The cold winter is coming. While the body is prepared to keep warm, electric bicycles also need to take corresponding defensive measures. The roads will be icy in winter, and the tires of electric bicycles must also be prepared to keep warm and switch to a state that can adapt to winter road conditions.
1. Reduce Electric Bicycle Tire Pressure Appropriately
- Increased Electric Bicycle Tire Grip: Properly reducing tire pressure and increasing the contact area between the tire and the road can effectively increase grip, which is helpful on rainy and snowy roads. Tire pressure can be reduced by 10%-15% compared to summer. For example, if the tire pressure is 60 PSI in summer, it can be reduced to 54-51 PSI in winter. However, do not reduce the tire pressure too low, otherwise it will affect the life of the tire.
2. Consider winter road conditions
- Urban e-bike riding: If you ride in the city, the road surface is usually uneven, mostly asphalt/cement roads, which are relatively uneven, but when reducing the pressure, you should pay attention to the hardness of the tire to be hard enough to pass through the flat road.
- Country or snowy roads: If the road you need to ride on often has snow or mud, the tire pressure can be slightly lower to enhance the tire's grip and stability. You can judge the road you often ride on and adjust it in time.
3. Pay attention to the type of tires
- Wide tires are more suitable for winter: If your electric bicycle can be equipped with fat tires, we recommend that you change to fat tires in winter. Fat tires have greater friction with the ground. After reducing the tire pressure, the contact area between the tire and the ground is also larger than that of ordinary tires, and the anti-slip ability is better.
- Special winter tires: Generally speaking, there are special winter tires in winter. Winter tires are better able to adapt to winter snow and muddy roads than conventional tires, but the tire pressure can also be adjusted to a lower level than that of ordinary conventional tires.
4. Avoid low electric bicycle tire pressure
- Riding stability: Although lowering tire pressure can help increase grip, too low tire pressure can make the tire unstable, especially when turning, which may increase the risk of rollover or skidding because the tire is not strong enough. So check the tire pressure before riding to make sure it is not too low or too high.
- Damage to tires: Too low tire pressure will make the tire softer and reduce its puncture protection effect. Especially in low temperature conditions, the outer surface of the tire will become brittle and more susceptible to damage from sharp objects.
5. Check tire pressure regularly
- Cold weather affects tire pressure: The lower temperature in winter will cause the tire pressure to drop naturally. Therefore, in winter, we need to check the tire pressure more frequently to avoid unexpected situations while riding and ensure that the tire pressure is within a reasonable range.
In general, when riding in winter, you can moderately reduce the tire pressure to increase the friction and grip of the tire to achieve a better anti-slip effect. The external ice, snow and muddy environment will also make the road conditions more complicated. You can ensure grip without affecting the comfort and safety of riding.
