A2B build

[ElectricGod]

Those don't look "tubeless ready". It will save a lot of headache if you can find ones made to run tubeless. I suspect the little grooves on the bead are there to improve grip to prevent the tire from spinning out in the rim. If there was an easy way to sand them off or something it might be OK.

Yes...I wondered the same thing.
Funny you mention sanding them...this is exactly what I thought I'd do.
They are pretty small and unlike the schwalbe tires there are just a few of them. I think they will sand off.
A dremel with a sanding disk will make quick work of them.

 

[ElectricGod]

Thanks for your help clearing up the thing about 16" tires and 20 bike rims.

The Shinko tires arrived today. They took almost no effort to get them to seal up. I put a ratchet strap around them to get the bead seated and of course some tubeless sealer in each wheel. One tire fizzed air for a minute or 2 at the bead and that was the worst of it. I filled my bathtub with water and immersed both wheels. No leaks at all. I went with 80/80-16 tires front and back.

 

[ElectricGod]

i use that shinko model, 2.25" version, on the trike, but i'm not running tubeless. the bead on them is grooved, too, but once they've been on a rim for a while inflated, the rubber is soft enough that the bead impresses into them deeply enough that it would probably make a seal. that softness also gives the tires good grip, but they wear faster than harder tires.

the pirelli m75 or ml75 is another good tire that's been used on 20" bike rims here on es, especially back when ebike racing was a big thing several years to a decade back. i went with the shinko vs pirelli due to cost but the pirelli is probably worth the difference,

I ended up getting the same tire as you...2.25"-16 instead of the 80/80-16 and 80/90-16. I thought the extra width and height of the tire was unneeded and just added weight and size that wouldn't really add any benefit. I've seen pictures of this bike with the 80/80 or 80/90 tires on them and it looks fine, but felt "biggish" to me.

Anyway, my Shinko 2.25-16 tires have smooth beads on them. There was nothing to grind or sand off and they sealed up almost immediately. THe tubelss sealant closed up the one leak I had in less than 2 minutes.

A couple of marks on the tire and rim will show if there is any tire movement or migration. I'm not very concerned about this happening. I have smaller tire diameters on heavier EV's and they don't migrate.

I forget where, but I saw the Pirelli tires among other more costly options. The fact that I saw no horror stories for the Shinko tires made me feel comfortable they would be fine.

 

[amberwolf]

They work fine for me; Iv'e worn out one set and am on my second now. The old ones are now spares, presently used on a one-dog kennel trailer, on old BMX wheels.

The main reason I am not using the 3" version of this tire is simply that I'd have to rebuild the rear fender frames to accomodate them. The 2.25" ones are already so large I had to modify the frames a bit in places to prevent rubbing. :lol:

If I knew of a CST tire similar to this, I'd be willing to try those, too, as everything I've used of theirs for bicycles has been very good (and one I wish they still made; it was a really nice tire).

I'm using tubes, rather than trying tubeless.

The only time I've seen any problems with the tire rotating on the rim are in severe underpressure situations, when there's already a flat or near-flat, and that's been so rare (four times? five? so rare I can't recall :lol: ) in the years I've been running these that I haven't had enough observations to determine anything from it.

At least two of the flats were caused by valve stems on bicycle tubes, so now I use metal-stemmed MC/moped tubes, and don't have that problem..another was caused by failure of the rim strip tape, which i'd used cheap electrical tape for, and the tube got notched by the nipple holes. Another was a super long thorn, probably mesquite, which didn't actually cause the flat--pulling it out caused the flat; the thorn kept the hole sealed until then. :lol: The tire is so thick that it held the thorn in place in the hole in the tube so well it didn't leak much till then. :/

 

[ElectricGod]

They work fine for me; Iv'e worn out one set and am on my second now. The old ones are now spares, presently used on a one-dog kennel trailer, on old BMX wheels.

The main reason I am not using the 3" version of this tire is simply that I'd have to rebuild the rear fender frames to accomodate them. The 2.25" ones are already so large I had to modify the frames a bit in places to prevent rubbing. :lol:

If I knew of a CST tire similar to this, I'd be willing to try those, too, as everything I've used of theirs for bicycles has been very good (and one I wish they still made; it was a really nice tire).

I'm using tubes, rather than trying tubeless.

The only time I've seen any problems with the tire rotating on the rim are in severe underpressure situations, when there's already a flat or near-flat, and that's been so rare (four times? five? so rare I can't recall :lol: ) in the years I've been running these that I haven't had enough observations to determine anything from it.

