Jonahhobbes

Due to age and injury, I've pretty much moved over to e-bikes for commuting. What I'm finding is as bikes get more advanced they are getting harder to fix.

So last night I had a flat in the pouring rain on my way for a nightshift. In the old days with one of my many non-e-bikes, I could fix a flat in probably 15 minutes in crappy conditions, I've fixed scores of flats over the years. Trying to remove the Bontrager E6 Hard-Case Lite from the rim was impossible. Even the wheel skewers no longer have quick releases so I had to dig out my multi-tool to get the wheel out of the frame.

After 30 minutes I admitted defeat asked the wife to take me in the rest of the way and bring a Schwalbe tire I hadn't gotten round to replacing the stock Bonts with.

So at work I still found the tire impossible to get off the rim, I took it over to a mate who was an ex-bike mechanic who was working the nightshift too. Even he was bemused by the almost tubeless-looking tire that was stuck to the rim. As I was going to replace the Bonts anyway with Schwalbes we decided to cut off the tire. It took two of us, me holding the wheel down and him pulling the tire off, (he's a man-monster), to get the tire off. Not an easy job.

Then of course I have the fun fitting the Schwalbe.

I'm not even going to mention the delicate hydraulic brakes too, or the increase in tools you have to carry around.

I love the improvements that technology offers but we seem to be losing the simplicity of being able to fix something by the side of the road to get us where we are going.

CliffordK

One thing that has happened is that most manufacturers have gone almost exclusively to "Tubeless ready" rims.

They have a center channel which you have to work the tire down into, somewhat like car tires.

But, invariably they are a pain to deal with. For those people who aren't planning to jump to tubeless, there is no reason to go with the tubeless rims. Of course, it is what it is.

For wheel removal, or not removing the wheel, perhaps some more techology.

Rubena Gaadi tubes.

Swap tubes without removing the wheel (you still need to get the tire off).

2old

Sounds like your problem was the occasional tire/rim combination that is a tight fit and (AFAIK since I've seen others with the problem on non-e's), not associated with electrics only. You must have a of hub system since my and friend's mid-drives (OEM & DIY) use QR's. I had a flat on my Haibike once and repair was the same as any other bike with the exception of being heavier to invert.

dabac

There’s no law that states that you have to use ebike specific tires on an ebike.
If anything, it’s more the other way around.
With the support of the electric motor, there is less disadvantage to the rider from using a heavier tire with more rolling resistance. And, to cater to those using hub motors, some proper monsters of tires are born.
The ones I’ve encountered wouldn’t have looked out of place on a moped in structure and tread/wall thickness.

My ebike is a mid drive, and I’ve only been using regular bicycle tires with it.
Should I have a flat, it’s business as usual.
I have the winter wheels set up with ghetto tubeless though, Since a medical issue makes it near enough impossible for me to swap a tube under winter conditions.
Disc brakes IMO isn’t much of a deal.
Yes, you do need to remember not to pull the lever(on hydraulics) while the wheel is out.
And yes, you do need to spend a little effort getting the rotor to go in nicely between the pads. Not much to moan about.

Sempervee

I just had my RAD ebike flat and it was not very hard to do but then again I was home doing the work not experiencing the added stress you had on the street. RAD makes it easy to access the plug and disconnect before taking off the 18 mm nuts with fitted sleeves as to put in exactly as it was. taking the tire off was standard but not schwalbe hard to patch and fill with some slime for good measure. Good luck.

Calsun

When I purchased two fat tire e-bikes with rear hub drive motors it was apparent that a flat tire was more of a problem. I needed two open end box wrenches to remove a wheel and different ones for the front than for the rear tire. I needed tire irons made for motorcycle tires to remove the tires on the bikes. I added a sealant to the tires to minimize the problem with flat tires. Later I sold the bikes and bought two e-bikes with mid drive motors as they had normal wheels and tires and so fixing a flat was no more difficult than with a regular bike.

Oddly enough there is a similar problem with the majority of electric cars being sold in the U.S. where they come without a spare tire. Get a flat and you need a flat bed tow truck to take the car to a tire store and get a new tire.