The new SS2's will be shipping in the 1st part of February. I got a chance to try them out and they rock compared to the older version! They are half the weight (7 pounds each on a rim) and cost under $200 a set (on rims). (better and cheaper!!)

I am in the process of getting set-up as a dealer for his tires and for ATV tires they can be over nighted to your door for free (In CA, NV, and AZ) I am paying the shipping.

He also has a new box that can be picked up with one hand.

They are working with OMF for light weight bead locks which add only 1 pound per tire. I am unsure of the price of those.

With them being lighter it makes a world of difference. I bought a set years back and sold them because I felt they robbed HP on the hills.
These new ones are night and day difference from the older ones.

I've been a long time 'hater' of molded tires simply due to the weight issue. I have run the expensive comp-cut tires in the last few years and am now considering switching over to these. I do need more time on them to form a full opinion but the initial test was amazing. I found that 6 PSI worked the best. At 5 PSI they had almost to much bite while launching out of the hole (in a race situation).

These new SS2's look the same and are still the same quality. You can't tell by looking at them they are different. They are also working on molding in their logo into the main hull of the tire (tread area) in either red or blue. It will be a 'wavy' design (and not a perfectly shapped logo) since it will be molded in during the manufacturing process. Not sure when this will be available.

While the china made paddles may be cheaper these are lighter and you can't go wrong with the quality of STU's tires. American made

Anyway here's a few pic's:

Here is the new box design:


The new handle can be seen here. The box will be slightly different by covering the cardboard edge in the center:



This is on the side of the box on a set with the OMF bead locks:


The OMF set-up. Will be offered in different colors:


The view after you drop the hammer


Working the clutch:

YES PLEASE!!!

Put me down for a set -- 20x11-10 Honda pattern

I personally think the old versions were fairly light. The only thing I found lighter were SkatTrak's

I'm a long time fan of the Sand Skate II's but I recently gave in and bought some Sand Stars, I haven't even ran them yet and I'm already NOT impressed.

why are you not impressed by Sand stars?


I love the skates too, but have had stars for a year now

Yeah i would say run them first. You will probably love them.

I really like thiose OMF beadlocks. How much for just the beadlocks? front and rear?

nice write up Mike

any ideas what they have changed mike? im going to assume that they have removed some of the rubber from the tire when manufacturing.

All he would tell me is he used different compounds, different bead package ( I think) and a different process to make them.

It's still as durable as before.

When can we get ahold of a set? I was going to buy some SS2s in the next week or 2 so but I will wait if the new ones will be availble by then. My next trip is 2/12.

I'm interested in a set as well. Send me a PM when they are available.

Thanks, Gar

He expects them the 1st of Febuary but that is not set in stone. He says they are in the cure process this week and should ship soon. I will know more tomorrow.

I am slated to receive the 1st sets as I am the only one that has requested any as of yet.
They are 20x11x10 only for now and are $200 shipped on blue label Douglas rims.
(add tax if your in CA )

The OMF beadlocks will cost more but not sure how much yet.

I mentioned before they would add another pound to each tire/rim combo but OMF is working on a newer design that will be even lighter! They will also have different color rings.

If anyone would like to pre-pay PM me.

LOOKBOY I can't guarentee they will be here before your trip. If they arive a day or so before they can be shipped overnight.

What if we had PEP/Leager stamped on them?

I doubt it because I think this is one of the ways they are saving weight.

How about we put small red reflectors in the holes?

Mike, any chance you'll have a "demo" set guys could mouunt up for a quick test ride? I'm running Sand Stars on Hiper-Tech beadlocks currently and love how they dune, frankly they are the best general dune tire I've ran (used to run haulers and edges, have never tried the SS2's). This new tire does sound promissing, but I would love to try a set to do a back to back comparisson, many others may be interrested in this "demo" idea as the Sand Stars are popular.

Funny you mention the demo ride. I suggested to Bill about having a demo day at the dunes and he wants to do it. Just a matter of when.

I have a set of teh new SS2's you can use but they are on Honda rims.

I can have a set of Yami rims Prez Day to try out.

OK sounds like a plan. But watch out you may like the Arens/TCS combo

Looks like it will be at Osborne.

Cool, I camp out in the sand about 500 yards from Sweet Maries. I'll stop by and say hi, or if you're in my area feel free to do the same.

Mike, I will hold off for a week and see if they come in I have a Banshee so let me know. Thanks

We got a chance to measure the new tires this weekend. HA2 brought over a scale and an old SS2 on an ITP rim (equivalent to a red label Douglas rim).

Old SS2 on ITP rim = 16 pounds
New SS2 on blue label Dougals rim = 13 pounds

Other measurements (all on Douglas blue label rims)
Comp Cut Desert Mini-Trak = 14 3/4 pounds
Comp Cut Padla Brat on 10" rim = 13 3/4 pounds
Comp Cut Padla Brat on 8" rim = 11 3/4 !!
Front Razor Backs 12 = pounds

Assuming that the ITP rim weights a pound more (probably less) it looks like only a 4-5 pound difference is weight.
I really need to measure each, brand new without the rim to be sure.

either way it's still 8-10 pounds less upsrung weight which makes a huge difference

Looks like it will be 2 weeks before they are in. Bill is confident they will be there in time to ship for Presidents Day.

