E-Bike hybrid for street and trail
- Thread starter RichardG
- Start date
AHicks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
Nothing brand specific, but I would be looking for plenty of power (500-750w+ gear driven rear hub or mid drive) and nothing smaller than a 2" wide tire.
If there will be ANY emphasis on trail, it's not hard to make a case for 3-4" wide tires (AKA fatty). Big balloon tires provide a great ride (pavement or hard pack), but the downside is most OEM (knobby) 3-4" tires can be noisy on pavement. Thankfully there are (quiet) street tires available if the noise makes you nuts. They give you the best of both worlds....
If there will be ANY emphasis on trail, it's not hard to make a case for 3-4" wide tires (AKA fatty). Big balloon tires provide a great ride (pavement or hard pack), but the downside is most OEM (knobby) 3-4" tires can be noisy on pavement. Thankfully there are (quiet) street tires available if the noise makes you nuts. They give you the best of both worlds....
Look for 2-3" tires if mainly pavement, not fat tires. They will be not as noisy and give you more distance from your battery. Also, easier to pedal if you are using lower pas. As one person's post on here regarding 4" fat tires said, " riding in pas 1 or 2 is like riding through wet cement."
Dallant
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
It really depends on how “light” the trail is. My Trek Allant+7 comes with Schwalbe G-One 2.5” tires, SR Suntour Mobie25 forks, Bosch Performance CX/500Wh PowerTube, etc. I haven’t really been on any longer unpaved trails but it’s handled what I have been on very well.
CdnShaun
Active Member
Key items to focus on for what you are looking for:
-50mm to 60mm (1.9" to 2.35") wide tires with a good hybrid tread for road and light dirt/trail riding - the photo above by Dallant is an excellent example.
-26" to 29"/700C - preference is based on height of you the rider and the performance you seek. More stable sharp cornering - 26". Roll 'over' and less rolling resistance - 29" or 700C. This choice is really personal preference.
-Gearing - Even with a motor it's great to have a good range of gearing. Road riding you will want at least a 42T chain ring up front with an (ideally) 11T smallest gear in the back. If your road, or in particular trail riding includes some steep hill climbs, having the smaller chain rings on the front to gear down to and climb with your motor will help you out.
On the note of gearing, many mountain bikes (OEM ebike and conversion friendly) I have found have only a 36T largest chain ring which limits you to 20-25mph/35-40kmph spinning at 100-110 rpm.
-Carbon or quality front shock. The only thing worse than a cheap solid front fork is a cheap front suspension fork. If you go with a suspension front fork make sure it's a quality component. Many bikes offer a Carbon front fork that helps absorb the 'buzz' of rougher road riding and light trail. Combined with 50-60mm tires at a reasonable PSI you will do well.
I'm a becoming a big fan of the OEM bikes available and learning lots from this forum. To date I have personally worked with conversion systems - Bionx and now ebikes.ca - allowing me to pick the 'perfect bike' for me first and then add the ebike elements to it.
The above suggestions come from picking the perfect road and light trail bike I built last year. I knew from my mountain bike I already had that the 36T chain ring was too small for optimal road riding. I'm 6ft tall so a 29" or 700C tire would not be a problem for me to ride on trails. Since my mountain bike had 50mm tires that I 'pre-tested' on trails and road I knew that would be a great width to consider.
For reference I built out a Giant Toughroad SLR 2 (2018) and the reasons I chose it are:
-Carbon front fork
-D-Post (seat post) technology for shock absorption on trails
-700C x 50mm tires with dual purpose tread for dirt and trail.
-Triple Chain ring - 22T, 32T and 44T up front
-11-34T 9 speed in the rear.
The above gear combinations lets me climb the steepest trails I have found so far and also cruise along at 35-40kmph @ 70-75rpm cadence.
I purchased the bike brand new for under $1100 CDN. I already had the Bionx setup from a previous bike to transfer over to it. If I didn't I would simply purchase the components from a vendor like ebikes.ca and add to the bike like I did.
Again, I have great respect and learning from so many here about the OEM choices available. Because I started out with conversion bikes I can only share what I found that worked for me - and hopefully the suggestions I have given here help you pick your perfect bike.
-50mm to 60mm (1.9" to 2.35") wide tires with a good hybrid tread for road and light dirt/trail riding - the photo above by Dallant is an excellent example.
-26" to 29"/700C - preference is based on height of you the rider and the performance you seek. More stable sharp cornering - 26". Roll 'over' and less rolling resistance - 29" or 700C. This choice is really personal preference.
-Gearing - Even with a motor it's great to have a good range of gearing. Road riding you will want at least a 42T chain ring up front with an (ideally) 11T smallest gear in the back. If your road, or in particular trail riding includes some steep hill climbs, having the smaller chain rings on the front to gear down to and climb with your motor will help you out.
On the note of gearing, many mountain bikes (OEM ebike and conversion friendly) I have found have only a 36T largest chain ring which limits you to 20-25mph/35-40kmph spinning at 100-110 rpm.
-Carbon or quality front shock. The only thing worse than a cheap solid front fork is a cheap front suspension fork. If you go with a suspension front fork make sure it's a quality component. Many bikes offer a Carbon front fork that helps absorb the 'buzz' of rougher road riding and light trail. Combined with 50-60mm tires at a reasonable PSI you will do well.
