Tires and hub motors from e-bikes.ca

[Iron Yeti]

How much of a difference do low friction tires make versus mountain bike tires? I have yet to purchase my hub motor/controller/batteries, but for now I will be riding it to work via pedal power. Would I have an easier time if I swapped out the mountain bike tires or should I just leave em?

Also, are the Crystalyte X-504, and 408 motors solid, or do you stick a skewer through them to secure them to your frame?

On a completely unrelated note. I have everything I need for my bike to convert. Spent about 900 bucks including the bike itself. U-Lock, chain lock, Topeak seatwedge pack w/ spare tube, patch kit, tire gauge, bike multi tool, leatherman (Had this already), camelbak, Topeak cargo rack and trunk bag, Topeak bike pump, Giro bike helmet, and pitlock skewers/bolts for the headset, front and rear hub, brakes, and seatpost.

 

[mvadventure]

I can't speak for rough mountain bike tires but I just changed from 70 psi slicks to 40 psi moderate tread tires and the difference is notable. I got a little more top end out of the slicks with my 5304, up to 32 mph compared to a little over 30 with the lower psi tires but the ride is where the real difference is. With my old rigid frame beach bike and slicks the ride was harsh under the best of conditions, the newer lower psi tires are night and day better although I feel confident they will take a little more power to run. At the moment my watts up meter isn't hooked up so I can't determine how much extra power, if any, they require but I like 'em.

Another factor which may or may not have any value is determining wear on the tire. I had my first flat last week and when I removed the tire to fix the tube I noticed the center of the tire was paper thin. The sides still had the little rubber teats sticking out and I simply didn't realize the tire had gotten so worn. After I bought two new tires and was replacing the rear one the wear difference was significant. Since my motor is on the front that tire wore much more than the rear even though my 225 lbs and the battery sit over it. I could have gotten another 500 miles at least out of it. The tires had about 3K miles on them.

Mike

 

[dogman dan]

As I approach 700 miles on my ebike, I think I can say that you won't be stuck with any tire for all that long. These are cheapie tires on my bikes of course, but peadling only, tires lasted me till they rotted. At the rate I'm riding, I may be getting new ones twice a year. Or at 40 bucks a pop at garage sales, maybe a whole new bike twice a year! Peadling though, you want low rolling resistance, so slicks, or just a tire with a center rib may be well worth it. The ride will get a lot harsher when you start hauling ass on the ebike, but for peadling , pump em up hard. The motor will have a solid axle, but one end will have a slot or be hollow to let the wires out.

 

[Iron Yeti]

Ok, I am going to stick with my 50 PSI mountain bike tires for now. I might switch to slicks when I get my motor, but if there is no major reason to and the ride is really rough, then I might not. My mountain bike tires are filled up to 50 PSI each, the tires looked really squishy when I rode at 40 so I bumped it up a bit.

So the motor is solid, I can't put a skewer through it... When I purchase my hub motor I am going to have to replace my locking pitlock skewer with a pitlock hub bolt, and they only sell em in sets so I will need to shell out 100.00 bucks...bummer.

Now, with bike tire hubs that require skewers, I can't use those locking bolts, can I? I'd need a solid axle to use them and not a hollow axle?

 

[Rassy]

I Y, I guess you must need to leave your bike where it can be ripped off, but IMO you would be better off putting torque arms on your hub motor axles, and maybe securing them to the bike with some sort of a lock to foil easy removal. You are probably aware that the threads on the hub motor axle are larger than your standard bicycle axle, so those special nuts would have to be ordered to fit the hub motor axle.

 

[Iron Yeti]

Anyway to find out? These pitlock bolts are 1 3/16.

 

[Rassy]

Iron Yeti wrote:

Anyway to find out? These pitlock bolts are 1 3/16.

I don't know anything about pitlock bolts or what 1 3/16 means here. But I did see where they don't recomment pitlocks for horizontal rear dropouts because they aren't designed to be put on as tight as a rear wheel would need to keep from slipping forward. That being the case, I would hesitate to use them to hold a hub motor, even if they did fit the axle.

 

[Anonymous]

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[Iron Yeti]

Iron Yeti wrote:

Anyway to find out? These pitlock bolts are 1 3/16.

I don't know anything about pitlock bolts or what 1 3/16 means here. But I did see where they don't recomment pitlocks for horizontal rear dropouts because they aren't designed to be put on as tight as a rear wheel would need to keep from slipping forward. That being the case, I would hesitate to use them to hold a hub motor, even if they did fit the axle.

