john peck
Well-Known Member
Fats are likely to give a more comfortable ride, but for me they´re just cumbersome & expensive. I can ride
firm beach sand on 2¨ tires & have no great desire to ride in snow.
Why are the e-bike sold only with heavy inefficient fat tires?
- Thread starter Elkman
- Start date
firm beach sand on 2¨ tires & have no great desire to ride in snow.
TForan
Well-Known Member
There's quite a difference in comfort from a 2" to 4". Or in my case 3.5" road tires. Hate knobbies on the street.
Might be with underinflated fat knobby tires.
Lightning 123
Well-Known Member
The original bicycle was made to be self propelled and therefore needed to be reasonably light weight for it to be practical. The modern ebike is being assisted by an electric motor which is going to be heavier because the added weight of the extra components makes it necessary. When it comes down to it the ebike's going to get you down the road easier, farther, and faster. I think that people who complain about weight aren't
looking at the whole picture. ³
looking at the whole picture. ³
McCorby
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
There’s actually more to it than that. Weight can greatly impact a bikes handing characteristics. Many prefer a lightweight ebike because they tend to be more nimble and agile.
.......not to mention being easier to lift, carry, and transport.
Lightning 123
Well-Known Member
Point taken, I get the fact that lighter is better. More power and a big battery can be a more affordable compromise.
AHicks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
I think you need to define the surface you're riding on before making a statement like that, no?
TForan
Well-Known Member
Mostly MUTs and city streets that have many potholes, etc . Good enough ?
I’m new to e-biking and my Giant Revolt feels like a tank at low speeds and carrying it up stairs compared to my carbon acoustic road bike (my ebike weighs around 20kg compared to my 8.5kg acoustic).
I do like the 45mm wide tyres on it...good in the wet...and disk brakes compared to rim brakes are also a revelation in the wet.
One advantage of the “fat” 45mm tyres on my ebike compared to the skinny tyres on my acoustic is after 5 weeks of ownership of my ebike the tyre pressures are still fine.
Get below 80psi on a skinny road tyre and you feel it squirming- topping them up at least fortnightly was essential.
Fatter tyres don’t need the higher pressures, so don’t leak down as fast, and 5-10 psi either way don’t seem to bother them.
Who knows- I might get another month before the ebike tyres need air...it’s due for its 1st service and the LBS will no doubt put some air in...I may get 3 months without pulling out the track pump!
It has Crosscut tyres on now.
When they wear out I’ll likely replace with the same width but less aggressive tread, as nearly all my riding is pavement.
I like the big bag of the 45mm tyre...they’re not “fat”, but way fatter than skinny road tyres.
mike
I do like the 45mm wide tyres on it...good in the wet...and disk brakes compared to rim brakes are also a revelation in the wet.
One advantage of the “fat” 45mm tyres on my ebike compared to the skinny tyres on my acoustic is after 5 weeks of ownership of my ebike the tyre pressures are still fine.
Get below 80psi on a skinny road tyre and you feel it squirming- topping them up at least fortnightly was essential.
Fatter tyres don’t need the higher pressures, so don’t leak down as fast, and 5-10 psi either way don’t seem to bother them.
Who knows- I might get another month before the ebike tyres need air...it’s due for its 1st service and the LBS will no doubt put some air in...I may get 3 months without pulling out the track pump!
It has Crosscut tyres on now.
When they wear out I’ll likely replace with the same width but less aggressive tread, as nearly all my riding is pavement.
I like the big bag of the 45mm tyre...they’re not “fat”, but way fatter than skinny road tyres.
mike
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AHicks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
I think you missed my point. When you say "weight , a long wheelbase and fat tires can also give you more stability" that doesn't always apply under all conditions, right?
I agree those factors might contribute to added stability under some conditions, but not all conditions.
For instance, there's good reasons why bike manf's have 27.5 x 2.25" models, as well as 26 x 4" models. Maybe the same bike otherwise, but one may be better for the conditions YOU ride in.
Point being, you need to be careful when making blanket statements.
And yes, I may be splitting hairs here... -Al
TForan
Well-Known Member
For street riding, it's the combo I prefer. Now, if I was throwing it down some technical path, not so much. I can bounce over curbs and do other childish things without concern. I rode a new Trek the other day and it felt like a children's bike compared to mine. But, if you are of smaller stature , I'm sure it would work.
