RipCurrent mínimum tire size?

[Jctownsley]

My girlfriend and I are planning on purchasing juiced bikes in the next month or so. We’ve been debating back and forth between the cross current s2 and ripcurrent s for a week. On bikes we’ve tried locally (specialized, bulls, and norco) we’ve decided we really like a tire about 2.5 to 3 inches. We’ll mostly commute on bike paths and roads, but want to go on the occasional gravel road or dirt trail.
Can the RipCurrent wheel take a 3 in tire? Looks like 2.2 inches is max on CCS.

Thoughts? We tried a fat tire Ebike with 4.8 inches tires today and it looked like a tank. Does the RipCurrent S have the same look in person?

 

[Asher]

I'd like to know the answer as well.

I think the answer comes down to the internal rim diameter. As long as that diameter is below 90% of the tire width, you should be good.

I'm with you and agree that a 2.35"-2.8" 26" tire would be ideal. The CCS tires are too tall and skinny.

 

[Asher]

EBR lists the rim as 82 mm external, and this different rim that has the same external width is 76 mm internal.

Surly Rolling Darryl 26" mtn rim dimensions | Freespoke

This site claims you can put their 76 mm tire on a 100 mm external rim.

26x3,00 bicycle tire 70-559 DURO BEACH BUM - FAT and STRONG - city, cruiser, chopper, custom, e-bike - Powered by BST

So there's a good chance a 2.8" would work

Only slick one I can find is this:

PLUS SIZE | SPEEDSTER - Veetireco

The Speedster is another one of our designs that works across the board. Designed originally as a BMX tyre, we soon realised that the smooth pattern and high-efficiency makes it perfect on cruisers. Speedster is at home on paved sidewalks, roads, and beachside boardwalks.

www.veetireco.com

It's too bad Schwalbe doesn't make any because the Vee is pretty hefty, double the weight of a G-One Speed in 2.35".

 

[mdknapp]

Watching closely.

I find myself stuck in the middle of purchasing an RCS and CCX. I don't need a super fat tire and am waffling between a CCX (with MTB tires?) and an RCS (with smaller tires).

 

[linklemming]

Note that going from a 26x4 to a 26x3 will change the wheel diameter from 762mm(26x4) to 711(26x3).

https://www.bikecalc.com/wheel_size_math

That will reduce your bottom bracket height by (762-711)/2 ->25mm or a full inch. Thats a pretty big deal IMHO.

I have seen RCS in person and I just dont like the fat tire look. Yeah its totally cosmetic but it bothers me almost as much as watching a fat tire bike bounce everywhere (due to the tires just being springs with no dampling). Every time I see one, my only thought is boing,boing,boing......

I absolutely love the endless grip of the 27.5x2.8 tires on my Bulls hardtail eMTB and would love something like that.

I actually went down the rabbit hole of contemplating a RCS and rebuilding the wheels to use 27.5+ rims but still needed to use a big tire (around 3.6) or even a 29 at 2.8. Of course Im assuming this is doable with the wider hubs used on fatbikes.

In the end, putting the the fatest tires I can fit on my CCX is working ok. Im currently using "Marathon Plus MTB" tires in 2.25F(35psi) and 2.1R(40psi) and it looks like I could get the 2.25 to work in the rear. Note that if you want to go tubeless, its probably not a good idea to use such a fat tire on the CCX 19mm rims. I use Stans sealant in tubes so no biggie for me.

 

[Asher]

26" is a better size for 2.8" tires than 27.5" but unfortunately there's little support from tire makers nowadays for 26", hard to find a good size 26" slick.

Now with the scrambler and scorpion, the original audience for the fat tire may have moved on to those, so collapsing the CCX and RCS into the bike you describe makes a lot of sense. Juiced seems to have stopped evolving it's bigger wheeled ebikes due to higher sales on the scrambler, so I don't expect much movement on this front.

This site is great for tire and wheel calculations:

Bike Wheel Diameter Visualizer | Bike Counterculture

bikecounterculture.com

 

[Asher]

Specialized just released a new set of gravel wheels. This review puts 33mm tires on a 25mm internal diameter rim without issue. (Juiced should update their rims to ~35mm internal diameter like Stromer's, but Juiced never seems to update anything non-electric.)

Ridden and Reviewed: Roval Terra CLX and CLX EVO Gravel Wheels

Today, Roval unveiled its 3 models of ultralight, wide, carbon Terra CLX gravel wheels. We've ridden and raced them. Get the specs and early review.

www.cxmagazine.com

 

[Slevin]

Hey @Jctownsley ,

What did you end up doing here? I'm in the same situation. Got the ripcurrent, but the tires are too massive for me.

Is there a 26 x 3 you found that you can recommend?

 

[Jctownsley]

Hey @Jctownsley ,

What did you end up doing here? I'm in the same situation. Got the ripcurrent, but the tires are too massive for me.

Is there a 26 x 3 you found that you can recommend?

we both got RipCurrent S’s and are just using stock tires. Thought they would feel too big but they are fine for us. Not that much rolling resistance on the road with the electric motor!

 

[Slevin]

@Jctownsley - Ah ok - I'm still gonna try to find a 3", but what pressure are you rocking in the 4" tires?

Thanks

 

[Jctownsley]

@Jctownsley - Ah ok - I'm still gonna try to find a 3", but what pressure are you rocking in the 4" tires?

Thanks

20 on roads. 5-10psi off-road depending on conditions

 

[ADKdadro4]

Watching closely.

I find myself stuck in the middle of purchasing an RCS and CCX. I don't need a super fat tire and am waffling between a CCX (with MTB tires?) and an RCS (with smaller tires).

Just curious @mdknapp what did you end up doing? I am in the same boat. I love the setup of the Juiced bikes but they seem to have a three little bears conundrum for me as I don't want super fat and I don't want skinny. The 19MM rims on the CCS are a tad too narrow for me and the fat tire rims on the ripcurrent are likely to big. I would love something like 26mm-35mm rim neighborhood so I could run 2.3-2.8 type tires that for me personally seem to be the sweetspot.

 

[teskow]

I have the RC with the standard tires and wheels and can honestly say it coasts just as well as any bike I've ridden next to. I am surprised it does so, but looking at the tires they only ride on a very narrow ridge so little of the tire is in contact with the road. The only thing it would be nice if they were a bit quieter.

 

[Bruce Arnold]

Just curious @mdknapp what did you end up doing? I am in the same boat. I love the setup of the Juiced bikes but they seem to have a three little bears conundrum for me as I don't want super fat and I don't want skinny. The 19MM rims on the CCS are a tad too narrow for me and the fat tire rims on the ripcurrent are likely to big. I would love something like 26mm-35mm rim neighborhood so I could run 2.3-2.8 type tires that for me personally seem to be the sweetspot.

One of our members took it to the extreme (@Reid) and managed to put on a 29 x 2.35 tire -- but not without having to crush the chain stays to squeeze it in. Not recommended. If you go back to early 2018 when he was active on the forum, you could find the series of posts where he was reporting on his efforts.
Edited to add: I think this is the thread I'm remembering.