BigFoots on Beaches in Australia

[.Joel]

Hi All,

Just wanting some information on Bigfoots. I noticed overseas a number of people use them, here on our beaches in Australia however I am yet to see them used. The closest to seeing someone use them was Craig who had the buggy in the back of his car but never pulled it out due to no wind.

Is there a great advantage to these ? I know that they are ideal for softer sand. But what about handling and straight line speed ?

Do you recommend grooving them or keeping them plain ?

Regards,

Joel

[Andy Mac]

3 x bigfoot v's 3 x standard wheels:

1/ Take a bigger kite - they're not called "big" for nothing and there's a fair amount of extra weight to pull

2/ Anything over 50km/hr and unless everyone else's are a lot better balanced than mine you're likely to get a bounce effect as all that rubber throws itself around

3/ On a hard flat beach - no advantage and for most of the ground conditions we use (Ovals, hard pack beaches, claypans) for the likes of anywhere we competed in the old Vic Buggy race series and against the South Australians (Kingston, Northern beaches of Adelaide and Lower Light) the standard wheels are probably better - lighter - faster...

4/ On REALLY soft sand - magic Too bad about the extra weight as lofting off the sand dunes would be VERY cool.... I think I need a big Blade III....

[Zenon]

4/ On REALLY soft sand - magic Too bad about the extra weight as lofting off the sand dunes would be VERY cool.... I think I need a big Blade III....

Blade III???...na dont bother go for the blade IV all the way.

But anyway back to the topic,

The only advantage the bigfoots have are for soft sand. and even then i love crusing at the base of the sand dunes here in New Zealand and i dont need bigfoots to do that. A standard Flexi buggy and a 6.5 Blade IV go hand in hand nicely for dune buggying.

But having said that i have rode a bigfoot PL and to be honest i didnt think it was worth extra $$$ as the only thing it provided was a bit of suspension that is just as achieveable by dropping tyre pressure in normal wheels.

Thats my two cents worth.

[BillyMac]

Is there a standard hard wheel around the size of a bigoot one? :shock: MONSTER BUGGY :shock: :shock:

[Angus]

They're great to have, I have used them a few times.

[Mick14]

They float - there are a couple of bigfoot buggies here in Adelaide, and I've seen one go into about a metre of water, keep buggying (downwind only, of course) and get back to land.

[ScoobyRob]

Is there a standard hard wheel around the size of a bigoot one? :shock: MONSTER BUGGY :shock: :shock:

I know guys in the UK run 20" BMX type wheels (Halo's) on hard packed sand

This pic is of a mates buggy running solid disc wheels

http://karen.photoblog.org.uk/c1168162.html

Hope you don't mind me linking the picture Karen

[Baggsy]

hey billy , have a look at Quad bike tyres .....i have seen some buggies with them on..

[Robbo]

i would imagine that quad bike tires would create huge ammounts of drag in soft sand, but dunno til ya try

[Pete]

Well, what about the additional dampening effect of having a larger pneumatic tyre? I have not yet used them, but I would imagine that better load distribution on soft surfaces and better 'suspension' effect are the two main advantages..... mmm...... watch this space

cheers

Pete

[popeyethewelder]

Well, I have to say, if you have never tried Bigfoots, then...quite frinkly you are missing out on so much. Only last weekend for instance, a friend was in his camelion on barrows, hard packed sand and race kites......I on the other hand was using asmmetrics on the rear (bigger than BFs) and a big foot light on the front, the Cougar buggy and a 6m Access.....I was leaving him for dead all day and clocked 47.5 mph. Later during the day we swapped buggies, and I have to say this was the first time ever that I have used barrows.

To see how much fun I was having doing power slides look here

Verdict....well the buggy did feel so much lighter...but....I felt every lump and bump on that beach and was glad to get back in my arm chair and finish the day off in comfort.

Bigfoots iron out all the bumps and undulations, but they must be on the right buggy, itsno good putting BFs on a buggy not strong enough to take them otherwise you will end up twisting your buggy... the PL Big Foot is a classic example of a buggy you SHOULD NOT put BFs on.....you WILL end up breaking the buggy, not only that it looks ridiculous

A new tyre is now on the market bigger than they BFs the EuroTrax at http://www.prokites.com/