Electric Scooter Tire Guide – Pneumatic, Solid or Honeycomb?
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One thing that is often overlooked when it comes to electric scooters and how they work are its tires. There are 3 different types of electric scooter tire: pneumatic, solid, and honeycomb. The tires are the only contact your scooter has to the ground, meaning they are what prevents you from falling.
That should be a good enough reason to continue reading in order to learn more about the advantages and disadvantages of the different electric scooter tire types.
The different types of electric scooter tires
There are mainly 3 different types of electric scooter tires that can be used on your electric scooter and those are:
- Pneumatic tires(air-filled)
- Solid tires (airless)
- Honeycomb(a combination of air pockets and solid rubber)
- Flat-Free
A pneumatic tire is a tire that is filled with air. Overall they provide for a far better riding experience by providing good suspension and grip, while at the same time having less rolling resistance than a solid or honeycomb tires. That’s why I always prefer the use of a pneumatic tire over others.
Solid rubber tires on the other hand are harder and heavier. They also prevent you from ever getting a flat tire. A solid rubber tire is often called zero-maintenance or maintenance-free, but the hard rubber can still wear off and they are often harder to get off the wheel and replace. Sometimes near impossible without disassembling the entire motor, like on some Segway/Ninebot scooters . Luckily a solid rubber tire often lasts for years because of it is impossible to puncture them.
Honeycomb tires are an emerging market and even though big tire companies like Michelin already launched some for use on cars the ones available for electric scooters so far are not as advanced. I believe that this is the feature of tires, but unfortunately, the ones that are available for electric scooters haven’t reached that point yet.
A flat-free electric scooter tire new to the market. Segway developed this type of tire over 3-years. These flat free tires have an inner tube that is filled with new solid foaming material. They call it PU material (but we’re not quite sure what the PU stands for yet). It will be interesting to see if other electric scooter manufacturers adopt this type of technology. These are relatively new to the marketplace so we’ve not included them as a “category” for this article….yet!
All four are viable options and they all have their advantages, as well as disadvantages.
Also note that there are various models of the above mentioned tires depending on where you’re going to be riding. If you are going to be riding in the woods, or on dirt then having an off-road enabled scooter with the appropriate off-road tires is a must. Likewise if you have one of the faster scooters, then a pair of slick pneumatic tires should be your preferred choice.
Pneumatic tires
Pneumatic, or air-filled, tires are the most commonly used tire for any type of vehicle today. They are made up of an airtight inner core of pressurized air.
The pressurized air inside the tire makes the tire resistant to outside forces trying to deform the tire. However, to a certain degree, it also allows the tire to deform a little. This provides the tire with a cushioning effect as it hits bumps in the road.
Here are a couple of popular pneumatic tires you can buy on Amazon right now.
Different types of pneumatic tires
Inner tube
A pneumatic tire with an inner tube
An inner tube tire means that the tire has an inner tube that will be inflated with air in order to prevent the tire from deforming. The tube goes inside the tire then it is inflated so that it fits snug against the rim. In order to get a flat one must puncture both the outer tire as well as the inner tube. These types of flats can easily be fixed with an old-fashioned bike tube repair kit or by replacing the tube altogether.
Tubeless
A tubeless tire doesn’t have the inner tube, it only consists of the outer tire that are air-sealed against the rim. These types of tires are commonly used on cars. Tubeless tires are mainly more heavy-duty, wear-resistant and more resistant to flats but are often much more complicated to fix. It’s not uncommon that you have to take the entire tire and rim to a professional tire mechanic to get it fixed. I used to work as one and let me say this, the smaller the tire the harder it was to change.
Advantages of pneumatic tires on electric scooters?
- Shock absorbing
- Low resistance
- Better grip
One of the biggest advantages of using pneumatic tires is their ability to absorb unevenness from the terrain underneath you. This provides you with a smoother and less bumpy scooter ride.
If the tires use the correct manufacturer’s recommended PSI(air pressure) they are superior to solid rubber tires in the way that they create less friction between the tire and the road.
Correct pressure also provides the rider with superior grip due to the fact that the tire deforms to keep good traction against the terrain.
Disadvantages of pneumatic tires
- Prone to flats
- Tire pressure
The obvious and most common problem with using a pneumatic tire is that they are susceptible to flats. Most of the time getting a flat isn’t the end of the world and they can often easily be fixed. However, there are circumstances where getting a flat or blowing a tire can be very dangerous and that is at high speed. Blowing a tire can cause you to lose control of the scooter.
Having good and accurate tire pressure can be the difference between having, good riding experience or a bad one. If you’re not using the correct tire pressure, perhaps lower than recommended, you are increasing the comfort of the ride at the cost of grip. If you use too much pressure you get reduced resistance at the cost of grip. That’s why it’s crucial that you inflate the tires to the manufacturer’s recommended air pressure which is measured in pounds per square inch (psi).
