Yukon tires: 4" to 3"?

[KoryOZ]

I'm mostly using my bike for committing and I'm not crazy about the fat tires. They don't handle too great. Has anyone tried to put in 3" tires instead of the 4" tires?

 

[Dynamo Dan]

Not tried 3 inch tires but are you aware that Voltbike launched a new bike this week? The Voltbike Bravo. Its basically the same as the Yukon 750 except it has 2.1 inch tires, 500w motor and 14v 12.8Ah battery. $300 cheaper than the Yukon 750 Ltd.

 

[KoryOZ]

Not tried 3 inch tires but are you aware that Voltbike launched a new bike this week? The Voltbike Bravo. Its basically the same as the Yukon 750 except it has 2.1 inch tires, 500w motor and 14v 12.8Ah battery. $300 cheaper than the Yukon 750 Ltd.

Hi, Dan. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my question. I am grateful for learning about this new product and I do wish VoltBike every success. Despite their delivery issues they seem to be selling a quality product at a very competitive price. And I'm glad to own my Yukon 750. That said, I'm not prepared to buy another bike right now so I was trying to see if they're was a way I could make some modifications to my bike to make it more closely align with my needs -- commuting that sometimes requires sharp turns and the 4" tires don't inspire me with a lot of confidence in them.

I'll tell you what though, I'm happy to have a 750w motor and a battery with 48v and 16ah -- yes, that's 16 amp hours. True, there are bigger batteries out there (M2S, Juiced) but this is the stock battery on the Yukon, baby!

Again, thank you, Dan for trying to help. Ride on!

 

[JoePah]

I feel the same way about those fat tires...

So long as your rim is narrower than your tire, you should be just fine.

What is the width of the front rim? My guess is that your rim is just over 3", so you could use a 3 1/4 or 3 1/2 tire.

If the rim is 4" wide you could just replace the rim with a 26" MTB normal width.. but tire width will be limited.

 

[mrgold35]

Are you still running the standard Kenda tires for paved road commuting? I think we use the same exact tires for the Radrover and they felt a little squirrelly at higher speeds on turns. I think it is because of the limited contact patch from the widely spaced out knobbies flexing in a high speed turn. The Radrover Kenda's were heavy and stiff 30 tpi tires; which, made them harder to change directions as you increase your speed.

Some Radrover owners switched to Maxxis Hookworms 26"X2.5" tires for urban riding. The 2.5" tires fit on top of the standard 26X4 rim size of the Radrover. The only downsides with a smaller tire were:
- it lowered the ground clearance of the ebike and you might hit your pedal easier in a tight turn with obstacles
- might need to adjust your odometer since the overall diameter will be smaller (Rad 26X4 diameter is closer to 28" size for accurate odo mph/range)

Other options are Origin8 Supercells 26X4 or Duro Beach Bum Fat Tire Cruiser Tire 26X3. I did Vee8 26X4 120tpi tires when my rear Kenda tires wore out under a 1000 miles. I had less noise, much lighter tire for faster turn-in, better stability at higher speeds, less flats, and 3X-4X the tread wear with the Vee8s (have around +1600 miles on the Vee8s with 1/4 of tread used). I don't think they make the Vee8 tires anymore.

 

[AguassissiM]

Here is a set of 3x26 on my Teo, it looks kind of funny with all the free space however the bike rides like a dream, quiet and it seems to be glued to pavement. Unfortunately after the first 5 miles the back tire blew up or blew from inside out, so for now I just have one of each, makes everyone wonder wtf.... when they see it.

 

[TForan]

I went from 4" Kendas, which are awful on hard surfaces to 3.5 Vtire speedsters. Huge improvement

 

[KoryOZ]

Here is a set of 3x26 on my Teo, it looks kind of funny with all the free space however the bike rides like a dream, quiet and it seems to be glued to pavement. Unfortunately after the first 5 miles the back tire blew up or blew from inside out, so for now I just have one of each, makes everyone wonder wtf.... when they see it.

Thanks, Mississauga. Do you think the rear tire blew out because it was smaller? And it was the actual tire that blew out, not just the inner tube? Crazy! What brand of tires did you go with? Those look like good road tires, which is what I'm looking for.

