I finally got around to installing the new tires on our bike. I bought Schwalbe tires and tubes and as previously posted they arrived pretty much next day. They have been sitting in our hallway until I could install them today while Natasha was at work. I bought Marathon Plus HS 440 tires and matching tubes. The tires are flatless and rated for electric assist. They feel like solid tires.

The front tire is 20″ and the rear tire is 26″

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The front wheel is converted to have an electric motor hub. The wire is connected to the hub through the axle and the wire stays attached when changing the tire. This was a bit of a pain but I managed to get enough slack on the wire to have enough room to work.

The old front tire came off easily and the new one installed pretty painlessly as well. I fought the bead for a few minutes but it went on fine once I got past the tough spot.

The tire was oiled and the tube was easy to install without pinching.

The rear wheel has a gear hub and internal hub brake. The rear hub is a Shimano Nexus 8. I had to remove the chain guard, disconnect the brake cable and brake bracket, and the shifting cable. It took a bit to figure out but after Natasha helped it worked well. We got a bit frustrated but found we needed a dinner break and it went much smoother.

The rear tire was a little annoying to install. The bead was easy to overcome but the tire had bent in shipping so I had to fight it a bit to make sure the bead sat in the rim properly in a couple spots. It took a bit of muscle and a few tries to get everything to sit properly but it worked out in the end.

The hardest part about the whole thing was honestly managing and manipulating the large bike. I needed to lift the front and use something to keep it lifted off the ground for the front tire. I could do that myself easily enough. But the rear wheel is almost impossible to do alone unless I had my jack stands. I opted to wait for Natasha and that made quick work of it.

Overall a successful day. Test rides around our parking garage was a lot of fun!