fatbikes any slower than 26"er drag wise?

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1KW

1 kW
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Jul 24, 2013
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thinking about selling off my 1kw dd 26'er and going fatbike/ 650b+. This way I can get rid of the full suspension bike(no real reason to own one more maintence, 85% street riding) and get a mongoose/bikesdirect large tire bike. this will mostly be for the street..so curious how long the street tires last? will most likely go bbshd/cyclone 3kw. hub has been maintence free but sucks too much wh/mi. out of 18s 16ah i only get 10 mile range full throttle and motor gets too hot now. im sure the copper is burnt up over the years.
 
Fat/wide tires have less deformation as they roll though the contact patch than a slim/long contact patch, but they have more aero drag.
 
They tend not to have a lot of Kevlar in the weave. I wouldn't take a fatbike tyre over 60kph/40kph.
A hookworm or holy roller on the other hand...
 
IMO, you don't need a fat bike for street. It will be quick to wear out dirt tires.

But there are cruisers with larger than typical tires. Big balloons, with street tires that still have some good cush, just not 10 psi. run more like 30 psi. An ordinary 7 speed beach cruiser with the fenders removed can handle 2.5" tire.

Fat for street would make sense in Telluride, or Fargo, where there is serious snow. I'm assuming you don't have that.
 
At the speeds I ride, I go through a set of tires every 300 miles. And with the tires I use, that works out to about $1 per mile in tire costs. Fat tires don't like speed. They are built with extra soft, sticky tire compounds that get amazing grip on any surface. But extra soft, sticky tire compounds don't last long at high speeds. I've had tires blister, tread melt, and even sidewalls that have started to come apart.

The exception may be the Surly Black Floyd. I haven't tried it yet, but it's a street tread fat tire. Another option might be the 3.45" Boa G street tires.
 
I have some road tires for my fat bike. With 20 psi they roll incredibly well. It's ridiculous. The bike still isn't fast though. Aero drag is very high.
 
Thank you everyone. Have you seen the newer 650b + bikes. Can run fatbike wheels, 27.5 and 29" wheels. Pretty much can use all the sizes if necessary... Of course hub motor would be out of the picture with one of these, would hate to lace the motor many times over.

The full suspension versions are more than my first car. So hard tail it will have to be..
 
dogman dan said:
IMO, you don't need a fat bike for street. It will be quick to wear out dirt tires.

But there are cruisers with larger than typical tires. Big balloons, with street tires that still have some good cush, just not 10 psi. run more like 30 psi. An ordinary 7 speed beach cruiser with the fenders removed can handle 2.5" tire.

Fat for street would make sense in Telluride, or Fargo, where there is serious snow. I'm assuming you don't have that.
Click to expand...

not much snow, maybe once every 3 years :p

so really, why the large amount of fatbike ebike converts ect? Seem like after the fact that they are expensive tire wise, and kinda silly.
 
Hi,
looking at doing my first ebike conversion. I like fatbikes for there simplicity, I think full suspension might be unnecessary for road commuting.


What about a set of tires like these:
Origin-8-Vee-Tire-Co-Speedster-fat-bike-cruiser-tires-4.jpg


Seems like it would provide enough cushion for the street, hold up, and provide non drag speeds.
 
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