Do you have an electric bike? It’s good. Having good tires adapted to your use is even better. In this guide, Numerama helps you find the shoe that suits you. Finally, tires on your wheels.
If it is quite possible to mount conventional tires on an e-bike – be careful, we did not say speed bike or speed pedelecs! –, equipping yourself with specific models remains strongly recommended. Resistance, durability, comfort, safety: tires for e-bikes and electric bikes offer a series of significant advantages. Now, how to choose them? What characteristics should be taken into account? Come on, let’s put the rubber on, it’s going to make vroom.
Why choose tires suitable for electric bikes?
We start on the wheel hats with 5 good reasons to mount specific tires on your e-bike:
- The weight factor. An electric bike is heavier than a muscle bike due to its motorization and electronic system. Over time, this weight accelerates tire wear.
- The driving. It’s easy to pick up speed on an e-bike, so when you brake, the tires are stressed more. Then, the braking distances are lengthened due to the weight of the bike, which wears the rubber more.
- The type of engine. On some electric bikes equipped with a motor on the front or rear wheel, the assistance is not always linear and is sometimes jerky.
- Usage. If it remains within everyone’s reach, with some knowledge of bicycle mechanics and the gesture that goes well, changing the tires on a VAE is not an easy task because of the weight of the machine. Fitting specific tires, which are therefore more resistant over time, saves you a few weight training sessions and/or back pain.
- Battery life. The rubber tires for electric bikes are designed to make you consume less battery (less rolling resistance).
Tires specific to electric bikes are indeed more robust due to their reinforced carcass. They thus offer better resistance to wear, and therefore last longer over time. Unless you have a hobby of doing burns with your bike, but that’s none of our business.
Then, these tires have a profile with deeper grooves that provide better grip, and an adapted tread for greater driving comfort.
And for all these reasons, we can say that eBike-specific tires improve your safety on the road!
How to choose tires for an electric bike?
Here are the criteria to take into account when selecting the future shoes for your car:
Practice and type of bike
Do you only drive in town with your pedelec? Are you looking for tires to equip your VTTAE (electrically assisted mountain bike) or your electric road bike? Do you ride on paved roads or trails? Or do you ride a speed bike? It changes everything !
Tire size
There are 3 ways to designate the dimensions of a bicycle tire:
| Kind | European ETRTO measurement | French unit in mm | English unit in inches |
|---|---|---|---|
| Format | XX-XXX | XXX x XX (A/B/C) | XX x X.XX |
To make your life easier, look at the size of your tires indicated on their sidewalls. Then buy your new tires based on this information.
Also note that this is where you will find the inflation pressure indications. With well inflated tires, you reduce the risk of punctures and you gain in comfort and autonomy. And you make them last longer.
Robustness
The question is played out at the level of the thickness and the quality of the rubber, and of the carcass. The TPI value (threads per inch) provides information about the tire carcass, i.e. its structure. This corresponds to the number of threads used per inch. It can also be written PPE on certain product sheets.
The TPI value informs you about the level of stiffness of the model, as well as its resistance. The higher it is, the more the tire is dense, therefore rigid and resistant. As an indication, one of the bestsellers of the Schwalbe brand, the indestructible Marathon E-Plus tire for E-bikeshas an PPE of 67.
Tire grip
It is at the level of the tread, the outer part of the tire in contact with the ground, that’s happening.
The more the lugs are marked, the greater the rolling resistance. It is therefore necessary to provide an additional effort to move forward; the battery is more stressed and therefore discharges more quickly.
This is why there are different tire profiles: smooth (or slick), semi-slick or with pronounced studs. The latter are more suitable for the practice of VTTAE or gravel (depending on the terrain of course!). For the road and the city, prefer a tire equipped with a tread with a slick or semi-slick profile which offers better performance.
We also remember that the type of rubber also influences the performance of a tire.
A special mention e-Bike
Several reference brands have simplified things by creating special electric bike ranges. We grant you, the mentions do not exude originality, but they do their job well, namely to help you distinguish a classic tire from an electric bike tire.
Attention, tires for electric bikes and speed bikes, whose speed exceeds 25km/h, must be ECE-R75 approved. Other information to remember: on tires for speed bikes, we find the mention of the number 50, and 25 for VAE.
Remember that unlike electric bikes, VAEs are bikes where you have to pedal to activate the electric assistance.
List of brands that offer special tires for electric bikes
An anti-puncture model
The major manufacturers offer reinforced e-bike tires. They have developed their own technologies and each have their own little name: HD Protection at Michelin, SilkShield or EXO protection at Maxxis, SafetyPlus with Continental, DualGuard for Schwalbe, to name but a few.
Several brands such as Continental or Schwalbe have also assigned protection levels to their tires (from 1 to 7).
Another tip? To reduce the risk of a puncture, pair tires with puncture-proof inner tubes. They are reinforced or have a preventive liquid that seals the hole.
With reflective strips
It is an interesting option for gain visibility on the road without making too much effort. These are located on the sidewalls of the tires, for intersections where you no longer go unnoticed. This option is generally common and can be found with major equipment manufacturers. But it is still verified before!
How do you know if you need to change the tires on your electric bike?
Regularly inspect the condition of your e-bike tires. This allows you to remove small objects stuck in the rubber, which could soon puncture the inner tube. If they have many small nicks, cracks, or if their surface previously leveled by studs is smooth or almost smooth, it is time to change them. With excessively worn tires, you lose grip on the road. Not cool for your safety! Some models have wear indicators that tell you when to replace them.
For very frequent or daily use in town, change the tires of your e-bike approximately once or twice a year. In winter and with the weather becoming less and less clement, the tires are put to the test. And that’s not counting the many debris that litter the bike paths…
You should know that micro debris and residue rise to the surface when it rains. The dripping rain brings the small flints back onto the road, and the water also tends to stick them to the tire. Well, you know why we generally die more when it rains, and that it’s not always the fault of bad luck. Well, a little anyway.
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