About to pull the trigger on Nine-e! Please help on tires!

[Plevy]

After weeks of test driving, reading reviews, and sorting through the rabbit hole of finding my perfect e-bike, I have settled on the Felt Nine-e. I love the bosch system, the weight of the bike, and the wider tires. I do not plan to use this bike on the mountain, but rather around town and commuting.

So my plan is to replace the knobby tires that come with the Nine-e and swap them for a smoother tire. I live in a town with fair amount of rain. And would love a recommendation on tires for this.

Any other advice on setting up a new Felt Nine-e, please share!

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

After weeks of test driving, reading reviews, and sorting through the rabbit hole of finding my perfect e-bike, I have settled on the Felt Nine-e. I love the bosch system, the weight of the bike, and the wider tires. I do not plan to use this bike on the mountain, but rather around town and commuting.

So my plan is to replace the knobby tires that come with the Nine-e and swap them for a smoother tire. I live in a town with fair amount of rain. And would love a recommendation on tires for this.

Any other advice on setting up a new Felt Nine-e, please share!

If I were you, I would go with Schwalbe Energizer Plus. They are specifically made for E-bikes and have excellent grip on wet roads. Go with 47-622

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

My 2nd choice would be Schwalbe Big Apple Plus 50-622

 

[GiantEnemyCrab]

I have Schwalbe Big Ben on it (28 x 2.15) that fits quite well with full fenders:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qmz4m3ekvhv4yt2/2015-09-11 18.40.20.jpg?dl=0

The ride is super fun with lower pressure in the tires. I believe Big Ben is the next generation of Big Apple. Both Big Ben and Big Apple are balloon tires.

 

[BurbManDan]

I have Schwalbe Big Ben on it (28 x 2.15) that fits quite well with full fenders:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qmz4m3ekvhv4yt2/2015-09-11 18.40.20.jpg?dl=0

The ride is super fun with lower pressure in the tires. I believe Big Ben is the next generation of Big Apple. Both Big Ben and Big Apple are balloon tires.

Very nice rig! I am also running Schwalbe's on a Felt NineE with rack and fenders. Almost identical to the picture GiantEnemyCrab shared. Ran the original Marathons Energizers for just under 11k miles, and now on a set of Energizer Plus, which I hope will last just as long. Had two flats in that time, which is unbelievable for commuting!!!

GiantEnemyCrab - please elaborate on your rear gearing. Can't see it fully in the picture, but it looks like you might be running an internally geared hub. Care to share some details?

 

[GiantEnemyCrab]

Hi Dan,

Thanks for the info, and I can't believe you had two flats with Schwalbe!! I hope the plus version serves you well.

The IGH is Shimano Alfine, 8 gear. PropelBikes in Brooklyn helped with the setup, so I don't know the very details, however, I am very happy with the choice so far.
And I believe the fenders are from Blackburn, the rear rack is Blackburn, as well.

 

[Nirmala]

I have had two flats so far (in 3 months) with Schwalbe Big Bens that came with my Magnum Ui5. One was a sidewall blowout and then yesterday I got two punctures from thorns in spite of the Kevlar lining. I had Slime in the tire which seemed to slow things down a bit so I could hobble home...but the tire is not holding air. I guess I was fortunate that the blowout occurred before I put Slime in there, as that can be a mess.

I see a lot of very positive comments on this forum and elsewhere for the Marathon Plus tires from Schwalbe. While my Big Bens have a 4 out of 5 rating for puncture resistance on the Schwalbe website, the Marathon Plus gets a 5 out of 5 rating. Those will probably be my next set of tires, which may happen sooner rather than later if these flats keep happening. In the meantime, I am going to try the super thick Slime tubes in the tires I have: http://amzn.to/1I4d4hg

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

I have had two flats so far (in 3 months) with Schwalbe Big Bens that came with my Magnum Ui5. One was a sidewall blowout and then yesterday I got two punctures from thorns in spite of the Kevlar lining. I had Slime in the tire which seemed to slow things down a bit so I could hobble home...but the tire is not holding air. I guess I was fortunate that the blowout occurred before I put Slime in there, as that can be a mess.

I see a lot of very positive comments on this forum and elsewhere for the Marathon Plus tires from Schwalbe. While my Big Bens have a 4 out of 5 rating for puncture resistance on the Schwalbe website, the Marathon Plus gets a 5 out of 5 rating. Those will probably be my next set of tires, which may happen sooner rather than later if these flats keep happening. In the meantime, I am going to try the super thick Slime tubes in the tires I have: http://amzn.to/1I4d4hg

Big Ben has two versions. One with Raceguard and one with Kevlar guard. K-guard is the simplest one with a rating of 3/6.
Marathon Plus rates at 6/6. You could also put a tire liner in your existing setup.

 

[Nirmala]

Yes, I thought about using a tire liner, but some reports say they can be hard to install. So I decided to go with the extra thick tubes for now and see how that works. I am still considering the Marathon Plus tires also.

My Big Ben's are brown so I guess they have the K-Guard and so are rated 3 out of 6. Thanks for the corrections regarding the ratings of the various Schwalbe tires.

 

[Nirmala]

I got the extra thick tubes made by Slime and they are worse than worthless. First of all the tubes are so thick and bulky that it is nearly impossible to get the valve stem through the hole in the rim. It took me half an hour of struggling just to get the tube on the wheel. It is also hard to get the tire to reseat on the rim since the tube is so bulky.

Then it turned out that the valve stem on these tubes are so short that they do not stick out far enough to attach my pump, so I could not add air to the tire. I am sending them back to Amazon. And by the way, I had another regular thickness pre-slimed tube from them that has the same short stem, so that one is useless too. This is with wheels that have double wall rims that are about an inch deep, so it is not a case of super deep aero rims. I could barely get the valve stem cover to thread onto the stem as it was so short that the threads were not sticking out far enough to engage the threads in the valve cap.

So I patched the leaking tube that came with my bike and that I had added Slime to manually. I hope that will hold for now, and I will order some more standard tubes to have as spares.

Needless to say, I am not very enamored of Slime products at this moment. I do not think I would even bother to add Slime to any standard tubes in the future, since it did not work that well for the flat I experienced. Some reviewers on Amazon seem to suggest that it works 2 out of 3 times or so to seal a leak. I guess that might be worth it, but it is not an infallible approach. The thorn that punctured my tire was only about 1-2 mm in diameter, so it was not some big nasty hole.

 

[J.R.]

@Nirmala

Most decent tubes will give you 3 dimensions, they'll read something like 26x1.9-2.25/35mm. The third number is the length of the valve stem. On a quick glance, I notice Slime tubes don't state stem length. This Avenir (Raleigh's house brand) does state the stem as being 35mm. I've seen stems as long as 60mm, most bikes are good with 32mm plus.

http://www.amazon.com/Avenir-Resist...horn+resistant+bicycle+tubes+26+inch+schrader

Good luck with those thorns!

 

[Nirmala]

Thanks for that info. I never really thought about stem length before this experience. I measured and the Slime tubes had 32 mm stems and they were just a tad short. I found a pair of Schwalbe tubes with 40 mm stems on Amazon, so those should work for me. They also have steel stems with a stem nut. No sealant of course, but I guess I could add some. I will see if the Slime in my current tubes works for any future punctures.