Real world numbers for tire selection vs range.

PierreR

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Jul 25, 2020
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I keep pretty good records on range numbers such as Amp hours, watt hours, distance, average speed and voltage sag. I do it as a monitor for maintenance, to know all about the real world range of myself and the bike and to monitor fitness improvements. I pretty well know exactly how far I can go range wise on any given ride.

I bought a narrow set of 29" wheels for my fat ebike for riding mostly pavement. The tires that came with the wheel set were 29 X 2.4 Maxxis Minion DHR II 3C max tera EVO TR, 30-50 PSI. I set them up tubeless. These tires set up tubeless very easy with no weeping. I ran these tires for perhaps 1,000miles. The wear looks great but I did not have them off road much. I will say this about them. If you are looking for a tire for off road that does not require ear plugs on pavement, these are your tires. They are surprisingly quiet on pavement above 30 psi. I took these tires off because the bike seemed to roll hard with them.

My replacement tire is a 29 X 2.25 Schwalbe G-One All Around tire that I run at 30 PSI. This tire also set up easy tubeless without weeping. These tires are pretty much a pavement tire with some closely spaced low tread. They are quiet on pavement and roll much better. They seem to do okay on hard pack off road. They roll nice. How nice?

I can pedal with them about 2.5 mph faster without power on the bike.

Range differences. The route I chose is 63 miles (102 km) of pavement and compact crushed limestone. Conditions were dry in both cases. Temperatures similar and wind conditions similar. Traveling in the same direction with nearly the same average speed. Speed was generally 15 to 20 mph (24-32 kph) with an average close to 16.7 mph (27kph).

Numbers with the Maxxis tires.
Total Watt hours used 802
total amp hours 16.7
Watt hours per mile 12.7
Max range with 21 amp hour battery with 20% reserve 64 miles (104 km)


Numbers with the Schwalbe tire
Total watt hours used 593
total amp hours 11.7
Watt hours per mile 9.4
Max range with 21 amp hour battery with 20% reserve 90 miles (146 km).

I know damned well my fitness level and conditions does not account for the difference. This post is only to give some ideas about how much tires can matter for range. Tires are cheaper than batteries. Whatever you do to improve speed and handling on an analog bike works on an e bike too.

Trying to get to the magic hundred mile range for long distance riding.

I hope this information is useful to someone. :)
 
Very interesting; were the inflation pressures the same? If so; I'd credit most of the difference to tread design as the size difference doesn't seem that great.
I have 26 x 1.75 on my bike and want to go as large as I can with the stock rims. The idea is to decrease tpi and increase wheel tire diameter for a bit more speed and a more comfortable ride. What do you think?
 
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