It's a debate as old as electric scooters themselves. Pneumatic vs Solid Tires. They both have their pros and cons but at the end of the day it will come down to a few factors. The main one being rider's preference. Today, we will help you decide on the right kind of tire for your ride.
Traction
First up is arguably the most important thing you want when choosing tires for your electric scooter, traction. Traction is the grip your tire has on the road. Pneumatic tires flatten with the weight of the rider on the scooter thereby giving you a greater surface area and providing better traction overall.
Furthermore, you can adjust the amount of air in your tires depending on the type of terrain you plan to ride on. If you're planning on riding off-road at all, pneumatic tires have been tried and tested as the superior option. Solid tires don't offer enough traction and zero suspension especially on tough terrain.
Winner: Pneumatic
Comfort
Solid tires have minimal give when riding. However, while riding on a solid tire you will notice vibrating, unstable, and sometimes shaky rides. They transfer the impact from every bump, crack, and pothole into your legs and arms. If you're lucky you will have some sort of suspension system to assist with this but even with that, the suspension will then have to handle the brunt of the impact.
Air-filled or pneumatic tires are able to provide some amount of suspension. In the aforementioned section, we also discussed how pneumatic tires offer some flexibility when riding. This alone gives them the advantage over solid tires. If you were to compare rides on a pneumatic and solid, on comfortability alone, pneumatic wins hands down.
Winner: Pneumatic
Cost
Your wallet will definitely notice the difference here. You will often have to purchase a tire as well as a tire tube with pneumatic tires. On top of that, air-filled tires are susceptible to an electric scooter riders most common and most frustrating problem, flat tires. There are ways to avoid flat tires but eventually your pneumatic tires will run over something too sharp and you're electric scooter won't be able to be used until you fix the tire.
Solid tires can ride over just about anything without becoming unusable. Most of the time, depending on how often you ride, solid tires will outlast their pneumatic counterparts. Just be sure to inspect your tires before you ride and after to avoid having problems during your ride. Whether you are riding on pneumatic or solid tires, just riding an electric scooter saves you money. Just be careful where you ride to avoid overly damaging your tires to ensure they last as long as possible.
Winner: Solid
Durability
How long a tire lasts factors into where you are riding, how long, and how often. Solid tires will handle the brunt of every impact as we stated before. They have minimal to no give in their rubber. Honeycomb tires, solid tires with air holes placed around the tire, allow for some flexibility but it is still minimal when compared to pneumatic tires. What's more is the fact that a solid tire will never go flat. It will take some time for wear and tear to render a solid tire unusable.
Winner: Solid
Conclusion
We seem to be at tie. That leaves it down to just one thing. You. Your personal preference and where you will be riding should determine the tires you use. However, we do have a slight preference for pneumatic tires, mainly due to the comfort and wider range of terrain you can ride on. Either way, whichever tire you end up choosing, please be sure to ride safely and always wear your helmet!
Ride Together. Ride GOTRAX!
