Fat tire resistance and quality

[Vince78]

Hi all,
So, I’m trying to find info on fat bike tires that would work for me. This is kind of the start of the journey as I’ve not looked a ton. I ride in mixed terrain. I cover concrete, sand, mud, hills and often snow, so an all terrain seem fitting. I am after something’s g a bit more rolling resistant friendly the the stock Rad Rover Kenda Juggernaut Sport Tire. I exspect to do research to find them and learn a few things on the way, but if anyone has recommendations I would love to hear them.
Thanks in advance

 

[harryS]

If you have to ride in all those conditions, maybe you want summer tires and winter tires.

 

[Vince78]

I don’t think it would make much difference having two sets. The summer needs as much trend as winter ones. Studded tires are way too much and o my decent around here in the ice. May of my friends have them and say a good all terrain is just as good but cheaper. If I was on concrete then he whole time in the summer I’d say that would probably be best but with the mix I go threw a steer tire I don’t think is the way to go. So I’m thinking just a decent all terrain that has better resetence aid is the way to go

 

[Fitzy]

I'm lazy, and stuck with the Jumbo Jims that came with the bike I got last year. I have a pretty diverse routine...lots of asphalt, beach, snow, and off-road miles. I've been pretty happy with them; relatively low rolling-resistance, to excellent traction.

 

[Vince78]

And I’m pretty happy with the stock as well. I find they match my riding very well. But I looked it up and they have poor resistances when tested. I thought they rolled easy. Made me think well if they are poor, what’s one that test good like?

 

[Fitzy]

Yeah, I was actually concerned about the resistance of the fatties (it's my first experience with them) since I intended to commute with them and didn't want to sacrifice too much speed. On the other side of the coin, it was my intention to get some decent exercise too, so resistance was desirable. In the year that's passed, everything's balanced quite beautifully for me. I'm on my 2nd set of tires, but I highly recommend the Jumbo Jims for cross-performance.

 

[Vince78]

Thanks I’ll have a look at them

 

[Dmitri]

Resistance is greatly affected not just by tire width but by the pressures you run in the tire. Well-inflated fatbikes tires roll just as well as ordinary and 'plus' sized ones, but the whole point of getting them is to have a larger concact area with the ground for increased traction.

 

[Manu]

In all they are better except that they generally weigh more and have a great resistance to the wind when exceeding 25km / h

 

[Dmitri]

Weight doesn't really matter that much on an ebike. My experiences with fatbike tires is as follows:

• Jumbo Jim: this seems like the best tire out there, period. I am yet to find anything that gives the same rolling/grip combination.
• Surly BFL: this is a great tire for paved roads; awesome rolling but very little grip, if any.
• Maxxis Minion FBR/FBF: I have them on my cargo fatbike (mechanical) and don't like them. The front tire is styled as BFL-like (arrowhead tread towards the middle) whereas the FBR (rear) is more blocky. It feels like the worst of all worlds.

Honestly right now I'd gravitate towards JJ for all-round use and BFL for rolling. I'm also trying out a Bontrager Hodag right now (3.8").

 

[mrgold35]

I've had good luck switching from Kenda Juggernaut 26X4" to Vee Tire company Vee8 120tpi 26X4" tires. I work commute and trail ride with my two 2016 Radrovers with about 4100 miles between the ebikes (50-75 miles per week).

The original Kenda were pretty noisy on the paved roads, the rear tire wore down after 800-900 miles, and I was getting flats from goat-head thorns and road debris because of how thin tires are between widely spaced out knobs. The Vee8 fat tires do a pretty good job at 15-22 mph work commuting, way less flats, can handle hard-packed/single-track trail riding with ease, transitioning is a breeze between multiple terrains on a single ride (sand, mud, gravel, etc...). We don't get much snow or rain in the southwest and I usually don't ride in those conditions (I still have +350 days per year of dry conditions to ride). I've had these tires for +1200 miles and they show a lot less wear compared to the Kenda at 800 miles. I'm thinking I will get 3X-4X the tire life compared to the Kenda (I rotate my tires to extend service life).

I'm having a hard time finding the Vee8 tires on-line or eBay. Two pair popped up in Feb/18 on eBay and I snatched them up for down the road because other on-line bike shops didn't have them in stock. Not sure if they are just sold out, being discontinued, or eventually being replaced with an upgraded version soon?

 

[Soarcj]

I bought a set on vee tire slicks for beach cruisers with 8 oz of slime no resistance no flats

 

[harryS]

I like Vee Rubber Speedsters. They're only 3.5" wide, so you lose out on the looks. They roll quite well without much noise on pavement. No idea how they do elsewhere.

 

[Nova Haibike]

I'm having a hard time finding the Vee8 tires on-line or eBay. Two pair popped up in Feb/18 on eBay and I snatched them up for down the road because other on-line bike shops didn't have them in stock. Not sure if they are just sold out, being discontinued, or eventually being replaced with an upgraded version soon?

Their product line catalogs show the Vee8 in the 2014-2015 catalog, but not in the 2016. This is their current line of fat tires.

 

[mrgold35]

Their product line catalogs show the Vee8 in the 2014-2015 catalog, but not in the 2016. This is their current line of fat tires.

I saw the new selection of fat tires from Vee. I still do some trail riding and singletrack along with 18-22 mph work commuting and the Vee8 I currently have did such a nice job of splitting the difference without being an issue with either terrain extremes. I think I'm good the next year to year and half before I need replacement tires. I can wait to see what else pops up down the road if Vee no longer offers the Vee8s 120tpi.

 

[jazz]

Vee tires are probably the most cost effective replacement if you can find them and much better than most of the stock tires especially Kendas which are generally all-around crap.