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Why ignore the reality of the situation? The lightest e-bikes from Rad Power and Blix and others weigh over 55 lbs and none of them have normal road tires with the narrowest tires available being 2 or more inches in width. An associated problem is that there are very few bike racks that can support a 130 lb load with two of them mounted and these are also 4 times as expensive as a result. There are also few e-bikes, regardless of the tires provided, that have fenders and yet they are sold as "city" bikes when the reality is that they are not suited to use by commuters without proper racks and without fenders to keep dirt and water and oil from the road off the rider. The simple truth is that the ones for sale in the USA are made by very small companies with product managers that are clueless and designing to a price point and so going with heavy steel frames and heavy wheels and heavy tires and then compensating by sticking on a motor and a high capacity battery. We are in the Model T era of e-bikes in this country and are years behind China in terms of consumer offerings.Nothing more wrong. You must have looked at budget e-bikes popular among a certain category of mostly North American e-bike riders. While, there are all imaginable classes of e-bikes out in the market:
I'm sure I managed to miss some more categories. If we put the super-lightweight e-bikes aside, a typical e-bike of the categories I listed above would be 46 through 53 (most typical figure for a mid-drive motor e-bike) to 59 lbs. Don't, however, expect paying $2000 for any of them.
- Super-lightweight e-bikes (road, MTB, commuter). For instance, a high end model of Specialized Creo SL road e-bike might even weigh as little as 26.9 lb
- Road e-bikes on narrow, slick tyres
- Gravel e-bikes with somewhat thicker (but still narrow) tyres
- Hybrid e-bikes (all-rounders) with, say, 1.5" tyres
- Commuter e-bikes with 1.75-2.4" tyres
- e-MTB on tyres ranging from 2.2-3". By no means it is called "fat tyre". These are "off-road tyre" e-bikes, often with full suspension.
So, it is your choice to select e-bike of a category that fits your needs, with the appropriate tyre size for the purpose. Regarding the weight, the motor easily offsets the bike weight, even at low pedalling assistance. Only in case you need to carry your e-bike, you might want the super-lightweight variety.
You asked why e-bikes are so heavy. If we take a typical budget Chinese made, stamped, fat tyre e-bike with a hub motor, the hub motor is very heavy. Additionally, owners of such e-bikes love having extremely powerful motor & the throttle (because it is hard for them to start the ride without massive motor assistance). That calls for a very heavy battery. For typical higher quality mid-drive motor e-bike, I might quote the figures for my Specialized Vado 5.0 e-bike (the Euro Speed version):
Don't tell me a regular traditional commuter bike weighs less than 37 lbs
- Battery weight: 6.6 lbs
- Motor weight: 8.6 lbs
- Total e-bike weight: 53 lbs
- Net bike weight: 37.8 lbs.
(Additionally, e-bike must be sturdier than the trad bike because it needs to be strongly built to be able to carry not only the rider but also the motor and the battery).
Brad Marble
New Member
Power to weight ratio!!! Is what it's all about. My 400lb, 100hp motorcycle feels pretty light. So does my 4000lb, 300hp car. But I'm not going to carry them up the stairs to an apartment. My 750w, 65lb fat tire fills a void in my life, I accept the weight.
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
Unless you take Vado SL in your hand.
Lightning 123
Well-Known Member
Right now I think there's two kinds of ebikes, heavier cheaper models and Higher end lighter models. I believe that
in the future there will be more power and less weight because that is what people want to buy.
in the future there will be more power and less weight because that is what people want to buy.
lloose
Member
I think the market is swinging to accommodate affordable lighter bikes. You are starting to see it with bikes like the Radpower Mission and Ride1up Roadster V2. If you start with a light frame, light battery, and lighter motor, you can get a good experience with less power.
Fat tire affordable ebikes opened the market to new groups of people. When I first got my Lectric XP, I thought I'd get more questions from cycling enthusiasts. Instead of get hounded by old people who are living their retirement days in their RV. People who would more likely buy a golf cart for transportation than a traditional bike.
Fat tire affordable ebikes opened the market to new groups of people. When I first got my Lectric XP, I thought I'd get more questions from cycling enthusiasts. Instead of get hounded by old people who are living their retirement days in their RV. People who would more likely buy a golf cart for transportation than a traditional bike.
Jacko
Member
- Region
- USA
Ya they are two different animals. When I was in my 20's-40's I raced and had fabulous Italian road machines. I also had a Corvette! Now I'm 70 and have a 60lb E-bike and a Lincoln Towncar and It's all good.
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