 

[KoryOZ]

I went from 4" Kendas, which are awful on hard surfaces to 3.5 Vtire speedsters. Huge improvement

Those look like nice road tires, as well! Are they 26 x 3.5? Where'd you get them? I don't see them on Amazon.

Do they handle well? How would they compare to someone coming from a regular mountain bike? What do you keep the psi at?

 

[hurricane56]

How is your commute route in terms of road debris? I had a Origin8 Captiv8er on the rear of my fat bike commuter and it was probably the worst tire I've had in several years. This tire has a similar tread pattern to the VeeTire Speedster, it's likely that they are made in the same factory and sold to both companies.

The Speedster/Captiv8er type of tire has a very lightweight casing (120 TPI) and thin center tread area. Most common road debris will puncture it easily even with tire liners installed. The tire is probably good for a weekend cruiser, but I would dis-recommend them for a daily commuter setup. My own track record was about 200-250 miles inbetween flat tires. I ran this tire on the rear wheel for about 1700 miles.

I'm just switched over to a Origin8 Supercell, it has a 30 TPI casing, thicker sidewall, and is wire bead, so fingers crossed it is more durable. I already put down 300 miles on it without a flat, so I'm above my average with the old tire.

 

[TForan]

Those look like nice road tires, as well! Are they 26 x 3.5? Where'd you get them? I don't see them on Amazon.

Do they handle well? How would they compare to someone coming from a regular mountain bike? What do you keep the psi at?

Yes, 26x3.5 at around 25 PSI. Handle great and really soaks up a lot of the bumps and mini craters. Zero flats , so far. I forget where I bought them.

 

[Barry S]

Assembled my RadRover on Saturday and swapped out the stock Juggernaut with Origin8 Supercell before its first ride. Tire swap was a cinch, but getting the rear wheel to drop back in just right was another matter. Anyway, the Supercell tires are SUPER quiet and track nicely. I drove myself nuts looking for the "Rotation" arrow on the Supercell and realized it didn't matter with these tires because their tread pattern isn't directional. Took the bike on its first commute to work this morning and got caught in the rain. Tires gripped great, but I am going to need a front fender (rear trunk bag takes care of the back tire). It throws a pretty good rooster tail if there's a lot of water on the road.

 

[AguassissiM]

Thanks, Mississauga. Do you think the rear tire blew out because it was smaller? And it was the actual tire that blew out, not just the inner tube? Crazy! What brand of tires did you go with? Those look like good road tires, which is what I'm looking for.

"Fat Bike Low Profile Street Tire" that was the listing on e-bay, there is no brand name printed on the tire, i guess i got what i paid for...
Yes the tire was poorly constructed according to the California bike shop I got it from. If you zoom in on this picture you can see daylight coming thru the tread where it separated.
I am looking to replace them once i get a chance to take a ride to Buffalo and visit Niagara Cycle.
Too cheep to pay for shipping.

 

[KoryOZ]

I purchased Wanda Fat Bike Bicycle 26 x 3.0 Tires from Amazon. Installation on the Yukon wheels was pretty reasonable except one part at the end. Getting the rear brake to line up properly was a major pain in the rear! It took me a long time and a lot of fiddling to get the brakes to work properly. So while I'm very happy with the tires, I would not recommend this as a DIY job for the faint of heart.

The bike with these tires? It rides like a dream! I honestly cannot believe the difference. The bike feels extremely nimble and easy to handle. And they are much less noisy on paved surfaces. So I guess that means now I can actually hear the motor when it clicks on.

My commute is 22 miles each way and goes on sidewalks covered with tree debris (like some kind of weird hard nut thing), bike lanes on roads with debris and broken glass, and paved bike trails with more debris from trees on them. I've ridden this route several times now on the new tires and despite some really loud "popping" sounds from some of the debris the tires are still perfect. I am very pleased with this change and do recommend this to others who are spending most of their time on paved surfaces.

I'll try to add some pictures this weekend. I took advantage of this disassembly to black out the bike a little more.

 

[Barry S]

I've ridden this route several times now on the new tires and despite some really loud "popping" sounds from some of the debris the tires are still perfect.

I get those popping and crunching sounds with the Supercells too. I know everything's okay, but I still cringe.