Looking for after market street tires for RadRover

[spmckinnon]

Hey guys, I use my 2018 RadRover mostly for commuting, can anyone recommend a good set of tires for pavement, looking for...

• speed
• low noise
• no auto steering (where the bike pulls when you steer)

I bought a pair of Origin8 Supercell tires thinking these would be ideal but there is way too much auto steering, it took the pleasure right out of the ride.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Tars Tarkas]

What PSI are you running? You might need to air up some.

TT

 

[spmckinnon]

What PSI are you running? You might need to air up some.

TT

I ran the Origin8 Supercell's at 20 PSI as recommended.

 

[spmckinnon]

I ended up ordering a pair of Maxxis Hookworms from canadabicycleparts.com, really looking forward to testing these out. Will report back with photos and how they fit/look with the stock full fenders.

Also ordered a pair of the Kenda DH 26"x2.4-2.75 tubes.

I wonder if my Mr Tuffy liner will fit in these!?

 

[mrgold35]

My Vee8 26X4" 120tpi had a really bad self steer with the PSI below 20 (in the mid-upper teens for PSI). Once I up the PSI into the 21.5-23 range the self steer went away 100%.

The aftermarket replacements ones I've seen for 100% urban are:
Dura 26X3 Beach Bum (sometimes called Soul or Dura Soul)
Origin8 Supercell 26X4
Maxxis Hookworms 26X2.5
Vee8 26X4 72tpi-120tpi (no longer make these tires since 2017, might get lucky on eBay)

Others (zero knowledge on how they perform):
Vee Tire Co. Zig Zag 26X4
Vee Tire Co. Chicane 26X3.5
Soul Fast 26X3

They make Mr. Tuffy liners in different width for regular, 700, plus size, and fat tires. I would make sure to trim off the length to minimize overlap. I didn't do this at first and ended up getting a pinch flat when the overlapped liner moved to one side and bunched up. Zero issues with pinch flats in almost 2 years once I trim to only about 1-2 inch overlap.

 

[spmckinnon]

Got the hookworms installed. Trying out 35 PSI to start. Tires say they are good up to 65PSI.

 

[mrgold35]

Your speedo and odo might be more acurate now with the smaller diameter Hookworms. A lot of us had to adjust the wheel size from 26" to 28" for the speedo/odo to calculate accurately with the 4" fat tires. I didn't realize the difference until I purchased a Radcity Step-Thru and the wife and I were getting different reading on the same ride. We are both spot on with each other and with road side radar signs with the Radcity at 26" and my Rover at 28".

 

[spmckinnon]

Commuted into work (45km) with the Hookworms installed @ 35 PSI.

These things are a dream.
Super quiet, so much less rolling resistance.
I had an extra 10% battery remaining than I normally would on this commute because of the increase in efficiency.
They do look a little funny with the stock fenders, someone mentioned "they look like they skipped leg day", so true.
I'm not finding they are necessarily faster, as I was already hitting top speed with the bike but what they are is more efficient.
I can get up to speed faster and coast for longer distances.

The tires are listed at 65PSI max, so I'm wondering if I should go higher than 35 PSI? Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Highly recommend these bad boys if you're most of your riding is commuting.

 

[spmckinnon]

Your speedo and odo might be more acurate now with the smaller diameter Hookworms. A lot of us had to adjust the wheel size from 26" to 28" for the speedo/odo to calculate accurately with the 4" fat tires. I didn't realize the difference until I purchased a Radcity Step-Thru and the wife and I were getting different reading on the same ride. We are both spot on with each other and with road side radar signs with the Radcity at 26" and my Rover at 28".

Oh yeah, I forgot to change wheel diameter. I have it set to 29". I'll change it to 26" and see what it looks like.

 

[fj2u]

Great info on this thread, thank you.

My 2018 RR is just shy of 1800 miles and the rear tire is in need of replacement (the tread is worn smooth).

