Eddie Currents; Who's using this hunk of plus 2.8" rubber to minimize sidewall slices on chunk and rocks?

[TCFlowClyde]

I think the weight for the 27.5 x 2.8 Eddie Current is a heavier 1455+/- grams. I just ordered one. I tried to use the old Maxxis HR2 2.8 60 Tpi (junk sidewalls) and then the Surly DWs 60 tpi (better, medium sidewall protection).
I'm hearing that the ECs may be the Bee's knees (never did understand the idiom's origins, but it rhymes).
I run 3.0 front and 2.8 rear, so no need to restate the hate around plus tires, which do well in the desert slop and sandy terrain, but yes, suffer the rock sidewall rips until this relatively newer (4/5 years out now) emtb enduro-specific ones by Schwalbe.

 

[rod9301]

Ec is a great tire, both front and rear

 

[TCFlowClyde]

Ec is a great tire, both front and rear

Sidewall resistance...any slashes yet?

 

[mustclime]

I use the Michelin e enduros in 2.8x27.5 on 40mm iw wheels….. makes my Kenevo into dirt bike.

 

[TCFlowClyde]

I use the Michelin e enduros in 2.8x27.5 on 40mm iw wheels….. makes my Kenevo into dirt bike.

What do they weigh? Can your sidewalls survive chunky rock tech? I run 45 mm rims.

 

[TCFlowClyde]

What do they weigh? Can your sidewalls survive chunky rock tech? I run 45 mm rims.

Francis says maybe not for a rear tire.

 

[mustclime]

What do they weigh? Can your sidewalls survive chunky rock tech? I run 45 mm rims.

IT’S A EBIKE, weight is not an issue for me. The side wall are bullet proof, at least as thick as any dh casing. As for tread life, you want sticky or you want long life? As for reviews, people in California can only tell you how tires ride in sand and decomposed granite. Find reviews from people ride dirt like where you ride. Some people have had tires that seep sealant through the sidewalls. I have only had this with Stan’s, Stan’s has ammonia in it. No one should use Stan’s, it will eat your alloy spoke nipples and any part of your rim that is exposed ( don’t ask me how I found this out).

 

[TCFlowClyde]

IT’S A EBIKE, weight is not an issue for me. The side wall are bullet proof, at least as thick as any dh casing. As for tread life, you want sticky or you want long life? As for reviews, people in California can only tell you how tires ride in sand and decomposed granite. Find reviews from people ride dirt like where you ride. Some people have had tires that seep sealant through the sidewalls. I have only had this with Stan’s, Stan’s has ammonia in it. No one should use Stan’s, it will eat your alloy spoke nipples and any part of your rim that is exposed ( don’t ask me how I found this out).

I actually want the heaviest carcass I can get like a DD DH. Sure more unsprung mass, but once you slash a sidewall, you're likely walking back to the trailhead.... tradeoffs!

I think the EC weighs another 150 g over the E -Wild that's why the EC seems appealing traditionally. More overall beef in the hide for protection.

Think I'm gonna stick with the EC and give it a shot. It's why I was querying it specifically.

 

[skinnyboy]

Look forward to what you think of them since you like HRs.

Cheers.

 

[TCFlowClyde]

Look forward to what you think of them since you like HRs.

Cheers.

Unfortunately, the HR2 are junk for chunk. My Surly DW 60 TPI have done a lot better 1600 mi with lots of scars that sweat sealant, but I exercise caution in heavy tech.

Hoping that the ECs will be the final tire that will allow unfettered access to raunching through the tough stuff with little to no sidewalk gashing. A local here of desert tread-shed swears by 'em riding double black diamond rock gauntlets.

 

[Bndit]

IT’S A EBIKE, weight is not an issue for me. The side wall are bullet proof, at least as thick as any dh casing. As for tread life, you want sticky or you want long life? As for reviews, people in California can only tell you how tires ride in sand and decomposed granite. Find reviews from people ride dirt like where you ride. Some people have had tires that seep sealant through the sidewalls. I have only had this with Stan’s, Stan’s has ammonia in it. No one should use Stan’s, it will eat your alloy spoke nipples and any part of your rim that is exposed ( don’t ask me how I found this out).