My air filled tire is flat, what do I do?
Like a car, you might think that you can go buy a tube of the “fix a flat” tire sealant and shoot it into the tire. An air filled tire that’s designed for scooters shouldn’t be filled with this type of tire sealant. Typically, (even in cars) a tire sealant is a temporary fix and should be replaced.
Solid tire
Solid, airless, tires are just that, solid. They are either made out of hard rubber entirely or tires filled with polyurethane foam. Both types allow for little to no play in their ability to deform. Solid tires are attached directly to the wheel and are sometimes called indestructible tires just because they aren’t susceptible to get a flat tire because you cannot puncturethem and they are tubeless tires. But that doesn’t mean they are immune to other types of tire damage such as losing a chip of rubber. The positive thing with these types of problems is that they rarely render the scooter unusable as would be the case of a flat tire.
Here are some popular solid tires on Amazon .
The advantages of solid tires
- Immune to flats because they are tubeless tires
- Less maintenance
You can ride unforgiving terrain without having to worry about getting a flat. You also don’t have to bother with inflating your tires or keeping the correct air pressure so these tires requires less maintenance.
Disadvantages of solid tires on an electric scooter
- Heavier weight
- Shaky and bumpy
- Less traction
Solid tires are heavier due to the increased amount of material used. Their solid more robust form makes them very bad at absorbing unevenness in the terrain which will, on rough roads, give you a very shaky ride.
Due to their hardness, there are less tire that meets the road. This negatively effect the tires grip against the surface.
Honeycomb tires
A honeycomb electric scooter tire is something that isn’t new to the market and isn’t widely used across the industry….yet.
The goal with honeycomb tires is to have a tire, just as the solid rubber one, that cannot be punctured while at the same time being able to provide that cushioning effect. Honeycomb tires utilize the same type of rubber as solid tires, but they are built in a way where air pockets are left open in the tire making them less stiff.
We are still in a very early stage when it comes to honeycomb tires but my guess is they will be widely used in the near future. However, as of right now the ones I’ve tested for electric scooters looks more like a solid tire with drilled out holes in them. This doesn’t give the tire that suspension effect that we’re looking for in a honeycomb tire. But military and companies have started experimenting with these types of tires and I expect better-designed tires to hit the e-scootermarket very soon.
These honeycomb tires are very popular for 8.5″ scooters such as the Xiaomi m365 pro and their lookalikes.
Benefits of honeycomb tires on a scooter
- Puncture-proof
- Cushioning effect
- More resilient
Honeycomb tires will provide you with the peace of mind that flats cannot occur. At the same time, they will give you a smoother ride than solid tires will and you don’t have to exchange them as often as a pneumatic tire.
Disadvantages of honeycomb tires
- No adjustment
- Pricier
- Increased resistant
With a honeycomb tire you cannot adjust them to your liking as you can with a pneumatic tire. Since they need more material to be created they are often heavier and more expensive than a normal tire. Honeycomb tires have less resistance than a solid rubber tire, but still more resistant than a pneumatic tire.
When is it time to replace my air filled tire?
If you are constantly having to fill the tire with air because the tire pressure is constantly low, then it is time. If you’re beginning to see that your tread is wearing out then it’s also time for a new one.
How do I determine the tire size?
Let’s say your rear tire has no tread left and it’s time to get a new one. You’ve got to figure out what you need to buy. Most tires (specifically air filled scooter tires)
Conclusion – What electric scooter tire is best?
I have always recommended that a pneumatic tire is the best solution for a electric scooter owners. This due to their ability to have their air pressure customized depending on the rider’s weight, type of terrain, and preference.
However, you need to evaluate the options for yourself and make sure that you are picking the right tire out of three for the rider and type of riding that will be done on the scooter.
However, I do see the need for other types of tires and I would say it depends on the what type of terrain you will be using your scooter on. I had a horrible road going to the store from the last apartment we stayed at. A pneumatic tire here would probably have given me a flat 50% of the time, so I chose to go with a solid tire instead. I didn’t have a single issue except that the riding experience was a bit bumpier, but nothing major.
I think we’ll see an explosion in the evolution of honeycomb tires over the coming years. You can already see lots of electric scooters coming out with honeycomb as standard. They will get used more widely and I would love to test a scooter mounted with a set of honeycomb electric scooter tires.
My conclusion is that I will choose a pneumatic tires 8 out of 10 times.
If you thought this article was informative, please leave a comment below! We also put together an in-depth article on scooter brakes if you’d like to learn all about them and which type of scooter brake is best!