I see that Maxxis Hookworm 26x2.5 is a popular pavement commuter option; I think that's what I'll go with.

Can someone confirm that this tire will fit? I guess I'm confused, because the fat tire rims seem wider than 2.5"... closer to 3.5"? How do these tires fit such a wide rim?

Thank you in advance.

 

[spmckinnon]

Can someone confirm that this tire will fit?

It will indeed fit. Just be sure to get the right size inner tube, don't use your stock inner tubes, I used a pair of Kenda DH 26"x2.4-2.75

And you'll likely want to use a PSI higher than 20, to push the tire out evenly over the rims. I'm finding 35 PSI works nicely.
You'll see that once the inner tube gets fully inflated, the hookworms will bead nicely. I know I was also worried they wouldn't fit.

I'm loving the hookworms so much, they are silent, have incredible grip and the rolling resistance is dramatically reduced. Highly recommend.

 

[fj2u]

Thank you for confirming!

Ok, ordered the hookworms with (Maxxis Downhill Tube 26 x 2.5-2.7" Schrader) tubes.

As much as I loved the look of the Kenda's, I realize now that I rarely leave the pavement, and would enjoy less rolling resistance, less tire noise, and a little more speed with less effort; with the negative of tires that look out of proportion to the rest of the bike.

I probably should have went with the RadCity; I just loved the look of the RR.

Thank you!

 

[MechaNut]

I'm running Vee Rubber Speedsters on my Ripcurrent S. I've found they get a little "squirmy" at or below 22 PSI. They are definitely made to run at the higher end of their PSI range (up to 32 PSI). I've been meaning to try them at 2 BAR/28 PSI but the weather around here hasn't cooperated yet.

 

[CodyDog]

I have Origin 8 Supercells which are great on the street.

 

[spmckinnon]

I have Origin 8 Supercells which are great on the street.

Do you get auto steering with those when turning?

 

[spmckinnon]

Ok, so I went back to the Origin8 Supercell tires. The maxis hookworks were just too low to the ground, I was constantly scrapping peddles while turning.

Turns out the Origin8 Supercell auto steering completely went away after a few 100km/s of use. They need to be at 20 PSI also, which is the max. Now I'm absolutely loving them. They look good, are completely silent and fit the bike pretty well.


Be careful not to go past 20 PSI (max). I tried 30 PSI and got a pinch flat on a sharp turn, the tubes basically pop'd out the side of the tire from the sideways pressure of the tight turn.

 

[Seasaw]

Scraping pedals while turning means your inside pedal is down (6 o'clock). It is best practice to keep your inside of the turn pedal at the top (12 o'clock) since as you lean into a turn, it is possible to scrape the inside pedal regardless of tire size. I'm using the maxxis on my RR5 with no problems. To each his own.

 

[Seasaw]

Disagree. You can pedal away and when coming into a sharp turn, hold your inside pedal at 12 o'clock and then continue pedaling. I don't consider that riding like a motorcycle. Many years ago I made a sharp left hand turn on my 10 speed while continuously pedaling hard. I had a sudden and unpleasant meeting with the asphalt. You ride anyway you want with any tires you want. This is just my approach.

 

[AHicks]

You can only do that if you're using your ebike like a motorcycle.

Not sure what that has to do with anything? Who cares? Dragging a foot in a corner can be scary stuff....

 

[AHicks]

Sorry I also have to disagree.
I'm saying this from personal experience because I was in the similar situation for lowering the bike.
(not on purpose, broken air-fork not holding up proper level of air)

You can only do that if you already had enough speed built up, and turn while keeping your pedal up at 12 o' clock position.

In my case, I was stopped at left turn lane at intersection, I do not have throttle.
I was leaning and pedaling, needless to say I dragged my pedal (because I was pedaling).

In some cases, I would like to accelerate while cornering, but I can't do that without throttle.

Sounds like you need get your throttle working again?