Do you know that Schwalbe's own blue sealant is Stan's?

And Q&A abuut Ammonia from Stan's:

Do you add ammonia to your sealant and it is bad for my tire and or rim?​

We use natural latex in our sealant and a small amount of ammonia is added to natural liquid latex as a stabilizer when harvested. While there may be a strong smell when initially opening your bottle, this trace amount of ammonia will continue to off-gas over time and the smell will fade. This very small amount in our finished sealant formula will have no damaging effects, even after years of use. Although our Yellow Tape may not be necessary to seal your rim, you may add one layer to protect un-anodized or scratched areas of your rim from oxidation due to moisture in the sealant. Our MSDS can be found on our Tech Docs page.

I went tubelles about three years ago, bought Stan's from local shop and didn't know anything about tubelles before that. I have had zero reason to change sealan't to something else.

 

[Rando_12345]

I have run the same EC 2.6 rear tyre on and off the last 2 years. 1.43kg in 27.5. It's the closest to indestructible a tyre can be. I have run this tyre with 1bar (15psi) and it holds up ok as the sidewalls are so thick (this wasn't on purpose, I usually runit around 1.5bar, vs 1.7 for normal enduro tyres).

I don't love the way it rides, but every couple of months when a continental/vitorria/maxxis (the worst), explodes in a rock garden, I throw the old EC out back for a couple of weeks, knowing nothing can stop me now.

 

[mustclime]

Do you know that Schwalbe's own blue sealant is Stan's?

And Q&A abuut Ammonia from Stan's:

Do you add ammonia to your sealant and it is bad for my tire and or rim?​

We use natural latex in our sealant and a small amount of ammonia is added to natural liquid latex as a stabilizer when harvested. While there may be a strong smell when initially opening your bottle, this trace amount of ammonia will continue to off-gas over time and the smell will fade. This very small amount in our finished sealant formula will have no damaging effects, even after years of use. Although our Yellow Tape may not be necessary to seal your rim, you may add one layer to protect un-anodized or scratched areas of your rim from oxidation due to moisture in the sealant. Our MSDS can be found on our Tech Docs page.

I went tubelles about three years ago, bought Stan's from local shop and didn't know anything about tubelles before that. I have had zero reason to change sealan't to something else.

Guess I hit a nerve….. my personal experience was I had a xc wheel that developed a leak around the valve stem, I noticed sealant coming out around the spoke nipples. I pulled the tire , cleaned things up, sealed up the valve stem and added more Stan’s. A month later I had spoke pull out of the rim and the head of the nipple was gone. It looked like it melted or something. I pulled everything apart, replaced the nipple, retapped , remounted the tire and added more Stan’s… two weeks later on a group ride I had 2 more spokes pull out of the rim…. Again the button heads were gone???? After pulling everything apart I also found the rim was really thin are around the spoke holes. My local bike shop told me they have seen this before with Stan’s on double wall rims. The sealant some how gets past the tape and runs around inside rim. The light weight alloy nipples are very reactive and a little ammonia just melts them. It doesn’t happen overnight, the wheel was a year and a half old and all I could salvage was the hub. For me, no more sealant with ammonia but you do you.

 

[TCFlowClyde]

Guess I hit a nerve….. my personal experience was I had a xc wheel that developed a leak around the valve stem, I noticed sealant coming out around the spoke nipples. I pulled the tire , cleaned things up, sealed up the valve stem and added more Stan’s. A month later I had spoke pull out of the rim and the head of the nipple was gone. It looked like it melted or something. I pulled everything apart, replaced the nipple, retapped , remounted the tire and added more Stan’s… two weeks later on a group ride I had 2 more spokes pull out of the rim…. Again the button heads were gone???? After pulling everything apart I also found the rim was really thin are around the spoke holes. My local bike shop told me they have seen this before with Stan’s on double wall rims. The sealant some how gets past the tape and runs around inside rim. The light weight alloy nipples are very reactive and a little ammonia just melts them. It doesn’t happen overnight, the wheel was a year and a half old and all I could salvage was the hub. For me, no more sealant with ammonia but you do you.