I'm a becoming a big fan of the OEM bikes available and learning lots from this forum. To date I have personally worked with conversion systems - Bionx and now ebikes.ca - allowing me to pick the 'perfect bike' for me first and then add the ebike elements to it.
The above suggestions come from picking the perfect road and light trail bike I built last year. I knew from my mountain bike I already had that the 36T chain ring was too small for optimal road riding. I'm 6ft tall so a 29" or 700C tire would not be a problem for me to ride on trails. Since my mountain bike had 50mm tires that I 'pre-tested' on trails and road I knew that would be a great width to consider.
For reference I built out a Giant Toughroad SLR 2 (2018) and the reasons I chose it are:
-Carbon front fork
-D-Post (seat post) technology for shock absorption on trails
-700C x 50mm tires with dual purpose tread for dirt and trail.
-Triple Chain ring - 22T, 32T and 44T up front
-11-34T 9 speed in the rear.
The above gear combinations lets me climb the steepest trails I have found so far and also cruise along at 35-40kmph @ 70-75rpm cadence.
I purchased the bike brand new for under $1100 CDN. I already had the Bionx setup from a previous bike to transfer over to it. If I didn't I would simply purchase the components from a vendor like ebikes.ca and add to the bike like I did.
Again, I have great respect and learning from so many here about the OEM choices available. Because I started out with conversion bikes I can only share what I found that worked for me - and hopefully the suggestions I have given here help you pick your perfect bike.
AHicks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
2 thing to add here. First is, well, maybe both are related to old age. I'm 6'2" and pushing 70. Always rode 700C and 29'ers. Then I got old, and riding something that tall became problematic. Tougher to get on and off of, and sometimes things got interesting when I stopped (I'll leave it at that). Anyway, went to a mid size frame 26" and love it. Too tall issues gone, and I can still get all the leg extension I'm after.
The second is about tire noise when on paved surfaces. Silence is golden! Tires like the ones in the pic above buzz.... For a quiet pavement tire, there can be no gaps on the center of the tread. Not even the small ones shown pretty well in that pic. May sound trivial, but that detail will make itself known right away.... -Al
The second is about tire noise when on paved surfaces. Silence is golden! Tires like the ones in the pic above buzz.... For a quiet pavement tire, there can be no gaps on the center of the tread. Not even the small ones shown pretty well in that pic. May sound trivial, but that detail will make itself known right away.... -Al
FlatSix911
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Silicon Valley
Richard, welcome to EBR!
We can provide recommendations if you can help with a few questions to narrow down the options.
What is your price range? Riding position? Step thru or Diamond Frame? Suspension or Ridgid?
AHicks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
My point is, the traction (noise) afforded by tires like that may not be necessary for all riders. There's a DOWNSIDE to having that traction available. Just a note to rookies that may not realize that.
My bike could be called a hybrid, is used on paved surfaces maybe 60-70% of the time, with the balance on single track, gravel and hard pack. The 2" Schwalbe Marathons work really well (often surprisingly well) - and do that silently when on pavement.
If the situation were reversed, where the majority of the riding was going to be on dirt, with just a little pavement involved, I would swing the other way, and would likely go with something 3" (or more) wide for better traction and flotation is sugar sand. How aggressive that tread might be would depend on the surfaces I'm riding - with the realization things might get kinda noisey given the available tread patterns. Those 4" knobby tires running on pavement can be heard a mile away....
So back to the point, a call needs to be made at this stage of the game, if possible, on your on road/off road usage and tread design. In my opinion..... -Al
My bike could be called a hybrid, is used on paved surfaces maybe 60-70% of the time, with the balance on single track, gravel and hard pack. The 2" Schwalbe Marathons work really well (often surprisingly well) - and do that silently when on pavement.
If the situation were reversed, where the majority of the riding was going to be on dirt, with just a little pavement involved, I would swing the other way, and would likely go with something 3" (or more) wide for better traction and flotation is sugar sand. How aggressive that tread might be would depend on the surfaces I'm riding - with the realization things might get kinda noisey given the available tread patterns. Those 4" knobby tires running on pavement can be heard a mile away....
So back to the point, a call needs to be made at this stage of the game, if possible, on your on road/off road usage and tread design. In my opinion..... -Al
FlatSix911
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Silicon Valley
I agree we need more information to help, but unfortunately, the OP made just 1 post and has not been seen for 5+ days... 
Last edited:
Nova Haibike
Well-Known Member
I would like the OP to clarify "light trail."
Hi Richard and welcome to this glorious site. I have an Aventon 500. 27.5 x 2.2 tires. A class 3 bike that can haul. Very comfortable and fun to ride. Powerful battery hydronic disk brakes 8 speed Shimano and one of the lightest bikes t transport on your car rack. Under $1400. And for 200 more in the L version, you get a more powerful battery, front and rear fenders and a rear rack. Well worth the extra money, but the bike alone is “badass”. You can’t go wrong. Look into it and make YOUR decision.
Rob2000
Member
I think this is an important point. Knobby tires are annoying when most of your riding is on the road and the Schwalbe Marathons DO work surprisingly well on hard pack and gravel. Love those tires.
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