Winter riding on the Zen Photon.

[DrewInSK]

As far as getting summer/wheels made -- I had the same thoughts. Means we'd need another enviolo heavy duty, though, right?

I wonder what the cost of said wheels might be. I got tannus armor and tube for mine also. Looks like mail is starting back up shortly so tires will be coming my way, finally.

 

[Blunoser]

As far as getting summer/wheels made -- I had the same thoughts. Means we'd need another enviolo heavy duty, though, right?

I wonder what the cost of said wheels might be. I got tannus armor and tube for mine also. Looks like mail is starting back up shortly so tires will be coming my way, finally.

Guys, I'd start by asking the folks at Zen about buying a spare set of wheels. That way you know they will be 100% plug and play. Be ready for a bit of sticker shock, I think the rear hub alone is several hundred in Canada.. The tires would have to be pretty awful to swap for me to go that route. Do your rims not have the concave middle section to tuck the tire into when mounting it? This can make a huge difference in bead clearance.

 

[DrewInSK]

Guys, I'd start by asking the folks at Zen about buying a spare set of wheels. That way you know they will be 100% plug and play. Be ready for a bit of sticker shock, I think the rear hub alone is several hundred in Canada.. The tires would have to be pretty awful to swap for me to go that route. Do your rims not have the concave middle section to tuck the tire into when mounting it? This can make a huge difference in bead clearance.

...I'm positive the cost is a little rich for me right now -- but if the swap is that gnarly to do twice a year -- Maybe I pay a shop to or get plug and play wheelset as you said.

 

[Grenseal]

...I'm positive the cost is a little rich for me right now -- but if the swap is that gnarly to do twice a year -- Maybe I pay a shop to or get plug and play wheelset as you said.

The fit was super tight.. I had a hell of a time removing and mounting the tyres.

 

[Grenseal]

I'd love to see a Zen Fat bike with belt drive for the Canadian winter.

 

[DrewInSK]

I'd love to see a Zen Fat bike with belt drive for the Canadian winter.

I take it the skinny tires are a bit challenging, are they? Still waiting on my 2.6", but there's hope yet...the mail is running.

Have ridden on fat tire ebikes in winter. It's good fun, and would be better not having to try and oil the chain at -30. We're in for yet another frigid blizzard here today.

 

[Grenseal]

I take it the skinny tires are a bit challenging, are they? Still waiting on my 2.6", but there's hope yet...the mail is running.

Have ridden on fat tire ebikes in winter. It's good fun, and would be better not having to try and oil the chain at -30. We're in for yet another frigid blizzard here today.

Well.. the Ice Spiker was awesome on ice... but snow was difficult lol. I think you need 4" or more for snow.

 

[mclewis1]

Indeed, this is exactly as expected. ICPs work best on ice and smooth hard packed snow (and probably no other tire is better in these conditions), and 4-5" "fat" tires (something like the 45nrth Wrathlorde/childs) are needed on deeper soft snow and uncleared trails that have a mix of conditions. The more you are riding on hard surfaces (paved/gravel trails or streets) the narrower you can get away with up to a point that depends on temperature.

Even after the road is ploughed the cars churn up the surface if there's an ice melter being used, and then you end up with piles of "brown sugar". If the temps don't go low enough to fully freeze this type of surface overnight you usually can get away with narrower (<2") studded tires that get down to the hard road surface. If however you have the mix of brown sugar and ice pack with icy ruts then a mid to fat (2-4+") studded tire is usually better than a narrower one. In cities with lots of car traffic and the surface doesn't have too much ice build up (more wet slush) then an even narrower studded tire can be a good choice due to it's much lower rolling resistance.

In general for commuting in suburban and urban areas where you'll see a wide variety of winter conditions I think a well lugged and studded 2-2.5" winter tire is probably the best choice when you have the luxury of avoiding the worst conditions (newly fallen really deep snow). If you have to commute even in the worst conditions then the heck with the compromises and it's fat all the way with a big battery.

 

[DrewInSK]

In this city/Saskatoon, we've had huge temp swings, and we're pretty awful for snow clearing on roadways. Everything is sheer ice and snirt right now with a new layer of really cold snow. A week of extreme cold warnings. Can confirm, this is probably best handled by low pressure fat tires. But still! Mine just started moving within the mail system so I'm likely going to find out.