What E Bike Tire Size is Right for You? | Understanding all Electric Bicycle Tires sizes

Hey everyone, I'm Dustin. I have nearly 20 years of experience in the bike and e-bike industry and today I'm going to help you answer the question, what size tire do I need on my e-bike? It's confusing, so stick around.

All right, so today we're going to try to answer the question of what size tire I need on my e-bike. I know it can be confusing, but before we do, hit subscribe below. Stay in touch with us here at Sixthreezero. Be the first to know about all the new content we're putting out. And of course, giveaways we do for bikes, e-bikes, and accessories, and also about our new product releases, so hit subscribe. All right. E-bikes like this one here, this is our Sixthreezero Simple Step-Through, just like the name, it's simple, and step through, there are lots of different wheel sizes on the market for e-bikes. I've seen 16-inch, 20-inch, 24-inch, and 26-inch, and these are not kids' bikes, these are adult e-bikes coming with these different wheel sizes. It's a product category that's opened up so many new possibilities.

When you talk about regular bikes, we haven't really seen regular bikes with 16-inch wheels for adults. We haven't really seen regular bikes with 20-inch wheels for adults, but in the e-bike category, we are seeing all these different wheel sizes. And so how do you know what's right for you and what is best? Well, a lot of it comes down to knowing, obviously why are you going to buy this e-bike and what are you going to use it for. Each segment's wheel size has a benefit in and of itself. Smaller wheel sizes are great for the fact that you can transport them easily, they have a lower center of gravity and they could in theory be lighter depending on how small they are, but not always. And this is why I have this bike right here in front of me because this is actually an aluminum frame e-bike, which is super light.

But I wanted to dispel one myth where if you look here, this is a 10-and-a-half step through, so it's 10 and a half inches to get my foot through. I've seen lots of 16-inch and 20-inch e-bikes and the step-through is actually 13, and 14 inches. So it's not always true that you go with a smaller wheel size. It's going to be easier to mount and dismount and have an easier step through or step over and mounting. That's not going to be the case. So really in my mind, the 16-inch, 20-inch, it can be for the step over, but it's also for the easy transportability of it, the look of it. In some cases, you're going to have four-inch 20-inch wheels. That's going to add a little bit of stability for off-roading, and things like that.

But if you plan to ride your e-bike like a regular bike, let's say you want to do a lot of pedals assist riding or you want to do some riding without even using the pedal assist or without even using the throttle, then you may want to consider a 26-inch, which is like this bike here. The reason I say that is with the bigger tire, the bike's going to roll a lot easier. So if you decide to just pedal, it's going to be much easier to get the crank going and pedaling. With a 26-inch versus a 20-inch. You're going to have to work essentially double, for every two pedal strokes you make on a 20-inch or 16-inch, it's going to be one pedal stroke on this 26-inch. So when you talk about tire wheel size on an e-bike, it's important for you to consider. If you're going to use a throttle most of the time or you're going to live in say, pedal assist four or five, and your output isn't important to you, then sure, the smaller tire sizes are going to be great.

I see a lot of kids now that are riding the 20-inches, they essentially don't pedal at all, or they're always using pedal assist five. And I think in that situation it works. But if they were using that as a pedal bike, it would be very difficult for them to pedal, especially with a four-inch wide tire. Now, I love those bikes. I think they all have their purpose. I'm simply stating, think about how you're going to ride because if you had planned to do a lot of pedaling yourself, even without the assistance at points, it's going to be challenging with a four-inch wheel or even a 20-inch wheel because like I said, you're going to have to pedal twice as much to get the same output on a 26-inch. So if you're getting an e-bike to try to get back out there riding and ultimately you want to build your leg strength, I would say stay in the 26-inch range or 24-inch range.

The smaller you go, the harder it's going to go to pedal, especially when you get into a four-inch wheel. The four-inch wheel's going to have a lot of rubber meeting the road, so again, something has to power that. So I've seen other brands out there that have the four-inch wheels, something we've considered as well. Again, not a bad bike, just consider what is going to be best for you. And the last thing I will say is just because it's a 20-inch doesn't mean it's going to necessarily be easier to mount and dismount Another thing I'll say is with something like this, with the easy step through, you just step on and you get right on. For some of the 20 inches, you may actually have to sit lower, you're going to be lower to the ground. It could be harder to get on and off the bike.

So again, it's situation to situation. Every product has its place. But lastly, I'll just end with if you really want to get something where you can still get a workout, use it as a regular bike, use the pedal assist stick with something like a 26-inch or a 24-inch like a traditional bike. Keep the tires somewhere below three inches, even three inches are starting to get pretty thick. It's going to get harder to pedal. Somewhere two inches to three inches is going to be your best bet. So hope that's helpful. If you have any other questions at all, comment below or shoot us an email, at theteam@sixthreezero.com or call us at (310) 982-2877. In addition to that, if you're looking for an e-bike, visit our website sixthreezero.com and take our proprietary body fit quiz. You're going to answer a few questions about your body and your life, and in under two minutes, we'll recommend the perfect e-bike for you.

In addition to that, be a part of our community, our Facebook Pedalers group, and download our app, two great places to go before you make a purchase because you can talk to our existing riders about their bikes, see how they like it, see how their experience is. Also, you can see how many miles they're logging on to the app. Then after you purchase, it's a great place to make friends. Track your rides on the app, see how far you're going, and just have a lot of fun. So thanks for sticking around. And don't forget, it's your journey, your experience. Enjoy the rides.