"That's a completely different bike. I didn't think it would make that much difference!" Test rider Wolfi looks a little taken aback. We had organised three identical bikes and only made one adjustment: the tyres. Wolfi's eyes wander over the bike to the studs. "Eddy Current" is emblazoned in white block letters on the sidewall. Schwalbe's special E-MTB tyre was designed from the ground up for motorised off-road bikes - the start of a new tyre philosophy?
Tyres on mountain bikes have always been a compromise. Roll easily or grip well? Lots of puncture protection or low weight? You can't have everything at once. We've learnt that over the last few decades. But with the invention of the E-MTB, the stud philosophy could be rewritten. After all, the motor makes up for the disadvantages of robust, heavy tyres. With this in mind, tyre manufacturers have developed special models for E-MTBs. But does this really make sense? In search of the answer, we tested a total of nine trail and enduro tyre combinations in practice and in the laboratory, including both tried-and-tested classics and e-specialists.
You can download the complete comparison test of nine tyre pairs from EMTB 4/2020 as a PDF below the article. The test costs 1.99 euros.
Why not free of charge? Because quality journalism has a price. In return, we guarantee independence and objectivity. This applies in particular to the tests in EMTB. We don't pay for them, but the opposite is the case: we charge for them, namely tens of thousands of euros every year.
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Florentin Vesenbeckh
Editor CvD