Ok let's focus on the main topic: the Eddy Current, please peeps!

 

[Bndit]

Guess I hit a nerve….. my personal experience was I had a xc wheel that developed a leak around the valve stem, I noticed sealant coming out around the spoke nipples. I pulled the tire , cleaned things up, sealed up the valve stem and added more Stan’s. A month later I had spoke pull out of the rim and the head of the nipple was gone. It looked like it melted or something. I pulled everything apart, replaced the nipple, retapped , remounted the tire and added more Stan’s… two weeks later on a group ride I had 2 more spokes pull out of the rim…. Again the button heads were gone???? After pulling everything apart I also found the rim was really thin are around the spoke holes. My local bike shop told me they have seen this before with Stan’s on double wall rims. The sealant some how gets past the tape and runs around inside rim. The light weight alloy nipples are very reactive and a little ammonia just melts them. It doesn’t happen overnight, the wheel was a year and a half old and all I could salvage was the hub. For me, no more sealant with ammonia but you do you.

You didn't hit the nerve but me and rest of the world continue using Stans's anyway Anyway, back to EC's, like it on hard pack bike park scenarios, but have changed narrower tires after that.

 

[TCFlowClyde]

You didn't hit the nerve but me and rest of the world continue using Stans's anyway Anyway, back to EC's, like it on hard pack bike park scenarios, but have changed narrower tires after that.

Eddy currents is the main topic. Thanks guys

 

[TCFlowClyde]

You didn't hit the nerve but me and rest of the world continue using Stans's anyway Anyway, back to EC's, like it on hard pack bike park scenarios, but have changed narrower tires after that.

I'm just doing hard mashing and hucking in chunk and rocky tech here in the desert. That's why I like a 3.0/2.8 setup to just float in sandy washes and grip in kitty litter and bump hop small knar on occasion.

Performance concerns of the ECs are only that the rear knobs grip and sidewalls don't slash. Drag on groomed trails is ok and expected. Cornering in berms is plus but not too many bermed flow trails in my area unfortunately. Roll resistance can always be mitigated by juicing the power selector higher and/or a little more PSI when in a bike park pre ride set up.

I'll update with my experience for others who may have interest still in the plus tire bubble in a few months. My sense is that the heavy carcass does the main sidewall protection, so no magical material engineering here...just a brute-thick, heavier hide.

Thanks for the feedback folks.

 

[TCFlowClyde]

Just got it. It's definitely thick-walled and heavier. 1455 g/3.21 lbs 27.5x2.8 rear tire, super gravity casing.

I won't install it for a while. I'm rebuilding my rear wheel with a new Hope Pro 5 hub emtb version to replace my Onyx Classic that has been problematic since I bought it 3 years ago (long story). Waiting on the Hope turquoise anodization, so could be a month or two before I see it back.

 

[S13]

I always ride with 2.6 EC in the rear. One of the few tires that deals with the sharp rocks in Spain very well. Lots of grip, and because of the wider knobs they last a long long time. My previous rear EC did over 5000km in fairly harsh conditions (Ainsa Pyrenees / Briancon French Alps etc). And they are even cheaper here in europe, you can find them for around 50 euros. Never had a snake bit or side wall ripped from sharp rocks. That is not to say you cant, but you would have to try pretty hard. And i ride them at 15 psi or something, which is pretty darn soft (nice and comfortable).

Also once you get used to installing the eddies on a rim, everything else becomes peanuts

 

[TCFlowClyde]

I always ride with 2.6 EC in the rear. One of the few tires that deals with the sharp rocks in Spain very well. Lots of grip, and because of the wider knobs they last a long long time. My previous rear EC did over 5000km in fairly harsh conditions (Ainsa Pyrenees / Briancon French Alps etc). And they are even cheaper here in europe, you can find them for around 50 euros. Never had a snake bit or side wall ripped from sharp rocks. That is not to say you cant, but you would have to try pretty hard. And i ride them at 15 psi or something, which is pretty darn soft (nice and comfortable).

Also once you get used to installing the eddies on a rim, everything else becomes peanuts

Thanks for the longevity input.