If you have an electric mountain bike, you probably want to get out on the trails as much as possible with it. But sometimes the weather isn’t very nice, especially if you live in a place where it rains a lot. This is the reason why many people are thinking twice if they will buy an electric mountain bike. They are afraid that their electric mountain bike will get broken when gets wet.
Can water get into electric mountain bikes? Electric mountain bikes can be resistant to water, but they are not completely waterproof. You can change the way your bike looks and make it less likely to get wet. If you ride the electric mountain bike in a lot of water, it could get damaged.
The key is to know how much water your electric mountain bike can handle. Don’t get your mountain bike any wetter than that, and you should be fine. Some electric mountain bikes can handle water better than others, depending on how the electric parts are made, but there are some general rules that apply.
How Water-Resistant Electric Mountain Bikes Are?
In some ways, you could compare your electric mountain bike to your phone. Even if you get water on your phone, it might still work fine after that. It depends on three things, and your mountain bike has the same three things to do with it.
These three things are how much water touches it, whether the water gets into the electric parts, and how fast you can get the water out. If water only touches the outside of your phone or electric mountain bike and is quickly wiped off, there is nothing to worry about.
It’s a no-brainer that you shouldn’t put your electric mountain bike in a stream of water that comes almost to the saddle. Take note of where your electric parts are and measure how high off the ground the lowest one is. Even slowly, you should never go into water this deep.
If you splash through puddles of water, water will spray up on your bike. It might be okay to walk through one or two shallow puddles of water, but it’s not a good idea to walk through a lot of deeper puddles. The same is true of rain.
You might not mind a light drizzle, but if it rains harder, you’re in trouble. You can find out on many mountain bikes how much water they can handle. This is called an IP rating, and it is something that a lot of electrical items have.
How To Read Your IP Rating For Your Electric Mountain Bike?
When it comes to your mountain E-electrical bike’s parts, your IP rating is probably on your battery. IP stands for “ingress protection,” and it shows how well something is protected.
An IP number is made up of two numbers. The first number can be between 0 and 6, and it shows how well an item can resist solids like dust, sticks, and so on. A perfect 6 means that dust won’t get in until the item has been in the dust for more than 8 hours.
A first number of 0 would mean that the electronics are so open on the inside that you could stick your finger in and touch the wires. This is obviously wrong for a mountain bike, but the second IP number is more important for wet weather.
The second number shows how long it will take for water to get into the item. This second number can be anywhere between 0 and 9. A 9 would mean that you can use a jet of water to clean your electric mountain bike.
So far, no electric mountain bike has gotten a rating of 9. Some of the best electric mountain bikes, on the other hand, can get as high as a 7. At level 7, the electric parts of your mountain bike can be in water for up to 30 minutes.
It can be hard to find the IP rating, and a level 7 moisture resistance will cost a lot. Most bikes you’ll find on sites like Amazon won’t have this rating. This rating is for the battery, which is another important thing to remember. So, the IP numbers of the other electric parts might not be the same.
How To Protect Your Electric Mountain Bike?
Even mountain bikes that don’t have electric motors should be kept out of the weather in a garage. This is even more important for electric mountain bikes. This goes as far as taking care of your mountain bike when you go on trips.
Whether you’re going to a nearby trailhead or going on vacation with your bike, you’ll probably put it in the back of your truck or on a bike rack. In this case, you should cover your bike with a waterproof cover and make sure it covers everything.
Since a lot of the electric parts are low, you need to make sure that the tarp you get covers pretty much the whole mountain bike. There are waterproof covers made just for bikes, but you can also use a tarp or a piece of plastic.
In any case, make sure that no amount of wind can blow the cover up and let rain get to the electric parts. You can do this by getting a very large tarp and putting weights on it on both sides of your bike. You could also use bungee cords or rope to tie or pin the tarp to your bike.
If your electric mountain bike got wet or damp, you should wipe it down as soon as possible. Use something that can soak up as much water as possible, and be sure to dry it well. You don’t want any water to slowly make its way down to the electric parts.
All of these things are important for electric mountain bikes, but every mountain bike should do them. After all, you don’t want water to get into your chain or bearings and cause them to rust or stop the grease from working.
Helping Your Water Resistance
Few mountain bikers have fenders on their bikes. In fact, just as many mountain bikers are totally against using fenders. But these can keep rain from getting into your electric parts and let you ride in steady rain.
Most of the time, you can’t use a clip-on fender on a mountain bike. When you hit bumpy parts of the trail, these tend to move around and rub on your bike. They also let rain get to the electric parts you are trying to protect because they are moving around.
You will need full guards that can handle the rough trails and cover most of your wheels. These will help protect your motor and other electric parts from the rain as much as possible.
But you should still try not to step in puddles and splash water everywhere. You also shouldn’t stay on the trails for too long when it’s raining to keep water from getting into your electronics.
Final Verdict
With a little care, a little water won’t hurt your electric mountain bike. Even though your mountain bike has a few electric parts, you don’t have to worry about getting even a drop of water on it. As a general rule, electric parts that are built in will be more water-resistant than electric parts that are added to a regular mountain bike using an electric mountain bike conversion kit.