One of the main ‘bits to get right’ when you’re shopping for a decent kick scooter is the tires. In this guide, we’re covering everything you need to know about electric scooter tires, inner tubes, and what you need to look for in a new scooter’s wheels.
Should you get air-filled tires or solid ones for your electric scooter?
One of the main things to decide when you’re buying your electric scooter is whether to get a solid kind of tire or an air-filled one. Both have pros and cons.
Different kinds of tires
There are also different kinds of both tires.
Two types of pneumatic tires
- Ones that have a removable innertube
- Tubeless tires (the same kind found in most modern cars)
Two types of solid tires
- Solid rubber tires
- Foam-filled, or tires that have air pockets of some kind
Why you’ll prefer solid tires
- Less maintenance, such as checking tire pressure.
- Won’t stop your journey if they run over a nail.
- You don’t have to swerve around broken glass.
Why you should go for air-filled tires
- A more comfy ride as the tires absorb cracks and bumps in the road.
- Better grip on road and pavement surfaces.
- They generally handle better in the rain, or when the surface is wet.
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Do solid tires wear out faster than ones with a tube?
One thing that you might have read on the Internet is that solid e-scooter tires wear out faster than air-filled ones. It’s easy to see why some people might think this, with air-filled ones offering more ‘give’ which could lead to a longer life.
However, there’s no evidence to support this and many users can get 8000km out of their scooter tires easily.
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Can they get a puncture?
Just like a car or bike, scooters aren’t immune to getting a puncture. A rogue screw can cause havoc on even a brand new tire. While older tires with worn rubber can wear away and get slow punctures or flat tires.
Dealing with slow leaks
At some point in your scooter’s life, you’ll likely get the dreaded ‘slow leak’. You get these in cars or anything that has air-filled tires. As the name implies, air will slowly leak from the tires and you’ll either have to continually top it up before each journey (a pain in the butt!) or…
Deal with the problem.
There’s a super quick and surprisingly cheap and effective solution though.
Puncture sealants.
This is a pressurized can of sealing gunk that you spray into the tire via the air inlet and it takes care of any annoying slow leaks. It’s available on Amazon and it’s one of the best inventions for electric scooter owners.
There are other sealants out there but this is the most popular one with the electric scooter community.
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How long do electric scooter tires last?
There’s a lot of variables that contribute to how much mileage you’ll get out of each set of tires but they generally do last a long time. You can expect anywhere between 1500km and 4000km before they’ll start to look worn. However, there are many outlying cases of scooter users reaching up to 8000km before they had to change their tires.
There are several things that will affect how long your tires last on your electric scooter:
- Your weight
- The terrain you use them on (smooth concrete vs gritty tracks)
- Which tires and tubes do you get
- Whether you’re a careful driver or a bit more rough ‘n’ ready
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When should you change your tires?
The rubber tires on an electric scooter will gradually go ‘bald’, the same way they will on a motorbike, car, or bicycle. Technically, you can ride them until the rubber disappears and the kevlar starts to poke through. But that’s not the best idea.
As the grip disappears, you run the risk of skidding and have less control.
It’s also unlikely you’ll get to that stage in a tire’s life without experiencing a slow puncture or a flat.
What typically goes wrong?
One of the most common problems you’ll get with an older set of air-filled tires is they’ll get a slow puncture. This is the same with bikes, cars, and anything else with a rubber tire with an inner tube.
What tires for off-road?
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Some tips for looking after your scooter’s tires
- Watch where you scoot – Whether your scooter has slid rubber tires or pneumatic ones, treat them the same and avoid dangerous areas and things like broken glass like the plague.
- Keep some spares, even if you don’t need ’em now – If you want to avoid downtime on your electric scooter, it’s worth splashing out on a backup pair and keeping them handy.
- Keep some sealing products handy – There’s a number of tube sealing products you can buy that can take care of minor problems like slow punctures in your scooter’s tires. Products like ‘Slime’ are a quick and effective way to fix a scooter with a puncture.
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Where do you buy a new set of scooter tires?
Most online e-scooter stores have a section for buying inner tubes and tires for scooters.
In the UK, you can also take your scooter into somewhere like Halfords if you prefer a more hands-on approach or aren’t sure what you need to buy.
You’ll need to know the dimensions of the tire you need, which should be in your instruction manual. If it’s not, do a quick google for ‘what size tires do I need for my [scoooter and model]? And you should get the info you need.
Are they expensive to replace?
You can buy ‘official’ replacement tires for your e-scooter or go for some ‘compatible ones’ which will be much cheaper. They’re generally sold separately and you can expect to pay around £20 per tire for a compatible electric scooter tire.
Can you replace your scooter’s tires yourself?
Changing either an electric scooter’s tires or an inner tube yourself is not difficult and it’s something you can tackle yourself if you have the time (and a few tools). While different e-scooters are put together differently, the process is pretty much the same.
- Let the air out of the tires (if they’re pneumatic)
- Remove the fancy plastic screw covers (or stickers)
- Unscrew and remove the plastic covers
- Loosen the nuts that hold the wheel in place
- Slide the wheel from the fork
- Use tire levers to remove the tire from the rim
- Remove the tube
- Then you can remove the tire itself and change it
There’s a good video here on replacing the tires on a Xiaomi M365
A common GOTCHA if you’re changing your own tire
If you get this wrong, you could waste a lot of time!
You can actually put an electric scooter’s tire on the wrong way.
Make sure you have the tire around the right way. There’s nothing more frustrating than doing it wrong and having to start again. It does happen though!
Do you really need tire levers?
Yes, definitely!
While there are technically plenty of things you can use around your home to get take a tire off the rim (we’re looking at you, dessert spoons) it’s really not a good idea.
Using the wrong thing will make an awkward job unnecessarily painful – literally in some cases!
Tire levers are safe and won’t damage your scooter’s rims or tube.
They’re also cheap. You can pick them up at a shop or in Amazon for a good bit short of a tenner.
They’re a good thing to have in your scooter kit and they should last a lifetime too!