Viewing 26 posts - 1 through 26 (of 26 total)
  • Whats Loam? is it the same as soil or dirt?
  • julians
    Free Member

    Just interested, only seems to be used in bike circles, is it another imported american word, where we already have something that we should be using, or is it a very specific type of soil?

    How do I know if I’m riding loam, or soil, or dirt? What tyres should I use for loam? How much travel is required for loam?

    daveagiles
    Free Member

    Brown Pow

    jam-bo
    Full Member
    stevied
    Free Member

    loam

    noun
    a fertile soil of clay and sand containing humus.

    GEOLOGY
    a soil with roughly equal proportions of sand, silt, and clay.
    a paste of clay and water with sand, chopped straw, etc., used in making bricks and plastering walls.

    Doesn’t paint the picture of loam I have in my head..

    julians
    Free Member

    Thanks all, just read the wiki article, there are several types of loam:-

    sandy loam, silty loam, clay loam, sandy clay loam, silty clay loam, and loam.

    I’m going to need a different bike for each of those arent I?

    discoduck
    Free Member

    I’ve always thought it was soft muck almost a mulch but drier and a mixture of muck and rotting leaves, vegetation, that kind of stuff.

    Ecky-Thump
    Free Member

    … a fertile soil of clay and sand containing humus.

    does it taste of chickpeas?

    legend
    Free Member

    daveagiles – Member
    Brown Pow

    Prime conditions indeed

    Rusty-Shackleford
    Free Member

    Loam is a type of soil, as in chalky, clay, sandy and loam.

    Gardeners love it because it’s a jack of all trades with no real weaknesses. it’s easy to work, drains well yet still manages to hold onto moisture and also it’s nutrients.

    edit: from the RHS Loams are comprised of a mixture of clay, sand and silt that avoid the extremes of clay or sandy soils and are fertile, well-drained and easily worked. They can be clay-loam or sandy-loam depending on their predominant composition and cultivation characteristics

    stevied
    Free Member

    I’m going to need a different bike for each of those arent I?

    Just tyres…

    40mpg
    Full Member

    The ultimate guide to UK tyre selection…

    UK Soil Type Mapping

    Now, what tyres for ‘slowly permeable seasonally wet slightly acid but base-rich loamy and clayey soils’? (actually I know the answer, and they’re 4″ wide 😀 )

    kimbers
    Full Member

    loam only works in slowmo on your gopro

    IanMunro
    Free Member

    Thanks for the link!
    I have
    “Slightly acid loamy and clayey soils with impeded drainage”
    aka
    Mud.

    discoduck
    Free Member

    Kimbers, not entirely true there, if I may correct you.

    Suspended from wires OR if on board a drone, otherwise it has little GNAAAR,

    brooess
    Free Member

    I’m going to need a different bike for each of those arent I?

    Just tyres…

    Not quite – it’s different wheelsize. 650B makes the loam come alive.

    Sorry kittens…

    peabrain
    Free Member

    hmm is that a post Sept 18th map of UK soil types?

    tang
    Free Member

    Hero dirt.

    joat
    Full Member

    It’s grippy but not sticky,
    Loose but not sloppy,
    Soft but not sucky.

    deadkenny
    Free Member

    Loam is lovely. Best if slightly damp if it’s been very dry just to firm it up a little for grip, but still loose enough to drift.

    To be found on real trails, not trail centre hard pack 😛

    Perfect soil for ferns to take over if not ridden enough though.

    boxelder
    Full Member

    It’s an ideal farming soil with 40% sand, 40% silt and 20% clay. Sand aids drainage, silt holds moisture accessibly for roots and clay forms bonds with nutrient/minerals aiding fertility. Sandy loam slightly more sand, silty….you get the gist.
    In MTB terms it’s a soil that drains quite well and doesn’t dry up and fall apart like sand. Forms under mixed/decided woodland.
    Dull eh. I prefer a peaty stagnogley myself

    jamj1974
    Full Member

    forms bonds with nutrient/minerals aiding fertility.

    . Cation exchange…?

    I always like a good podsol myself or a chernozem…

    rOcKeTdOg
    Full Member

    Dan always describes it as looking like “used coffee grounds”

    boxelder
    Full Member

    cation exchange

    Gouy double layer

    endurogangster
    Free Member

    Old tioga dh tyres are good for loam! It’s the only type of surface they are not complete crap

    Paceman
    Free Member

    Chalky loam round our way, it can be lethal in the wet 😆

    Speeder
    Full Member

    “Brown Pow” indeed. Had those conditions on a day out with mates pushing up at Hopton many years ago. Apparently I had a far away look in my eyes and was heard to use words like “dreamy” when describing it.

    mmmmmmmmmm loam

Viewing 26 posts - 1 through 26 (of 26 total)

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