Electric Bikes - great commuting tire for e-bikes.

http://www.ebikehub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=226

I'm looking to get a thread going for best tires for the weight and heaviness of e-bikes

thanks meanjoegreen

www.ebikehub.com

I'm not sure there is a forum, but a couple of things I have heard/observed are:


Good tires that will take at least 80 psi will reduce your rolling resistance as well as slicks
Tires with an anti-flat system will help a lot since the wheel with the hub is far more likely to get a flat
I find city slick tires the best for all round use


As for brands, I've had trouble with Conti, but love Schwalbe.

Here are my thoughts on tires:


I ride in an area where tiny pieces of glass or metal (wire, mostly) are the main source of flats-- no monster thorns here, and nails are a rare problem. The metal or glass fragments are awfully common though.

i tried a bontrager "race lite" kevlar-belted tire. I don't think I got as many flats as I would have with a regular tire, but it flatted quite a few times. It also had its rubber tread tear off in large chunks after 2 years. Bits of glass and wire went through it and a tuffy brand tire liner and a slime brand tire liner.

After this, I decided that tire liners and kevlar belts weren't getting me very far. These tiny sharp objects seemingly can penetrate through anything, but they can only go in as far as their length, which is no more than about 4 millimeters.

So my strategy now is to only use tires that have about 4mm or more of depth (tire tube to road). Fat knobby tires (which I don't like) and semi-slick tires for 26" ATB rims are the only tires that I have seen that really fit the bill. Some semi-slicks have too little depth, but there are plenty that do fit the bill (none of which are intended to be very light, because thick rubber and light weight don't go together, at all).

do thay still market the stuff called green slime? anyone used it or stuff like it and does it work?

Just prior to me converting my mountain bike into an Ebike, i was running Schwalbe anti thorn tires and tubes, tuffy liners and slime inside of the tubes on an old steel road bike. On my first day with this setup, at work i was telling a coworker there is no freakin way i'm going to getting flats anymore, but that was giving it the Titanic curse. Of course on my way home i didn't even get a mile!

We have Schwalbe Marathons, as befits a 70 lb bike with a 240 lb rider, in the city. So far so good.

Here are my thoughts on tires:


I ride in an area where tiny pieces of glass or metal (wire, mostly) are the main source of flats-- no monster thorns here, and nails are a rare problem. The metal or glass fragments are awfully common though.

i tried a bontrager "race lite" kevlar-belted tire. I don't think I got as many flats as I would have with a regular tire, but it flatted quite a few times. It also had its rubber tread tear off in large chunks after 2 years. Bits of glass and wire went through it and a tuffy brand tire liner and a slime brand tire liner.


So far as I know, the only things that'll go through Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires are goatheads. Not all kevlar reinforced tires are equal..

do thay still market the stuff called green slime? anyone used it or stuff like it and does it work?

I was in Walmart the other day and considered picking some up. Here are a couple of links with user opinions

http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/Tube/product_23515.shtml

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070611054809AAuJ2Wz

.. found this potential problem in this blog

http://david2312.blogspot.com/2006/07/new-tires-with-slime-tubes.html

I went to deflate the tube to switch the tire around and all this green slime came out. Gross, then the slime wouldn't allow anymore air out. The Slime sealed the valve! I cleaned the valve and finished inflating the tube. I just turned the rim around on the front so the tire is now facing front. No big deal, right. Yeah, not until I want to put my road tires back on...

Maxxis Hookworms with "MR. Tuffy" kevlar liners.

500 miles through the horrible streets of baltimore, with nary a drop in tire pressure!