Bicycle & personal mobility tyres

Road and gravel share a 622 mm bead seat — the size traditionally written as 700C — and differ in section width and tread. The market has moved steadily wider: 25 mm is now the narrow end of road, 28 to 32 mm is mainstream, and gravel runs 38 mm and up.

Width is limited by the frame and fork clearance and by the rim’s internal width, not by preference. A wide tyre on a narrow rim sits in a light-bulb profile that handles badly and is more likely to burp air if run tubeless. Check the rim’s internal width before recommending a jump in section.

Gravel tread is chosen by surface: a fast centre with shoulder knobs for mixed surfaces, a fuller pattern for loose and wet. For road use, compare the tyre’s compound, casing and intended conditions as well as its tread pattern.

Three wheel sizes, three different bead diameters: 26 inch is 559 mm, 27.5 inch is 584 mm and 29 inch is 622 mm — the same bead as a road 700C. The inch numbers describe the outside of an inflated tyre, not the wheel, so confirm the ETRTO dimensions before ordering.

26 inch is legacy but far from dead: it is still the volume size across the older parc, hire fleets and budget bikes. 27.5 and 29 cover almost everything current, with tyre widths from about 2.1 inches for cross-country up to 2.5 and beyond for trail and enduro.

Front and rear are normally different. A more open, taller-knobbed tyre on the front for cornering grip and braking, a faster-rolling rear for drive — and many ranges sell the same pattern in a lighter and a reinforced casing for exactly that reason.

Puncture resistance is a priority for many commuters. Useful features include a reinforced casing with a sub-tread protection belt, a reflective sidewall for winter use, and enough section to run a sensible pressure over broken urban tarmac.

Discuss the balance between puncture protection and ride feel. A heavy protection belt adds weight and rolling resistance, and the customer will feel it. For a five-mile city commute in winter that is a straightforward trade; for a fast weekend rider it is not.

Most hybrids are on 622 mm rims, but older flat-bar bikes turn up on 26 inch, and some vintage machines on 590 or 630 mm rims that look like the same size and are not. Measure the rim if there is any doubt.

E-bikes are heavier than the bikes they resemble, carry more load, accelerate harder and brake harder. That shows up as faster wear, more punctures and more pinch flats, so the sensible fitment is a reinforced casing with a protection belt rather than a lightweight version of the same size.

The marking to understand is ECE-R75. That is the UN regulation covering tyres for mopeds and motorcycles, and it is the approval that applies to higher-speed e-bikes classed as mopeds — speed pedelecs — rather than to ordinary pedal-assisted cycles. A tyre approved under it carries an approval mark on the sidewall.

Manufacturers’ own labels describing suitability for e-bikes up to a given speed are internal designations, not type approvals, and the two should not be presented to a customer as the same thing. In Great Britain a standard electrically assisted pedal cycle has its assistance limited to 15.5 mph and is treated as a bicycle; anything faster is a different vehicle class with different requirements. Where a customer is buying for a speed pedelec, the approval marking is the thing to check.

Cargo bikes carry loads that ordinary bicycle tyres were never designed for — a loaded long-tail or box bike with a rider can be well over 150 kg, most of it over one wheel. The load rating and the pressure range are the specification, not the tread pattern.

Small front wheels are common on box bikes, usually 20 inch on a 406 mm rim, and they take a disproportionate share of the load and all of the steering. They wear quickly and are the wheel to check first.

Commercial cargo operators are a different customer from private ones: they run high mileage in cities, they cannot afford roadside punctures, and they will pay for a heavy protected casing. Sell them the reinforced line and the spare tubes together.

Children’s bikes are sized by wheel: 12, 14, 16, 18, 20 and 24 inch. The corresponding bead diameters are all different, and 16 inch in particular exists in more than one standard, so the ETRTO code matters as much here as anywhere.

BMX uses the 20 inch, 406 mm rim almost universally, in widths from narrow race tyres to wide street and park fitments. Race, street and dirt patterns are genuinely different products.

We stock popular children’s and BMX sizes to support regular trade replacement demand.

E-scooter tyres are small, heavily loaded and run at high pressure relative to their size, which makes them wear fast and puncture easily. The two mainstream sizes are 8.5×2 and 10×2.5, in pneumatic, tubeless and solid forms.

Solid and honeycomb tyres remove punctures and give back ride quality and grip, which on a small wheel is a real loss rather than a theoretical one. For a rental or fleet operator the maintenance argument usually wins; for a private rider on poor surfaces it usually does not.

Note the legal position when supplying: privately owned e-scooters cannot lawfully be used on public roads, pavements or cycle lanes in Great Britain outside the government rental trials, and are restricted to private land with the landowner’s permission. Confirm the intended use when selecting a fitment.

Mobility tyres come in two designation systems. Small pneumatic sizes are written in the traditional inch form — 3.00-4, also catalogued as 260×85 — while the European metric convention gives overall diameter and section width in millimetres, as in 300×55. Get the designation and the rim type right before anything else.

Pneumatic, solid and puncture-proof foam-filled versions exist in most of these sizes. For an independent user, a puncture is not an inconvenience, it is being stranded, so solid and foam options carry real value even at the cost of ride comfort. Wheelchair users on cambered pavements often prefer the pneumatic for exactly the opposite reason.

Regular pressure checks support mobility scooter range, tyre life and steering. Provide the machine manufacturer’s recommended settings with the tyre information.