Have you found any e-bikes with 4″ (fat) tires that aren’t ‘knobby’. What’s with that? Considering that most of these bikes will never see dirt or sand, wouldn’t a quieter ‘street’ tire make more sense? So I have been on a quest to find the perfect 4″ street tire for my Northrock XC00 fat tire custom e-bike.
This 26″ x 4″ Origin 8 Supercell wire-bead tire is my first experiment. This tire was purchased from Carson City Bike Shop for $50 per tire, plus $15 shipping. It’s really quiet, and tracks well ‘in a straight line’. However, max pressure is 20 psi. Also, in profile the tire isn’t round into the sidewall which creates interesting moments when turning. I’m still impressed with the tires now that I’m used to them, but I’ll be looking for other options. Here’s a picture of this tire:
A couple of other options that might be even better due to the fact that tread-to-sidewall profile is more round than the Origin 8s, and these tire can be pumped up to higher tire pressures which are appropriate for the kind of riding I do. However, none of these have wire beads, which I prefer. These are ‘folding’ tires, which might be OK. Time will tell. Here they are:
The first one is the Hycline E-Bike Fat Tire, 26″ x 4.0″ Folding E-Bike Fat Tire available on Amazon for $41.04 each. This tire should handle well, but has a 20 psi max pressure rating which is not ideal.
This next tire is the HEB ENDUROMAX 26″ x 4″ E-Bike Fat Tire. It’s expensive at $89 each, but looks like it’ll be fairly quiet and the round profile should handle well. It also appears to have a 30 psi max pressure rating which is a good thing.
Here’s another ‘street’ tire currently on my radar. It’s the Vee Tire Co. Zigzag Tire 26″ x 4.0″ with a wire bead. These are pricey at $80.74 each, and they appear to have a 30 psi max pressure rating.
And finally, a relatively inexpensive 20 psi max pressure folding street tire. This is the EERONS 26″ x 4″ Fat Tire 60 TPI, Zero-Rolling Resistance, Folded Replacement E-Bike Tire, for the low low price of $79.99 for a pair! Not bad… Just don’t over inflate these or you’ll have problems, so I have been told.
So that’s it. I have another Northrock XC00 that hasn’t been electrified yet. I need to decide which ‘street’ tire is going to work best on this bike. But in the meantime, I plan to wear out the Origin 8s on the electric XC00. No more 4″ knobbies for me!