Which tyres do you ride on your ebike?

[Razor1972]

Hello Hubbers,

I recently took advantage of the sale of the Trek Rail 5 for R65k. Great bike and an even better deal. The bike comes with tube + tyres, so I immediately opted to get tubeless and was advised by the bike shop to get the tubeless version of the std tyres that were on the bike. Bontrager SE5 Team Issure 29 x 2.5, which comes with a money back guarantee )no questions asked).

Now I'm use to riding Maxxis DHF 2.5 Exo + on my normal bike and love the tyres. I try not to get stuck on brands so thought 'what the heck... Bontrager is a very well known brand'. I am not happy. I pumped the them up to 1.1 psi, which feels really hard. It feels like I'm getting very little traction, yet I am dinging my rims at that pressure. For context, I weigh 65kg and riding the medium frame and ride Enduro. I went to the bike shop and asked their advice. They seem hesitant to replace the tyre (as expected), so their reasoning is that I don't have the proper skill and need one-on-one training. Now I might not read up a lot about about specs, but I's say I am above average

I want to get Maxxis of some sort. What do you ride on your ebike and how is it going?

[ChrisF]

My Giant came with Maxxis, 2.6

 

1.5 and the bike is PLANTED, and still soft enough to handle rocks and roots in its stride.

 

 

I cant find the same Maxxis for the rear ... apparently a downhill tyre.

 

Took a chance on 2,8 Vittoria Martello from CWC.  Felt different for a few rides.  Now used to it, and will buy it again.

[thebob]

1.1 bar is way too low. That is a heavy bike with soft alloy rims, so wonder they are getting dinged. Need to be at least 1.5 bar and up (depending on your terrain and desired feel). Assuming you are on the SE5 or SE6 Bontrager tyres, get them at the right pressure and go ride. If they sold you the XR5, those tyres are too thin for an e-bike so a tougher set of tyres is a must IMO. Personally I went for the Maxxis Assegai in the DH casing for my Giant Trance X E+. The beefy casing and soft rubber means I have grip for days and don’t need to worry about punctures or dinging wheels.

Edited December 28, 2023 by thebob

[ChrisF]

9 minutes ago, thebob said:

1.1 bar is way too low. That is a heavy bike with soft alloy rims, so wonder they are getting dinged. Need to be at least 1.5 bar and up (depending on your terrain and desired feel). Assuming you are on the SE5 or SE6 Bontrager tyres, get them at the right pressure and go ride. If they sold you the XR5, those tyres are too thin for an e-bike so a tougher set of tyres is a must IMO. Personally I went for the Maxxis Assegai in the DH casing for my Giant Trance X E+. The beefy casing and soft rubber means I have grip for days and don’t need to worry about punctures or dinging wheels.

 

I must have a look at the Assegai 

[Chadvdw67]

2 hours ago, thebob said:

1.1 bar is way too low. That is a heavy bike with soft alloy rims, so wonder they are getting dinged. Need to be at least 1.5 bar and up (depending on your terrain and desired feel). Assuming you are on the SE5 or SE6 Bontrager tyres, get them at the right pressure and go ride. If they sold you the XR5, those tyres are too thin for an e-bike so a tougher set of tyres is a must IMO. Personally I went for the Maxxis Assegai in the DH casing for my Giant Trance X E+. The beefy casing and soft rubber means I have grip for days and don’t need to worry about punctures or dinging wheels.

Did you not blow up a wheel with your DH casing Maxxis tyre? 🤔🤔🤫🤫

[thebob]

3 minutes ago, Chadvdw67 said:

Did you not blow up a wheel with your DH casing Maxxis tyre? 🤔🤔🤫🤫

Yes, but to be fair that particular rock at Thaba is a known destroyer of wheelsets. Even South Enduro wheels have been killed by it. I should have known better 🙈

Edited December 28, 2023 by thebob

[LazyTrailRider]

2 hours ago, thebob said:

1.1 bar is way too low. That is a heavy bike with soft alloy rims, so wonder they are getting dinged. Need to be at least 1.5 bar and up (depending on your terrain and desired feel). Assuming you are on the SE5 or SE6 Bontrager tyres, get them at the right pressure and go ride. If they sold you the XR5, those tyres are too thin for an e-bike so a tougher set of tyres is a must IMO. Personally I went for the Maxxis Assegai in the DH casing for my Giant Trance X E+. The beefy casing and soft rubber means I have grip for days and don’t need to worry about punctures or dinging wheels.

I wouldn’t say 1.5bar at OP’s weight is necessary if he runs proper casings.

At 68kg on a 19kg Levo SL with 2.6 Butcher Grid Trail T9 (soft) rubber, I run 1.4 rear and 1.2 front for relatively aggressive (but not crazy) trail riding. Anything harder kills traction at my weight.

