Knowledge of Bicycle Tire

Introduction:

Knowledge of bicycle tire is vital to every rider. The main functions of electric bike tires are suspended, balancing, turning, propulsion, and braking. If you failed to recognize the importance of an electric bike tire, it can completely affect the way your bike performs.

Basic knowledge Rim interacts with tubed Bicycle Tire:

Rim interact with tubed tire is a good knowledge of electric bike tire
Cross-sectional image showing how tire interlock with the rim

From the cross-sectional image of tubed tire:

  1. Rim
  2. Rim Strip
  3. Rim braking surface
  4. Bead Core
  5. Inner Tube
  6. Casing
  7. Tread

Basic knowledge – The function of the bicycle tire:

Adequate stiffness of bicycle tire is necessary to support the rider, while softness is desirable for cushioning. Bicycle tire stiffness of pressurized air. Pneumatic tires are superior in providing adequate cushioning (balancing and tuning function) while keeping rolling resistance very low (propulsion function).

The tread is the tire that contacts the ground to provide grip (assist braking function) and protect the casing from wear. Some tires have a dual-compound track that is tougher in the middle and grippier on the edges.

Basic knowledge – Rim interacts with tubeless Bicycle Tire

Tubeless tire commonly uses by mountain bikes and can use low air pressure for better traction without getting pinch flats.

Air is inflated directly into the tire, and once “locked” into the rim, the system is airtight. Liquid sealants are often injected into tubeless tires to improve sealing and to stop leaks caused by punctures.

The pro of the tubeless tire is that pinch flats are less common in a tubeless set up because they require a hole through the tire carcass, not just the inner tube.

The con of the tubeless tire is that air can escape if the bead lock is compromised from too much lateral force on the tire or deformation of the rim/tire due to hard impact with an object.

Road tubeless tires tend to be a much tighter fit than traditional clincher tires, making mounting and removing the tire more difficult.

Basic knowledge – Airless Bicycle Tire

The airless tire has improved compared to the earlier one but loses cushioning can damage the bicycle wheel and uncomfortable to ride.


Basic knowledge – Tire tread:

Smooth threads intended for on-road use, where a tread pattern offers little to no improvement in traction; slick tires have a light tread pattern, due to the common belief that a slick tire will be slippery in wet conditions.

Slick road bike tire showing from left to right is slick tire, semi slick tire and inverted tread tire.
Slick road bike tire showing from left to right is a slick tire, semi-slick tire, and inverted tread tire.

Knobby treads are intended for off-road use, where the tread texture can help improve traction on soft surfaces.


Basic knowledge – Tire Tread Directional:

Tread directional is the knowledge of electric bike tire
Tread directional is the knowledge of electric bike tire

Most tire tread patterns are directional so check there before you mount any tire. The indication mark is normally at the sidewall of the tire.

Basic knowledge – Front- and rear-wheel tire treads:

Many tires are front- or rear-wheel specific, so please check your replacement is a match, too.

Basic knowledge – Puncture-resistant bike tires:

Puncture resistance comes from tougher compounds (like Kevlar) and thicker tires overall. Expensive a little but worth to invest.

Basic knowledge – Studded bike tires:

Studded bike tires have steel or aluminum studs that provide traction for riding on snowy or icy surfaces.

Basic knowledge – Advanced rubber compound in bike tires:

Most tires use primarily one type of rubber. Soft, sticky rubber is grippier, while hard rubber is more durable. Some tires feature dual-compound rubber to combine those traits and deliver excellent speed, along with a better grip for cornering.


Bicycle Tire Dimensions:

Basic knowledge – lightweight tires:

Lightweight tires range in size from 19 to 29 mm wide.

Basic knowledge Middleweight or Demi-balloon tires

Middleweight or Demi-balloon tires range in size from 29 to 44 mm wide.

Basic knowledge – Balloon tires:

A balloon tire is a type of wide, large-volume, low-pressure tire, ranging from 51 to 64 mm wide.

