Originally Posted by
AOSTIRMOTOR
You're right.
Originally Posted by
Leisesturm
Fair point. Trek is now electrifying all of their full carbon roadracers at $10K pricepoints WTF. But 'generally' speaking an e-assist bike will have rather larger tires than 'normal'. Compare any hybrid like a Giant Quick or Raleigh Redux or Trek FX with their boosted counterparts. The standard hybrid tire sizes of 32mm to 40mm jump to 47mm - 55mm. Non-suspended (rigid) e-bikes NEED big rubber. You will beat the bike and yourself senseless at e-bike speeds with all that extra weight onboard on a 28mm tire!
I quite agree with you about 28mm tires, and not just for e-bikes, but about "e-bike speeds" -- Class 1 road e-bikes aren't going to be going any faster than the unmotorized road bikes ridden by the A and AA riders in your bike club. In fact, they may well be going faster. Your motor assist in the US on a Class 1 bike is going to cut out at 20 mph, and there's little chance the AA riders are going to let you into one of their 25 mph pace lines. As far as loads on tires go, a 30-something pound Class 1 e-bike with a 150 pound rider is going to be carrying a lot less weight than a 20 pound mechanical road bike with a 200 pound rider.