paddle tires

[PHIL_B54]

last year i bought 21X11X10 Gecko's for my 400ex. im not sure if i was impressed with them or not. i was only piped then, and and it was my first time to the dunes. now i have a warrior that will also need paddles. my plan is to set the gecko's up in a mill and slot the holes so i can use them on the warrior(or the ex if i need to).

what do i want? i will be going twice this year. i just got a set of mohawk's for my front. im leaning towards a straight paddle. is there an advantage to the more rounded profile of the hauler over the flat profile of the glider? are either of them worth paying that much for? ive heard there is a difference in the longevity of of differently molded tires..can anyone explain.

thank you to anyone for help

[Berry]

i would go with straight paddle

[Bad Habit]

I ran 20" 8 paddle Haulers all last year and I won't be using anything else from now on. Sand Sharks are ok, Geckos are ok, but once you ride with the hook up that the Haulers have, you won't want anything else. Some people insist on having an angled paddle for the trails and that's fine if that's what they like. But I have not had a problem with the straights once you get a little seat time with them.

The Haulers hold up very well as long as you're not doing burn outs on the asphalt in camp:blah: The paddles themselves that are vulcanized to the carcass are ok strength wise and don't wear fast. Tires like the Sharks or Geckos that have the paddle integrated into the tire compound are very strong and you do not run the risk of "throwing" a paddle. However it has been my experience that these types of tires wear down the paddle relatively quickly when compared to the harder Haulers.

Hope this helps. I'd be glad to let you try my Haulers during the spring ride down there, but you gotta turn the wrenches:D

[JOEX]

^^^What he said^^^:macho

[hondaexryda]

geckos are good, i have them on my 400ex, but i might get haulers later, the curved paddles our more of a going threw the dune paddles, and like haulers , i think our better for straight up and down, but they Spit up a ALOT of sand, thats why i like them...

[jbfoco]

Do yourself a favor and get some skat trak haulers

[PHIL_B54]

Originally posted by jbfoco
Do yourself a favor and get some skat trak haulers

thats what im leaning towards, but what makes them worth the extra $ over say dune hoppers(chen shin), dune runners(kenda),sand devil(GBC), or rooster straight(maxxis)?

then, would i want 7 or 8 paddle?

thanks guys

[PHIL_B54]

anyone run these cheaper alternatives, or do you get what you pay for?? 7 or 8 paddles?

[Bad Habit]

Go with an 8 paddle. With your motor mods, you might even be able to pull a 16t front which will give you alot longer legs inbetween gears.

Overall, you get what you pay for. The traction characteristics are usually in line with the price, but not always. One advantage of the Haulers is that they use an old tire carcass (sometimes even lawn mower tires) and shave the tread completely off. Then the paddle is vulcanized to the carcass. This creates a much lighter tire which requires less hp to turn, which results in quicker wheel spin, which is almost more important than traction. I've seen guys run knobbies in really wet, packed sand and beat guys with paddles. The reason they could do this was the paddles hooked up too well and robbed more hp. The bike with the knobbies was able to get the tires spinning while having good enough traction to get him moving forward.

[jbfoco]

I ve had haulers, sand devils, sand sharks

The sand devils no matter what tire pressure i was running didnt hook up and to me were a waste of money in my eyes.

The sand sharks were good, for a v shaped tire. I was surprised how much fun they were. The hooked up ok and sliding was fun

I now have haulers and i couldnt be any happier with them, you will notice a difference in how well they hook up compared to the other paddles. People complain about it being hard to turn with haulers, just play with the tire pressure and they can turn just as easily as the v shaped paddles.

hope this helps

[PHIL_B54]

i guess 8 paddle haulers it is. thanks for the help

[DONKEY]

My friend bought a set of the rooster straights, he has been very pleased with them. It will be the roosters or haulers for me. Not sure which ones just yet.