Basic knowledge – Plus Size tires:

A plus-size tire has a width of 64–83 mm. Three bead seat diameters are available: 559 mm for 26+, 584 mm for 27.5+ (650B+), and 622 mm for 29+. They fill the gap between the balloon and fat tires.

Basic knowledge – Fat tires:

A flat tire is a type of wide oversized bicycle tire, typically 97 mm or larger and rims 66 mm or wider, designed for low ground pressure to allow riding on soft unstable terrains, such as snow, sand, bogs, and mud.


Application Knowledge of Bicycle Tire:

Application knowledge – rolling resistance:

  • Narrow tire gives the lowest rolling resistance. Apply for electric bikes means to save electricity use can go for a longer travel range.
  • Low rolling resistance is most important for racing bikes and hybrid bikes to ride faster with less afford.
  • A large diameter tire has lower rolling resistance than a smaller diameter tire due to rolling slower at the same speed.
  • Long-distance riding with 26″ to 29″ X 1.75″ Tire can go the extra miles.
  • 14″ X 4″ Fat Tire has the highest rolling resistance.
  • A low rolling resistance tire is meant for experienced riders or racers.
  • A 700c tire is the most uses by modern road bikes for its low rolling resistance.

Application knowledge – Better Stability:

  • Wider tires give more traction and a stable base, thus stability is better.
  • Wider tires are meant for a beginner, giving good balancing in the first riding.
  • When you have become a better cyclist, the narrow tire will give the same stability especially the electric bikes.
  • Tire overpressure becomes too rigid and loses cushioning, it is uncomfortable to ride and poor stability.
  • Narrow tires can cut through the sand, snow, and muddy surface easily but unstable due to poor traction.
  • The trend of the Mountain bikes goes for smaller and wider tires for better stability.

Application knowledge – Good puncture protection:

  • Solid tires are the best puncture-proof tires. Solid tires cannot provide any cushioning effect for riders.
  • Most riders prefer pneumatic tires that are effectively puncture-proof, significantly faster, and comfier. A pneumatic tire will never be truly puncture-proof – there will always be some chance that you will sustain a puncture.
  • Hard tread can increase puncture protection with a little loss in grip power.
  • The tubeless tires with sealant have better puncture protection than tubed tires but not guarantee a big cut. Top off sealant every 3-4 months. Tubeless tires help to keep some air for you to drive back.
  • Brightstone airless tires are non-flat tires. On airless tires, the suspension would be lower, resulting in a rougher ride. The QuietTrack airless tires cost about $133 per piece.
  • Kevlar produced by Goodyear makes tires lighter, tougher, and more puncture-resistant.
  • If you live in an area with lots of road debris, install tire liners could be well worth the weigh.
  • LT rated tires are stronger when compared to the P rated tires, you can get higher load ratings and more tire durability.
  • The GatorSkin is the ultimate wire bead tires for racing bikes where puncture protection is first priority.
  • At the TYPES.NET, you can find different sizes of Vittoria Air Liner Anti Puncture (it is a tube insert for tubeless tires) and in different colors. From customer reviews, it is expensive but it is a good choice for puncture protection.
Vittoria Air Liner Anti Puncture is the good choice for puncture protection
Vittoria Air Liner Anti Puncture is a good choice for puncture protection

Application knowledge – Best grip:

  • Best grip tires provide better cornering control, increase brake power, and less slippage.
  • Wider tires have more contact with the ground give better grip power.
  • Knobby tread tires improve grip power.
  • The tire grip in wet conditions is the most important to riders. The tire tread does penetrate the water film and to channel water away to prevent float.
  • With the lower pressure, the contact patch size increases. Also, with less air pressure, the casing and tread can filter more road vibrations.

Application knowledge – Braking power:

  • Increase wheel friction increases brake power.
  • Brake power helps to reduce distance travel after brake apply.
  • A powerful brake system can help to improve brake power to slow down the bike as control by the rider.
  • Riders should slow down the bike earlier in the massive traffic to avoid emergency apply the brake.
  • Riding bikes following road regulations are the better way to avoid the need of applying the emergency brake power.
  • Too frequent of applying the sudden stoppage of bikes caused excessive wear to the tires.

