Just built 20"wheel for mid drive, special hub and tire

So in the middle of figuring where everything is going to go with this BHT install, and stumbled across a hub with bolt on axle, disc brake mount, and special short freehub, 3 bucks at the bike co-op.. It lets you stack a few gears, but the hub flange is wider and less asymmetrical than a normal cassette hub.



Setting up the mid drive is way more involved than a hub motor, but really liking the idea if being able to swap wheels and tires for different rides.

These are both 20", one with a giant for 3" Kenda, the other with a smallish 2.4"



That 2.4 is a Schwalbe Energizer.... it's a solar race car tire! It's 116 psi, 60 mph rated, and made for low rolling resistance, perfect for distance runs. Then will be able to swap in an off-road or cheap burn out tire.

Getting kinda excited as the parts are coming together!

Funny how you find that one special part like you haven't seen before in a bin, that is perfect for your project....And then find a second one a day later at a different place! That's going to make swapable wheels easier!

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You can stack one, two or three or maybe 4 cogs if you had two joined with an single aluminum spider.

That tire has attracted my interest. I'm looking for a tire that can fit bicycle-sized rims but is durable at highway speeds over thousands of miles of use and has a low enough rolling resistance to allow pedal-only operation.

Where did you source that tire? Any info on it? The Schwalbe Energizer tires I have found info on are nothing like what you describe, as they are rated for ebikes up to 50 kmh:

http://www.schwalbetires.com/bike_tires/road_tires/energizer_plus

I could use something durable enough for 60 mph in a few-hundred lbs of solar car though...

It was in their print catalog, and when we we doing a shop order of regular tires I snagged one... its actually a 16" moto tire, that fits perfect on a 20" bike rim. Its specifically designed for high speed and low rolling resistance as you describe. I think I got the only one in north America...lol. It does seem the perfect bike-like size but with moped-like thickness and durability. I couldnt find it in their website... I'll look for a part number for you today at work.

a search for Schwalbe solar race care tire pulled up a link to it from Schwalbe

Where can i buy this tyre in europe?

Any shop with a Schwalbe account should be able to order one.. don't get sticker shock, they're not cheap...

How much? I may very well end up needing three of them...

These may be very suitable for those 5+ kW 50+ mph builds out there... and have sufficiently low rolling resistance that the bike can be operated roughly as well as a normal bicycle with no electric assist being used.

I paid about $120 US. Its a lot, but but the peace of mind at high speed seems worth it.

That's a lot less money than I expected they would be. I'm thinking of ordering two of them for my Thunderbolt trike even though I have two perfectly good Maxxis Hookworms on it right now. Too bad they don't seem to have other sizes.

Do you have links to information describing the bike that they are going on? I'm curious to see what you're doing with them...

120usd to fit a tyre? How many miles is it lasting? And in case of flat tyre you'd have to go to the shop again?

I would expect them to last long enough to push a solar-powered car across the Australian continent. Should they be suitable for that task, an ebike of less than half the weight and at lower speeds should fare even better than the solar cars did due to reduced weight and rolling resistance.

I don't know how well they actually perform though, but they sound very promising.

When tires are that durable and hard, be very careful during low traction conditions, especially when wet. My most durable bicycle tires, which have thousands of miles on them, are slick as ice when it's wet. I've been down with only a damp road well after the rain (so not an oil coming out of the asphalt cause), and I've also hit the ground at very low speed with only the slightest lateral force with a bit of loose sand or gravel on the road. For years I blamed these scab creating incidents on the road conditions, but while that's absolutely a contributing factor other tires have maintained their traction.

WRT those Kenda's, be sure to keep those cool looking fatties properly inflated, because with inadequate pressure their too soft sidewalls make them feel like they want to roll sideways off the rim. FWIW I've had my 20" Kenda Flames up to 103mph with no ill effects, though I do ride at highway speeds in the 60-80mph range often enough that balancing is absolutely imperative. Once I had a blowout with another bike tire, the Kenda's had to be replaced with proper DOT approved and rated tires on my bikes. Losing air on a front tire over a 10 second period at 40mph with so little traffic that I could easily coast down in a straight line and get to the side of the road was just a lucky instance, and a few cents a week in electricity due to the higher weight and rolling resistance of a DOT rated tire is more than offset by the cheaper price and longer life. Plus I've ridden flats all the way to a tire repair shop on several several occasions where DOT tires picked up a screw or nail, and that kind of convenience is priceless to me.

Yes on the traction... That one is going to get saved for special long distance runs, and not used as the shredding around tire. And the Kenda was just thrown on there for some testing, but prob not used much on the final version.

Any information regarding how well this tire has held up to your usage case? Mileage vs wear? Notable traits?