Edmonton’s Winter E-bike Commute - Tires

• Posted on 2 February 2024
• By Pedego Edmonton
• Posted in bike tire, E-bike, Ebike, Edmonton, edmonton electric Bike, electric bike, fat tire, fat tire ebike, studded tires, Winter, winter bike tire, Winter riding
• 0

Pedego Edmonton's winter ebike commuting blog is your go-to resource for cycling in Edmonton. Find out how to navigate winter roads with the right tires for a comfortable and enjoyable ride.

Winter Ebike Riding in Edmonton

Which tire is best for your riding conditions?

Living in a proud winter city, with outdoor events and festivals like Winter Whyte Light Up, Flying Canoe, and the Silver Skate Festival, Edmontonians have learned to embrace winter.  At Pedego Edmonton, we have been winter ebike commuting for several years. Riding an ebike in winter doesn't need to be complicated or for only extreme cyclists. It can just be another thing we all do during an Edmonton winter.  If you've ever pondered the idea of cycling in winter, this is the blog for you. So, let’s demystify one of the most important items about winter riding – tires!  

Let’s break it down.

You can choose to ride with your regular tires, but you will want to lower the tire pressure by releasing air from the tire until you are at the lower-end of the suggested PSI rating for your tire.  This will give you more tire surface contacting the ground. Look for clear sections of the road or hard-pack snow to ride on and be very careful when turning or braking. Just like a car, your summer tires have less traction on ice and snow, so you will need to adjust your riding style.

We find riding with studded tires is definitely the way to go!

Cleaner surfaces with ice patches and hard pack snow

The Schwalbe Marathon Winter Plus tire is a great all-around winter bike tire. You’ll want to stick mostly to Edmonton’s cleared bike paths and use caution on uncleared residential streets, and transitions from bike path to road.  If you’re looking for a great winter tire to get you to and from work, on mostly cleared bike paths and streets, this is the way to go. This tire comes in a variety of sizes, so you’re bound to find a fit for your e-bike. Best of all, it’s going to work well with your fenders, so you’ll arrive at your destination clean and ready to go! We love it on the Pedego Boomerang, Interceptor, Avenue and City Commuter. 

All around winter tire for most winter conditions

The Schwalbe Ice Spiker Pro is a more aggressive winter tire that will give you the confidence to ride all winter long. You will get more rolling resistance from this tire than the Schwalbe Winter Plus tire, but with a Pedego electric bike that won’t be an issue. This off-road winter tire will give you confidence in all sorts of winter riding conditions.  This is a bit of a taller tire, so it may not work with your summer fenders. We love it on the Pedego Avenue, City Commuter and Ridge Rider.

Fat Tires for uneven icy surfaces with ridges, slush or deep snow

Fat Tires are a great way to go because they allow you to roll over almost anything and everything an Edmonton winter can throw at you. Even that “brown sugar” snow, trust us it’s an Edmonton thing, fat tires roll right through it! The Pedego Trail Tracker combined with the Terrene Cake Eater will plow you through the deepest snowfalls as well as over the crazy freeze/thaw ruts that inevitably form on paths and streets.  

New to our winter tire line-up is the 20x4 Vee Rubber Snow Ball. We are loving the flexibility of this tire to traverse snow, ice, and freeze/thaw ruts. The Pedego Element electric bike and the Vee Rubber Snow Ball winter tire will take even the most timid rider down any Edmonton back ally and roll right over frozen ruts and ridges. 

If you’ve been thinking about winter commuting or winter riding and want to try it out, stop by the store to test ride a variety of Pedego ebikes with winter tires and see what works best for you.

Winter cycling doesn't have to be complicated with a few adjustments you can commute by e-bike all year round, even in Edmonton!