Application knowledge – ECE R75 Approval:

  • The code ‘ECE’ refers to Regulation number 75 of the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE). The ‘R’ refers to ‘reinforced.
  • ECE-75R tires might be fitted on speed e-bikes but it is not compulsory as long as the technically permissible maximum mass is less than 150 kilograms and the width of the tire is less than 67 millimeters.
  • There are ECE-75R certified tires in the market like the Schwalbe Energizer, Energizer Pro, Energizer plus, and Energizer plus Tour, the Continental Top Contact 2, the Kenda EMC Havok, Nevegal X, and Honey Badger DH.
  • In standard pedelec that has motor assist up to 25 km/h, there is no legal requirement for a special tire.
  • Tires with ECE-R75 certification valid throughout Europe for moped bikes until 50 km/hr.
  • Electric bikes run faster and use longer time than a regular bicycle, thus a tire for an electric bike needs harder tread to survive higher wear and puncture protection.

Knowledge of electric Bike Tire in the market:

The best road bike tires should be fast, light, supple, and resilient. The market now very much in favor of 25-28mm, the benefits of which claim to yield greater comfort, lower rolling resistance, added cornering grip, and better aerodynamics.

Tubeless Tires:

Tubeless is the way forward: they’re light, fast, can run lower pressures and the sealant helps reduces the threat of puncturing.

Bontrager’s R3 Hard-Case Lite road tires have been designed for speed, faster-rolling efficiency, and added traction. They also feature a longer-lasting tread-pattern design for all-weather security. The focus of the R3 range is appreciably durable and resistant to punctures largely contributed to Bontrager’s proprietary TR-Speed compound and updated Hard-Case Lite casing.

Continental GP5000 – With a choice of black or tan wall, and clincher or tubeless, Continental is the popular choice for racers. GP5000 is the fastest and most resilient clincher tire, Continental has ever produced. The puncture protection is handle by a Vectran Breaker layer, including adds another line of defense comprised of latex sealant.

Vittoria Rubino – An all-around training tire with exceptional performance. The plus point for Rubino is impressive levels of grip and puncture protection but the poor point is reducing straight-line speed. For electric bikes, we can achieve speed by throttle while Rubino is a good choice for puncture protection.

Vittoria Corsa – Vittoria’s most beautiful and versatile tire is now tubeless. With the four-layer Graphene 2.0 compound, Vittoria claims to have improved rolling resistance, grip, durability, braking performance, and puncture protection considerably over previous models.

Schwalbe Pro One – A grippy, super-fast tubeless tire geared for competition use. Schwalbe claims the Pro One tire is 25 percent lighter than its predecessor, including the added latex sealant for puncture protection against any holes caused by thorns, glass, and flint are quickly sorted by latex sealant.


Knowledge of symptoms to replace electric Bike Tire:

  • The bicycle tire has a distortion mark.
tire has a distortion mark it is time for replacement
The tire has a distortion mark it is time for a replacement
  • There are tiny slits in tires that help their grip on wet surfaces—is disappearing
The tire has tiny slits that help their grip on wet surfaces—is disappearing it is time for a replacement.
The tire has tiny slits that help their grip on wet surfaces—is disappearing it is time for a replacement.
  • The rubber of the tire has beginning to crack or flake off of the knobs or sidewalls
A Bicycle Tire with flake off of the knobs it is time for a replacement.
A Bicycle Tire with flake off of the knobs it is time for a replacement.
  • The bicycle tire tread appears rounded or uneven
The Bicycle Tire tread appears rounded or uneven it is time for a replacement.
The Bicycle Tire tread appears rounded or uneven, it is time for a replacement.
  • The bicycle tire has a thread pattern on the sidewall of the tire
The Bicycle tTire has a thread pattern on the sidewall of the tire it is time for a replacement.
The Bicycle Tire has a tread pattern on the sidewall of the tire it is time for a replacement.
  • There are a lot of small cuts that may contain slivers of glass.
The Bicycle Tire has a small cut that may contain slivers of glass it is time for a replacement.
The Bicycle Tire has a small cut that may contain slivers of glass it is time for a replacement.