You’re probably right though about the tyres he has being too thinly sidewalled…

EDIT: On 2nd thought, soft alloy rims do need a bit more air, in my case I run carbon so can get away with a few smacks here and there.

Another edit: OP, have a look at a Grid Trail or Grid Gravity casing Butcher/Eliminator combo. Spez tyres in 2023 are not rubbish like they were 3 or 4 years ago, they have properly robust sidewalls these days.

Edited December 28, 2023 by LazyTrailRider

[Razor1972]

2 hours ago, thebob said:

1.1 bar is way too low. That is a heavy bike with soft alloy rims, so wonder they are getting dinged. Need to be at least 1.5 bar and up (depending on your terrain and desired feel). Assuming you are on the SE5 or SE6 Bontrager tyres, get them at the right pressure and go ride. If they sold you the XR5, those tyres are too thin for an e-bike so a tougher set of tyres is a must IMO. Personally I went for the Maxxis Assegai in the DH casing for my Giant Trance X E+. The beefy casing and soft rubber means I have grip for days and don’t need to worry about punctures or dinging wheels.

I have to weigh up having harder tyres and not dining the rims, with having softer tyres and having some traction. At 1.1 I can already feel it in my arms. I really think I'd get a better ride from Maxxis.

[Andreas_187]

1.1bar on a 25kg bike seems way too little 

[BaGearA]

Joh , I run 1.8 front and rear on XR5's and they've been great ( 16kg bike , 72kg rider kitted up  ) 

 

Once needed to put a mushroom plug in ( which is still in there ) but been great ever since 

[thebob]

On 12/28/2023 at 9:09 PM, Razor1972 said:

I have to weigh up having harder tyres and not dining the rims, with having softer tyres and having some traction. At 1.1 I can already feel it in my arms. I really think I'd get a better ride from Maxxis.

You shouldn’t have to run the tyres at such low pressure to get traction. Try 1.5 up front and 1.7 out back and see how it goes. Out of curiosity have you set the pressures of the suspension front and rear at all to get the proper sag numbers?

[MORNE]

I finally got me a topeak smartguage 2 this week. My floor pump is acting up so went to the LBS, saw that crappy pumps cost 800 anyway. I have loads of pumps lying around. So now they are just for putting air in. I paid the same money for a digital guage. Now i just over inflate and just adjust to the pressure i need with the gauge. To my surprise almost all my pumps were under inflating by almost 7psi. I thought i was running 25F/28R (95kg loaded RTR at the moment) all this time and i obviously wasnt. Ran it for real the past weekend and at first it felt hard (compared to what im used to) but i went faster everywhere.
 

I digress though….Just because they feel soft and grippy doesn't mean they are fast. Too soft and the tire will fold over or be squirmy in hard turns, more so on a heavy bike. Invest in a digital guage that gives you consistent readings. That way you can use any crappy pump and set pressure correctly and be sure you are always running what you think you are.

literally one of the best bicycle purchases i made this year…and i built 2 new bikes in 2023 haha

Edited December 30, 2023 by MORNE

[Chadvdw67]

I normally run around 23-25psi front and 25-28psi rear, however I recently tried running 30psi front and 33psi rear,  did not notice any real loss in traction, but, I am definitely able to hit corners faster with more confidence, I would regularly roll tyres at the lower psi, but with the higher psi, now trye squirm and on top of that, no pings on the rims, so I will definitely be sticking with higher pressure, negligible loss in traction, less tyre squirm and added rim protection

[W Smith]

26 minutes ago, Chadvdw67 said:

I normally run around 23-25psi front and 25-28psi rear, however I recently tried running 30psi front and 33psi rear,  did not notice any real loss in traction, but, I am definitely able to hit corners faster with more confidence, I would regularly roll tyres at the lower psi, but with the higher psi, now trye squirm and on top of that, no pings on the rims, so I will definitely be sticking with higher pressure, negligible loss in traction, less tyre squirm and added rim protection

That is my experience as well running at 30 psi as well.An ebike is heavy and I will happily forego the minimal advantage of more traction at lower pressures.The last thing I want on my ebike is a front tyre squirming in a corner due to lower pressure.

 

[MORNE]

https://axs.sram.com/guides/tire/pressure
 

use this as a guide, gets you pretty close.

[thebob]

7 hours ago, Chadvdw67 said:

I normally run around 23-25psi front and 25-28psi rear, however I recently tried running 30psi front and 33psi rear,  did not notice any real loss in traction, but, I am definitely able to hit corners faster with more confidence, I would regularly roll tyres at the lower psi, but with the higher psi, now trye squirm and on top of that, no pings on the rims, so I will definitely be sticking with higher pressure, negligible loss in traction, less tyre squirm and added rim protection

You are also a “groot seun”