Ahh your right!

I will call and find out where he got the 5 pound savings from.

if anyone gets a chance, id be interested (and im sure its good for the sake of arguement) in the weight of a mounted sand star.

Are the sets on ITP wheels, or Douglas?

I hate my ITP wheels. I haven't seen a set yet that wasn't a waste of aluminum

I thought you said they were 7lbs. on rims? DOH! I must of understood it wrong, you probably ment the rims are 7lbs. and the new OMF beadlocks will be 8 lbs. or something like that.

They are on Blue Label Douglas.

I am still working on getting the weight thing delt with. Will keep you posted.

**UPDATE**

ITP Sand Star 20-11x10 mounted on ITP .190 wheels

Left tire .... 17lb 9.6oz

Right tire .... 17lb 3.2oz

Some of the weight difference is in the stems (they don't match )

I'll prolly break them down this weekend and re-weigh the tires and the wheels to figure out where the variance is.



BTW .... I did get a chance to run these Stars on Saturday and NO I wasn't really impressed with their performance.

17lbs is heavy as all hell. 16 isnt much better.

i still think the 13lbs of the new sand skates is VERY respectable for a molded paddle that isnt comp cut or big $$$. when you times it by two (yes you have two rear tires ), 8lbs less rotating weight is a lot.

and i can assure the sand sharks are just as heavy if not heaver than the sand stars.

thanks for the numbers, ho.

Looks like the 'prototypes' (only 2-3 sets right nowand the ones we used for measurments) are heavier than what the production tires will be. We shall see.

More info:
The 1st few sets had the old style bead package and that's why they are heavier.
These tires are prototypes and the production tires will have a different bead package and WILL be 7 pounds each.

Also it looks as if they will not be here in time for Prez Day.

sweet

I heard

No idea what's in the future.

What's the latest on the 2's??

Can I get em yet??

Can I get em from you Mike330R??

well..... I have sand stars on C-series, and C-series are some EXTREMELY heavy wheels and I beat every other equal and sometimes better quad up the hill Wonder what nice light wheels will do

Everything kinda fell through

The guy who took over STU is the one who redesigned the SS2's. He ended up leaving STU and Mark Harms took over again. So the new designs are up in the air.

I will try and contact Mark at some point to find out if he plans on continuing with the new designs or going back to the old way things were run

Mark@ Sand Tires had the rest of the tires destroyed. The new Sand Skate was a really thin 2 ply tire that was going to be junk.

In short: Bill Oliver 'was' buying/taking over Sand Tires Unlimited (STU). The deal fell through, Bill left and Mark Harms is back in charge.

As I heard, any changes Bill was in the process of making to better the products and company is/was a waste of time and money.

2nd hand info heard from Mark Harms: "The new SS2's are a pile of junk and will fail. I designed the original SS2's and know what they are capable of"


I'll leave my personal opinion out of this post. But I will say I have a set of the pre-production prototypes. Have run them hard on a few different bikes and they seem fine *shrug*

So if you still want comp cut STU tires for your ATV call Joe Goodhand at Fullerton Sand Sports 714-484-5996

Yes Fullerton Sand Sports is an excellent company, ordered tires Monday afternoon, got them Weds afternoon, their located socal and im Vegas, very quick shipping would def. buy more things from Fullerton.

Yeah 17 is heavy, but they are on 10" .190 rims. Thin if they were on .125 8" rims they would be alot lighter.

What was the difference's between the sand skate 2's and the sand stars?

and what size rim are you running on your sand skate 2's?



the itp rims are .160 and the douglas blue labels are .125

a lot lighter? i doubt that. a lbs or two maybe.

the paddles im running now are taller wider and 11lbs mounted so im happy even if my wallet isnt.

Yeah but going from a 10" rim that is .190 thick to a 8" rim that is .125 thick is a big difference.

Im not to worried about my weight in the rear. Im more worried about my stupid tires leaking air all the time because i get sand in the bead. If i could afford beadlocks i would have them now.

All i want to know is how the sandstars compare to the sandstars. But it is different on eveyr bike. It would need to be compared ezually thoug. A sandskate 2 on a 8" .160 rim to a sandstar on a 8" .160 rim. Both tirees would also need to be 20". Im happy with my stars.

But how do the sand skate 2's compare to those comp cut ones? and what size do the comp cut ones come in?

my weights are on the same ITP rims as hoes.

to clarify mike's weights of the olds SS2's are of my old paddles and rims.

Now that sucks ..... I already sold my Stars in hopes for some new 2's

I read in sandaddiction that the sandstars are a great paddle, but they are not for a agressive rider. They grab to much when the agressive rider wants to turn or roost. They also said that when they leaned way over the gas tank they were able to spin the tires. I totally understand why some people dont like them now. I love mine, but i wish i could pitch the rear end around alot easier.