1 1/16 is 1.18 inches. Luckily my rear dropout where I plan to put my hub motor (Because my front fork has shocks and it's not recommended) has vertical dropouts. My front fork has vertical dropouts too.

 

[andys]

the main problem with mountain bike slicks is flat tires, which are even more annoying to fix on an e-bike. An exeption are the Maxxis hookworm tires that roll fast and corner great and wear like iron. they are a top choice of city messenger guys. Theyare heavy and a bit expensive, but ride like a motorcycle tire that they are designed after. This is my first choice for a mostly road ebike.

http://www.mtbr.com/cat/tires-and-wheels/tire/maxxis/hookworm/PRD_359734_151crx.aspx

http://www.treefortbikes.com/84_333222334734__Hookworm-26x2.50.html

 

[I AM 0Z]

My main problem is roundness and true-ness when i use my street or moutian tires at 55 - 60 PSI every hard bump I hit knocks the tires out of round and slightly warps the rim (oh and on account of this I will never put another aluminum rim on that bike) I was forever flipping the bike over and whippin out the spoke wrench. Using 45 - 50 PSI gave the tire a little more shock absorbency and the ride was a little more gentler on this old back. But, I do know that on street tires I get much better ride than on mountain tires and top end speed is about the same. Climbing up hills seems to be a bit easier on the bike when using street tires too. I also use something I haven't seen too many of the others talk about. I use the sealant goop you can buy just about every where. Sure, I spend some time making sure my tires a properly inflated before going anywhere ( if anything the good ol squeeze the tire test and add air as necessary) but, so far i have not been parked anywhere patching a flat tire.

 

[dogman dan]

The green slime in the tires is a must here in the thorny desert. One of the reasons I went to full suspension was bent wheels. Now I have no problems with 60-70 pounds in my mtb tires. They seem to roll real easy that hard, and even box store bike suspension seems to be enough to keep it from being harsh.

 

[Mark_A_W]

Schwalbe Marathon Plus. If you are going to commute, do not skimp.

6300km, not a single flat.

 

[MidniteTweeker]

but for peadling , pump em up hard.

Well......not exactly. I used to think that way also. But...

Let's use a railroad track and a steel railcar wheel as an analogy. If road surfaces were as smooth as a railroad track, pumping the tire as hard as possible would make sense. That is, make it resemble the railcar wheel for low rolling resistance.

The problem (at least around here) is that very little pavement is as smooth as a piece of steel track. A lot of back roads are surfaced with something called "seal coat." Layer upon layer of seal coat. Each layer consists of a sprayed on coating of tar over which a thin layer of pea gravel is spread. The resulting surface is kind of nubby. When you ride over it with a skinny hard tire, the vibration is pronounced. Part of that vibration is vertical movement up and down as the wheel hits an individual nub and pushes up and over it. It takes energy to lift the weight of bike and rider, and that energy is robbed from the forward speed. You either slow down or pedal harder to make up for it.

Ancedotal story: I was riding on a newly resurfaced blacktop road which <was> like the steel rail. I was running skinny tires at 100 psi (~6 bar.) Smooth nearly effortless pedaling. Then the blacktop ended and seal coat began. The vibration or buzz was immediately started, the bike began to slow, and pedaling effort increased. It was like throwing a switch. Day and night difference. But if it hadn't been for the sudden transition I probably would not have noticeid.

Popular belief says a wider softer tire should have more rolling resistance. But it also has the ability to absorb the nubs without lifting the entire mass of bike and rider. Which to believe?

I replaced my skinny hard tires for 2 inch Big Apples inflated to 50 psi. The change in ride comfort was amazing. No longer felt like my fillings were knocking loose. And as much as I was ready to convince myself that the pedaling effort was greater, I can't honestly tell the difference. Maybe if the roads were glass smooth it would be more evident.

So for nearly identical pedaling effort on 85% of the roads I use, the wider softer tires also give a more comfortable ride, absorb more impact, and thereby help protect the rim, luggage rack, and frame. I've tried higher and lower pressure, and settled on 50 psi not so much from hard data but mostly because I know I can hit bridge expansion joints (sharp steel cornered bumps) at speed without getting pinch flats, and the ride is still very comfy.

Tires are Kevlar belted & so far no flats. Fortunately, no goat head thorns around here, only broken glass.

MT

 

[dogman dan]

Well , I was referring to pumping up knobby MTB tires pretty hard. On my skinny tire bike, a peadler, I run less pressure for comfort since it has no suspension, and no traction in corners if too hard. I run those at about 50-60 psi. They could go 100, but I don't have a wood track to ride the bike on. I agree that cushy is good on rough surfaces, but the suspension bike seems to be making all the cracks and nubs moot.