Correctly Choosing Tires for Your Ebike, for Road or Trail

Ebikes require more efficient tires than organic bikes. This is due to their weight, heavier by at least six or 7 kg.

Electric bikes enjoy faster acceleration, which also results in stronger braking, both making tires qualities all the more relevant.

Choosing tire width – advantages of wide tires

• A wider tire has a larger footprint, which gives more stability while cycling, reducing skidding and lateral deviations.
• It can be inflated with a lower pressure, from 1.5 to 1.8 bars, allowing better cushioning, hold and comfort, especially on uneven or stony terrain.
• Its side pods have more contact with the terrain than with a narrower tire. It offers more grip, in turns and especially on gravel, stones and dust.
• Containing a greater quantity of air, it also allows better damping and therefore better driving comfort.
• This is all the more relevant since e-bikes are often used to transport more or less heavy cargo and even children, if they are cargo eBikes.
• More width equals more comfort and safety, more grip on slippery or wet surfaces, better braking capacity, less risk of skidding in turns or when accelerating.

It must nevertheless be considered that the footprint is inversely proportional to inflation pressure.

Disadvantages of wide tires

• They increase the friction between the tire and the terrain, which slows down the electric bike leading to increased consumption of electrical and human energy.
• They are heavier, which does not have much influence on an electric bike, given its power. However, if it’s a mountain bike, more weight means less handling, so even the extra few hundred grams of wider tires affect performance a little.
• They give their best especially thanks to the fact that can be inflated at a lower pressure. However, this makes them softer and more flexible, they can bend and drift in turns, affecting performance and even safety especially on descents, and be damaged sideways. In any case, driving will be less precise and safe in corners with lower pressure. This can go so far as to damage the rim.
• They are normally more expensive to purchase.

Benefits of narrower tires

• They exert less friction on the ground, allowing more speed and less energy consumption and therefore battery consumption.
• They are lighter, and allow more maneuverability, especially for racing, urban and, to a lesser extent, gravel bikes.
• Especially on asphalt, they guarantee more precise handling.
• The fact that they must be inflated to a higher pressure makes them less susceptible to puncture.
• They are quieter.
• They are cheaper to buy.

Disadvantages of narrower tires

• Not recommended for uneven, stony, or slippery terrain, where they can quickly lose grip, skid or even bounce from one unevenness to another.
• With less damping, they can accelerate wear on circles and spokes, increasing the likelihood of bending.

Measuring tire width

• For narrow tires, therefore for racing, city, gravel or trekking bikes, up to 2.3 inches in section.
• For uneven or stony terrain, therefore eMTBs, from 2.4 to 2.7 inches.
• For very rough terrain, or for maximum comfort in the mountains, and also for fatbikes, from 2.8 to four inches.

You must also take into account the fact that even if the measurement in inches of two given tires is identical, their width can vary depending on their brand. Therefore, we must refer to the ETR-TO measurement, for example 55-622, where the first number indicates the width in millimeters of the tire mounted and the second the circumference of the rim. For example, for the same inches indicated, a Schwalbe tire is normally wider than a Maxxis tire.

Tire weight

Lightweight tires should be inflated to higher pressures, at least up to 2.5 bar, because otherwise the risk of puncture is high. This risk can be reduced if they have reinforced walls. For example, the lightweight Maxxis Exo tire has a level 1 reinforcement, the Exo Plus has a level 2. They are more agile and maneuverable, therefore suitable for road and asphalt.

Heavier tires can be inflated with a lower pressure, around 1.5 bars, which makes them suitable for e-MTBs and wherever there is a need to master uneven terrains.

Tire inflation pressure

Low pressure facilitates the absorption of shocks and irregularities in the terrain. If it is too low, it can cause drifts, and also damage the tires because the sharp edges of the circle can pinch the walls of the tire, and cause punctures, especially if there is an inner tube. It is therefore only indicated for more robust tires, wide or with reinforced walls. It accelerates tires wear.

Higher pressure provides better rolling and less attrition, allowing more speed and saving battery and muscle energy. It also wears tires slowlier than low pressure, but is not suitable for stony or uneven terrain.

Tire design

Pods offer poor grip and wear quickly on the asphalt. On the other hand, the more unevenness there is on the ground, the more we benefit from well-spaced pods. On the other hand, these offer poor grip on wet asphalt.

For road tires, their rolling resistance is proportional to the depth of their design: a shallow or barely noticeable design facilitates speed. On the other hand, a deep pattern has better grip on wet asphalt, but slightly affects speed.

How tires can affect rim and spoke wear

Tires with too high a pressure, of the order of more than 3.2 bars, barely absorb schocks. That  can accelerate the wear of rims and spokes, to the point of causing their deformation. Nevertheless, high pressure slows wearing and reduces puncture risks.

Table indicating the ideal pressure, to adapt to your requirements

Tire pressure – front: 1.8 – 2.0 bars / rear 2.0: – 2.2   bars		Recommended pressure variation  (in bars)
Cyclist weight	Lightweight, up to 65 kg		– 0.3
	Heavy, over 75 kg		+ 0.3
Tire walls	Thin		+0.2
	Thick		-0.2
Tire width	Narrow, up to 2.35 inches		+0.2
	Wide, over 2.35 inches		-0.2
Riding	Quiet		-0.3
	Aggressive		+0.3

Heat matters

On a hot day, say 37 C° or 98 F, the asphalt can reach 60 C° or 140 F° in the sun. That is enough to dilate air in our tires, increasing their pressure about 10% and softening the rubber. Consequently, their grip decreases, they derive more and punctures become more likely.

Checking tires on low-cost electric bikes

Electric bikes costing just a few hundred euros are often fitted with poor-quality tires. Try pinching them with your fingers to check their texture: if they feel like plastic, being not flexible enough, they will be smooth and worn off after just a few hundred kilometers. You’ll need to replace them. To say nothing about their noise, safety, lack of grip and comfort.

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