How does a foldable ebike work on the beach?

[Ostrander_Hunter]

Hi folks! I'm considering an ebike for riding on the beach during vacations. A foldable ebike would work best for me (for travel). Most of the ebikes have 20" tires, and the majority of those have 3" wide tires. Just wondering if anyone has experience with ebikes with 20" x 3" tires riding on the beach? Thanks in advance!

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Welcome aboard!

No experience with 3" tires, but the 27.5 x 2.35" hybrids on my 70 lb errand/beach bike are fine on reasonably damp and packed low-tide sand.

So are the 700 x 38 mm (1.5") hybrids on the 38 lb gravel bike below.

As you can see, not much sinkage even at 1.5".

But they're both worthless on deep loose dry sand and loose sand-free cobble like that above.

However, none of that keeps me off the beach. Just walk the bike till you're on stuff you can ride. Your ebike's walk mode is your friend here. You'll soon learn to read the sand.

Just make sure you rinse off the salt and sand when you're done — especially the drivetrain. A 1 gallon low-pressure garden sprayer set for fan spray is perfect. Stay away from electricals. Drip dry.

Can't think of a reason a folder wouldn't work.

 

[Ostrander_Hunter]

Welcome aboard!

No experience with 3" tires, but the 27.5 x 2.35" hybrids on my 70 lb errand/beach bike are fine on reasonably damp and packed low-tide sand.

View attachment 202228

So are the 700 x 38 mm (1.5") hybrids on the 38 lb gravel bike below.

View attachment 202230View attachment 202229..

But they're both worthless on deep loose dry sand and loose sand-free cobble (last photo). As you can see, not much sinkage even at 1.5".

However, none of that keeps me off the beach. Just walk the bike till you're on stuff you can ride. Your ebike's walk mode is your friend here. You'll soon learn to read the sand.

Can't think of a reason a folder wouldn't work.

Thanks Jeremy! I think a folder with 20" x 3" will work as well. I'm looking at 1000-1500 peak watts just to make sure there's a little extra power for pushing through the sand. I agree with you about driving through soft sand. Figured I would push it until I get to the packed or wet sand.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I'm looking at 1000-1500 peak watts just to make sure there's a little extra power for pushing through the sand.

My 500W 65 Nm errand/beach hub-drive has plenty of oomph for even semi-packed sand. Ditto for the 240W 35 Nm mid-drive gravel bike.

No idea what power you'd need for deep loose sand. But doubt 3" tires would work there, either.

 

[OrTrek]

Welcome. Where are you at? 3" should be fine depending on the beach. I've ridden a 4" folding ebike, a 2.25" non-ebike single speed and even a 1.95" geared non-ebike on our Oregon beaches without much issue IF you're on the denser packed sand close to the water and especially at lower tide as Jeremy says. In really loose sand nothing works well.
I really like riding our beaches here in Oregon as we have miles of compacted, uninterrupted beach. In fact I just picked up an Lectric XP Lite belt drive single speed ebike to be used exclusively for the beaches and am planning on being over at one of the beaches tomorrow . This bike is about as light weight, simple and minimalistic folding bike as one can find, which is best for this environment. Just need to clean and hose off after riding. Bike comes with 2.6" tires but I have some 3" knobbies I'll see if I can fit them on.

 

[OrTrek]

Thanks Jeremy! I think a folder with 20" x 3" will work as well. I'm looking at 1000-1500 peak watts just to make sure there's a little extra power for pushing through the sand. I agree with you about driving through soft sand. Figured I would push it until I get to the packed or wet sand.

Agree with Jeremy, I don't think you'll need that much power. I had no problem with my non-ebike single speed. Beaches are flat. The biggest issue I have here in Oregon is the wind, not the sand.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I really like riding our beaches here in Oregon as we have miles of compacted, uninterrupted beach.

Lucky dog! The longest continuous beach run I can put together is a low-tide up-and-back totaling 6 mi.

Very fortunate that many of my coast and inland hill rides from home come with beautiful weather and spectacular scenery. But there's really nothing as good for the soul as a ride on the sand next to the waves — especially on a beach you have all to yourself.

Zillions of fat tire ebikes around here, but astoundingly, I see very few on our beaches. In fact, I'm usually the only one in sight.

 

[Chargeride]

Sand conditions are far more of a factor than tire footprint.
Even my 26x4.8s will fail in dried out sand, but reducing pressure does make a big difference.
Momentum is your friend, 20x3 will be fine, if it isnt then even huge tires will be struggling as well.

