are asymmetrical which don't work as good on the front so the beach racer tires come mounted on the 4 inch front hubs. Spinning the tires you can see a wobble and it can be anywhere from 1 to 2 cm from wheel to wheel. One wheel was even off centre (measuring each side to see how deep the hub sat down into the tire) so it meant one side wall of the tire expanded different than the other side wall putting the hub shifted off centre and the tire then off centre mounted in the axle. Letting air out brought the tire back to centre and eliminated some of the wobble. I've been asking if anyone has ideas on how to eliminate the small wobble on the mounted beach racers on a 4 inch rim because we are concerned they will produce that shudder at higher speeds. Wondering if letting some air out and heating them up will help - it's colder here now until next summer so not much chance of getting hot days to get them to seat better. It would only be a small amount that varies along the bead to make a bit of a bulge further out at the edge of the tire because of the tire diameter and stiffness of the rubber etc. So in this discussion if anyone has tips on truing up a beachracer mounted on a 4 inch hub - please post. On the allterraintyres.co.uk they write:
"The KENDA BEACHRACER Big Foot tyre is a very high quality alternative to the Cad Kat EuroTrax Bigfoot grooved kite buggy tyre. This tyre is FACTORY GROOVED ensuring consistent performance and precise stright line running. It has been developed for kite buggy racing by kite buggy racers to give the optimum tyre profile, groove width and spacing. The Beach Racer tyre is not suitable for fitment to the narrow barrow type rim due to it's shape, it should only be fitted to the wider asymetric rims."

I've got mine mounted on 4" alloy sysmic rims - the reason I didn't go for the 8" rims was that on the Vmax, there is a lock nut on the inside of the wheel next to the axle which is really hard to get to on an 8" rim. With the 4", a 40 degree bend in a 30mm spanner makes it easy to get to the lock nut.

I suspect my Kenda Beach Racers may well need a bit of truing/balancing to improve them - not sure how to go about that.

The Eurotrax bigfoots (slicks) that I've seen looked much truer and more oval too.

John you should switch over to stub axles and then you can tighten the jam nut before putting the wheel on. Then a nylock on the outside.

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John you should switch over to stub axles and then you can tighten the jam nut before putting the wheel on. Then a nylock on the outside.

Ah, now there's a thought. are they commercially available or would I need to get some 20mm rod threaded up to suite?

When I needed yet another set of axle bolts for the Landsegler wheels, I decided to not need any other sizes ever again and made up some from 20mm threaded rod. Just cut to length, thread the rod into your axle, then adjust your jamnut position so you have enough axle for the threaded rod to protrude from your nylock, Then snuG up the jamnut before putting your wheel on. This is how Popeye did the bolts on the Hero buggy and it works great.

Thank you guys for all info ... This answers few of my questions that I did not know I have ....

...Looking at price difference its about a $100 per wheel ..... Now.... need to decide if benefits of beach racers are worth $300 extra

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and made up some from 20mm threaded rod.

Easy done, cheers!