At least two of the flats were caused by valve stems on bicycle tubes, so now I use metal-stemmed MC/moped tubes, and don't have that problem..another was caused by failure of the rim strip tape, which i'd used cheap electrical tape for, and the tube got notched by the nipple holes. Another was a super long thorn, probably mesquite, which didn't actually cause the flat--pulling it out caused the flat; the thorn kept the hole sealed until then. :lol: The tire is so thick that it held the thorn in place in the hole in the tube so well it didn't leak much till then. :/

The 2.15" tire is somewhat close. I'm pretty sure the 80/80 or 3.15" tire would fit since that's the factory tire size. No idea about the back wheel. I'm still waiting on a longer axle to arrive.

Tubeless...give it a shot. A pal in Whales UK some years back (2015?) told me about his first attempt with tubeless on a small stand-up scooter. I was impressed with what he said so I pulled the wheels off my stand-up scooter that night. It took an hour to get the tires back on sans tubes. I lost a pound of weight per wheel and the ride was better. I had already sheared off a valve stem like you did, but now it was impossible. Those tires have not been filled in almost 2 years. I parked that scooter a long time ago, pulled the batteries and a few other parts like my cast aluminum wheels and gave the rest a away to a friend. I just checked the tire pressure on the back wheel...18 psi. It has lost some pressure, but after 2 years of sitting there. I definitely like the feel of ride of tubeless and it also makes wheel balancing easier. I don't I have anything with tubes anymore. I've never had a flat. Leaks from a puncture last a minute. A little tire sealant inside has always solved anything like that for me. I still carry a compact tire pump just in case. I've used it a couple of times. I realize the ride feels a little soft. I must have gotten a puncture sometime ago and then look for the green or white spot where the hole used to be.

The moment I got this A2B, I knew I was going tubeless!

I have to admit that this is my first attempt on bike wheels to do tubeless. I knew good tape over the spoke holes was a requirement for reliability so I used PET. It's working fine so far...lol...like days is any kind of a test!

 

[fechter]

If it fits in the front, the rear won't be a problem. There is slightly more clearance there.

I might want to try tubeless on my A2B sometime. Those tires look good.

Did you have to sand or trim the rubber ribs on the bead?

 

[ElectricGod]

If it fits in the front, the rear won't be a problem. There is slightly more clearance there.

I might want to try tubeless on my A2B sometime. Those tires look good.

Did you have to sand or trim the rubber ribs on the bead?

The bead was totally smooth. They had no problem sealing up.

 

[ElectricGod]

A friend of mine has an A2B.
He was at my house earlier today and so I showed him my new tires.
He's still running on the factory tires which we all love and adore for the steaming POS they are.
He saw my wheels with the Shinko tires on them and immediately wanted to know how he could do the same.
He needs some amount of off-road use so I got him a set that have more tread on them than mine.
He'll bring his wheels back to my place and we'll make them tubeless then.

He's running the factory hub motor...which is meh...with an external 12 fet controller.
I'm working on him to do something more powerful. He's using 2 of the factory 10S packs in parallel.

 

[ElectricGod]

I was not paying attention...
I bought a new rear axle that was long enough for the back drop-outs.
The problem is I need 10mm and bought 3/8".
It's long enough, but is too small for the 10mm bearing ID's.
LOL...re-ordered one in 10mm.

 

[ElectricGod]

I bought this brake bleed kit back when I got the Shimano brake kit so I could route the back brake line through the frame and bleed them once it was all assembled again. The bleed kit is a great tool to have. I've used it twice now and getting air out of the brake lines is very easy. It has an included funnel that is threaded for the Shimano master cylinder port. There's an adapter kit that adapts various other thread types used on other hydraulic brakes to the bleed kit. Bleeding breaks can be pretty messy and unreliable. This bleed kit takes out 99% of the hassle and mess.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07T85N3YK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The rear brake line that came with the Shimano kit was a little too short. I had it pulled down at the handle bars as much as possible. There was not enough length to route the line through the cable tie downs built on the the frame. I got a brake line kit and made my own. The kit has far more line that you will likely need. It included fittings to make up 2 complete brake hoses. The line cut easily with an exacto knife. The hardest part was getting the brass inserts into the brake hose. I eventually used soft jaws in my vice to hold the brake hose and then I could gently tap the brass insert into the ends of the brake line. I added about 6" of length. Bleeding the brake line was quick and easy.

10mm back axel is on order. I've decided to make my own drop out supports from 6061 aluminum and to put them inside the swing arms. There's plenty of room on either side of the track hub so why not hide them?