 

[Ostrander_Hunter]

Welcome. Where are you at? 3" should be fine depending on the beach. I've ridden a 4" folding ebike, a 2.25" non-ebike single speed and even a 1.95" geared non-ebike on our Oregon beaches without much issue IF you're on the denser packed sand close to the water and especially at lower tide as Jeremy says. In really loose sand nothing works well.
I really like riding our beaches here in Oregon as we have miles of compacted, uninterrupted beach. In fact I just picked up an Lectric XP Lite belt drive single speed ebike to be used exclusively for the beaches and am planning on being over at one of the beaches tomorrow . This bike is about as light weight, simple and minimalistic folding bike as one can find, which is best for this environment. Just need to clean and hose off after riding. Bike comes with 2.6" tires but I have some 3" knobbies I'll see if I can fit them on.

I'm actually in Ohio, but we do a lot of beach vacations in the Carolinas and Florida. I'd be using it there mostly for getting to out of the way beaches for shark tooth hunting.

 

[Ostrander_Hunter]

Since this will be my first ebike and I don't plan to use it much, I'm going to take my chances on a cheap one off of Amazon. Anyone have any experience with the ActBest Mars or the Luckeep X1?

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Since this will be my first ebike and I don't plan to use it much, I'm going to take my chances on a cheap one off of Amazon. Anyone have any experience with the ActBest Mars or the Luckeep X1?

Things to consider before buying a cheaply made off-brand ebike online:

1. Strongly recommend against buying any ebike you haven't tested yourself. They aren't all the same.

2. Test at least one cadence-sensing and one torque-sensing ebike so you know the difference for yourself. Huge difference in controllability and ride feel.

3. Do you have a local shop that will work on ebikes they didn't sell? Not all will.

4. Will you or that shop be able to get parts? Many ebikes use proprietary electricals.

5. How long will the manufacturer last in this difficult market?

6. You'll likely use the bike more than you think.

 

[sc00ter]

Things to consider before buying a cheaply made off-brand ebike online:

1. Strongly recommend against buying any ebike you haven't tested yourself. They aren't all the same.

2. Test at least one cadence-sensing and one torque-sensing ebike so you know the difference for yourself. Huge difference in controllability and ride feel.

3. Do you have a local shop that will work on ebikes they didn't sell? Not all will.

4. Will you or that shop be able to get parts? Many ebikes use proprietary electricals.

5. How long will the manufacturer last in this difficult market?

6. You'll likely use the bike more than you think.

BUT, those Amazon ebikes are far cheaper and much more powerful than most DTC ebikes! How can anyone resist! I myself would just buy a Lectric XP Lite belt drive, knowing that it has known quality behind it, backed up by good customer support and has some verifiable UL certification. Plus it folds and doesn't weight a trillion pounds.

 

[OrTrek]

BUT, those Amazon ebikes are far cheaper and much more powerful than most DTC ebikes! How can anyone resist! I myself would just buy a Lectric XP Lite belt drive, knowing that it has known quality behind it, backed up by good customer support and has some verifiable UL certification. Plus it folds and doesn't weight a trillion pounds.

Scooter. That's almost exactly why I picked the Lite exclusively for the beach. Light enough to throw in my van unfolded or folded in the back of my Crosstrek. With the battery it's less than 50#'s (I stripped it down) or 40# (maybe less) without the battery and seat. The 2.6" tires work fine on the compacted Oregon beaches, though I have some 3" tires I'll try.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

This EBR video might be helpful, as it goes in depth, not just on some ebikes that might be of interest as beach rides, but on the manufacturers as well.

These guys (the current EBR owners) are about as authoritative as any source you'll find on the internet. Every bike they discuss gets thorough testing by folks (usually them) who actually know ebikes — a wide range of ebikes.

 

[Ostrander_Hunter]

BUT, those Amazon ebikes are far cheaper and much more powerful than most DTC ebikes! How can anyone resist! I myself would just buy a Lectric XP Lite belt drive, knowing that it has known quality behind it, backed up by good customer support and has some verifiable UL certification. Plus it folds and doesn't weight a trillion pounds.

Thanks sc00ter. Curious about why a belt drive versus a chain drive. Didn't do any research on that yet. Is it just for rust?

 

[sc00ter]

My limited experience with belt drive is they're bulletproof and clean. Water, sand, pretty much nothing will effect the belts performance or reliability. Now you just download an app to set the tension if you have to pull the rear wheel for a flat. Much easier than the old days for setting belt tension.