furcifer said:
E-HP said:
I'm just saying, if you're riding around on those skinny hard tires, with the added weight of an ebike conversion, then a lot of people would think that's less than ideal (or whatever word you think fits). What's the reasoning on why you chose them?
They've pretty much a top of the line 26" road tire. A wire bead clincher with hard case and kevlar puncture protection, a bit of tread and a high durometer compound, max pressure 80psi. They're a happy medium between the SR1 super slick and the T1 road tire they currently sell. One of the best tires I've ever rode, I'm note sure what I'll do when they're gone, they don't make them anymore.
Why would a tire engineered for road use, ridden on the road be less than ideal? All the material and build characteristics are designed for road use and higher speeds.
I'm curious what "a lot of people would think" are ideal? You haven't been specific but based on what you've said it sounds like you're running a trail tire at very low pressure. Which is by all metrics "off road" and/or lighter load.
I have a tire graveyard in my garage that I've acquired over decades from trying different tires. I've been trying to avoid adding to it by doing more reading before buying more tires for my ebike, and the build threads are pretty good to see how others have evolved in their tire choices. Especially the riders putting on mega-miles. A lot of them eventually land on Schwalbe tires or some on Maxxis tires, like Hookworms. Only bikes I see with skinny tires like yours are the super lightweight builds using road bikes, small geared hubs and tiny lipo packs.
You know from riding motorcycles (same goes for cars) how a stiffer sidewall improves handling. These Schwalbes are like day and night compared to any tire I've tried. The entire casing is heavy duty and no flexing or rolling on hard corners. I've lowered the pressure not for comfort, but for better side traction, since I crashed hard on my ebike 3 weeks ago, mainly because I was running too high pressure. They didn't hook up on the transition between the dirt shoulder and pavement, when I was trying to give a father and little son a wide berth when passing them, but when the shoulder became a sharp drop off and I transitioned back to the pavement the edge wouldn't catch (where my previous tires with side knobs would have no problem). I tried the transition a couple more times with lower pressure now that my leg is healed, and no problems. Side benefit is a much more comfortable ride, but no loss in handling due to the stiff sidewalls.
Bottom line, I've used the experience of the forum to
not contribute to my tire graveyard, and land on a tire that has improved my own ebike riding experience.
Last thing for your consideration, I happen to hire quite a few engineers. The most successful ones are the ones that maintain an open mind and realize there's more than one way to skin a cat, and if their solution isn't acceptable (to the business), they can quickly pivot and solve the problem another way. Sure, maybe bigger tires are "suspension", but it's a way to solve a few problems with having a bike with a lot of extra weight on board, and in my case a hard tail frame. I find it another acceptable solution given the parameters I'm working within. Personally, I think you've given up on the problem too quickly.
PS. If you've had many big crashes on your motorcycles, one thing I noticed that my ebike, maybe because of the mass, crashes like a motorcycle. Not flipping around, just a big mass of weight sliding with a lot of momentum. I had a few crashes at 70-80 mph, and I swear it felt the same (but with a lot less skin lost), especially when it grinds to a halt, literally.