Being a typical source of grief for scooterists and cyclists alike, punctures and flats can be an easily avoidable occurrence when riding your Decent electric scooter with the correct tyre pressure for your situation.
What do I need to know?
- Having the correct tyre pressure will greatly improve your range and braking ability.
- For those who regularly use their e-scooters, we would recommend that their tyre pressure should be checked at least once a week.
- Tyres with a higher PSI may provide a more comfortable and less bumpy ride compared to under-inflated tyres. This will be dependant on the situation.
- Standard Decent tyres are rated for a maximum tyre pressure of 35 PSI, any higher than this will be run at the users risk.
- Heavier riders should generally run at higher tyre pressures.
- Tyres should be pumped up using a pump with a pressure gauge and schrader valve.
Why does it matter?
Tyre pressures really will affect the performance of both tyres and their lifespan also. Range, handling and braking performance will all certainly be partially dependant on the pressure you have your tyres inflated to. Running the tyres on your e-scooter at the correct pressure will lower rolling resistance and, in-turn, improve the handling and responsiveness of your scooter.
What pressure should I run?
Whilst manufacturers will recommend certain tyre pressures such as 35 PSI for the Decent e-scooter, however, the optimum pressure will really depend on the rider and environment being ridden in. As a rule of thumb, heavier riders should opt for a higher tyre pressure to compensate for the increased load. This increase should be fractional, as despite their small contact patch scooter tyres are relatively wide with a reasonable air volume, negating extreme pressures. An added bonus of this is that a tyre’s susceptibility to punctures is lower with higher pressures. Indeed in severe cases, running too low a pressure can result in the tube getting snagged between the tyre bead and the tyre rim resulting in a pinch flat.
These pressures listed below are the optimum for each weight group, however, these are mostly in excess of the manufacturers recommended pressures for the Decent e-scooter. We would like to provide individuals with all the information they need to make the best decisions for their own situations. Running the tyres on a Decent e-scooter at pressures greater than 35 PSI will be at the users risk and any faults which occur as a result of this will not be covered under the manufacturers warranty.
|
Rider Weight (Kg) |
Front Tyre (PSI) | Rear Tyre (PSI) |
|
50-70 |
35-40 |
40-50 |
|
70-90 |
40-45 |
45-55 |
|
90-100 |
45-50 |
50-60 |
But won’t it make the ride worse?
There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to tyre pressure and all is dependant on the situational requirements. You may notice that tyres may feel 'harder' when pumped up to higher PSI's, however, as long as they are run within their design window, the ride will be much smoother than that of a tyre that is under inflated. Of course, there are certainly uses of tyres that are at a lower PSI; the increased surface area of a slightly deflated tyre can be useful on rough or wet terrain, where it can be very beneficial to increase the grip level.
What do I need to check and inflate these tyres?
A simple bicycle foot-pump with a pressure gauge and schrader valve should suit most situations with the Decent X7 electric scooter. Due to the idiosyncratic design of electric scooters, it may be worth using a valve extension tube which will make this process a little bit easier, however, this is far from a necessity. If you ride your scooter a few times a week we’d recommend checking your tyre pressures every weekend, it only takes a couple of minutes.
If you have anymore questions after reading through this article, please don't hesitate to submit a ticket.