An overview of the different tire types on our electric scooters

Our Levy electric scooters come with the option of standard tires that contain inner tubes, tubeless tires, and solid rubber tires.  There are tradeoffs to each of them, and we don't recommend one over the other, but rather leave it up to your personal preference. 

Tubed Tires

The most common set up found on electric scooters and bicycles, they use an inner tube to inflate pressure inside the tire.  The main issue with inner tubed tires is in dealing with flats, as it will require you to remove the wheel / tire and replace the inner tube (or patch it) in order to resolve the issue of a punctured tube. 

The benefit here, however, is that you don't need to replace the whole tire in addition to the tube, as long as the puncture point is relatively small and not a large gash.  Just replacing the inner tube (which is cheaper) will suffice. You also can inflate inner tubes with a standard bicycle pump, as it doesn't require the high pressure needed to properly install.

Tubeless Tires

Tubeless tires provide the same pneumatic shock absorption as tubed tires (as they are also air filled), with the added benefit that they can be easier to maintain (provided you have the right tools). 

When a tubeless tire develops a puncture, which will inevitably happen over a long enough time horizon owning an electric scooter, it can usually be repaired without having to remove the wheel or tire.  

Since tubeless tires don't use inner tubes, and instead rely on a vacuum tight air seal around the rim of the wheel, you can often repair the tire puncture by using tire slime or other tire sealants to stop the leak. However, using tire sealant requires the valve of the tire to be removed, thus fully deflating the tire and unseating it from the rim.  

To re-inflate the tire and properly set the bead of the tire around the rim, you will need a high pressure air compressor, usually only found in bike shops.  A pressure of at least 120 PSI is needed to inflate these - as outlined in our install video here.

It's important to top up the tire pressure often, at least every other week when riding frequently.  Riding on low PSI can cause your tires to more easily puncture on develop leaks around the sidewall. 

Solid Rubber Tires

The main benefit of solid tires is that they are puncture proof and require no maintenance.  However, because they are not pneumatic, these tires do not provide any shock absorption compared to air filled tires.  

With solid tires the ride won't be quite as smooth, especially if you are riding on rough pavement.  Additionally, since these tires don't provide as much natural grip as air-filled tires, traction on wet surfaces will be reduced. 

Converting Tubeless tires to Tubed Tires

If you have a scooter with tubeless tires and want to convert it to use inner tubes, it is possible.  We have inner tubes available on our website that can be purchased and installed on a wheel that is currently using a tubeless tire.  To install the tube, you'll have to remove the tire from the rim, place the inner tube around the wheelbase, and re-seat the tire onto the rim.  

Converting the pneumatic tires to Solid Tires

Solid tires can be retrofitted on existing wheels that are currently using the tubeless or tubed tires, for both the 8.5" and 10" models.  We recommend having them installed by an experienced mechanic, as they require the proper tools and heating methods to put on your rims.