Conclusion:

Which bicycle tire format is best – clincher, tubular or tubeless – personal preference is still the greater deciding factor, but like mountain bike tires, most riders and manufacturers are convinced tubeless tires are the future of mountain biking and road cycling.

Electric bikes run faster until 50 Km/Hr and use longer by the riders, a more rigid tire is required to stand the wear caused by speed and the weight load of the bike plus rider. The electric bike speed performance will not be affected by the non-flat tire since the speed of the electric bike is achieved by the motor with more consumed on electricity only.

You are welcome to tell us more knowledge about the bicycle tire or electric bike tire based on your experience riding the bicycle or electric bikes.

Looking for new tires for replacement – Visit to Tyre.net to purchase from the best price suppliers.

If you are interested to know some knowledge about electric bike motor, you can read the related post here.

Quote of electric bike motor..

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12 thoughts on “Knowledge of Bicycle Tire”

  1. Hi

    My best friend is a keen cyclist and he will cycle everywhere possible if he was allowed too. You see I live in a quite hilly area and it can be quite difficult to get up some of them. In fact, a few years ago it was featured in the Tour de France.  He keeps talking about how important it is to get the right Tyres, otherwise, you will go nowhere fast or worse develop a puncture. I can really appreciate the effort gone into this article, as you have clearly demonstrated the importance of getting a good tread.  It is amazing what goes into a   tyre design and I think in the future they will improve.

     Are these tyres easy to do an emergency repair on in case of a puncture?

    Thanks

    Antonio

    Reply
    • You have to use a tubeless tire then you have the opportunity to repair the leak by inserting a plug to the hole. But you need to ready a manual hand pump to top up the air.

      Otherwise, it is better to choose an airless tire or tire with an insert tube that is 100% puncture safe. Thanks for your frequent support given to my website.

      Reply
  2. Hello there, thanks for this wonderful information. I have been meaning to learn more about a bicycle for about two weeks’s now because I plan on getting one for my son and I don’t want to buy some poor product like the last one. Learning about this tire makes me happy because I can now carefully chose when I’m buying one

    Reply
    • Thanks for supporting and giving your comments again. 

      To choose the type of tire depends on where you stay and how you want to use the bike. For electric bikes, any kind of tire should not affect the speed except consumed more electricity only. For your son, it is better to buy an electric bike with a 100% non-flat tire.

      You are welcome to visit us or ask any questions regarding the electric bicycle.

      Reply
  3. It is wonderful nowadays that tires are mostly puncture-proof. I remember as a child my pet hate was having to fix punctures on my bicycle. Technology now makes the art of cycling so much easier.

    Thank you for this quick education on bicycle tires. It is great to know all the different options that one has when having to choose the right type of tires. One also has to look at how fast you need the bike to go, as your choice of tires makes a huge difference here.  For mountain biking do you reckon that a puncture proof tire is best?

    Reply
    • You are right the tire is wonderful with better puncture protection. More wonderful is this type of tire does not affect our electric bike speed except consumed more electricity only. 

      For racing bike and mountain bike, the first priority tire should be puncture protection. The best tire for mountain bike is ECE R75 approved tire. You can visit Tyre.Net to get any kind of tire with the lowest price from their website. 

      Thanks for your kind comment and support given to us.

      Reply
  4. Hey 

    Thank you for the indepth article, it was an interesting read. My first comfort came from the fact that we are talking about electric bikes, hopefully I can survive on those ones because manual bike is a real struggle for me. 

    Speaking of tires, I agree with you that amidst what you have presented what is best will depend on individual preference and mostly the use.. 

    Reply
    • In my opinion, a tubeless tire will be the best choice for puncture protection. A latex sealant has already been installed to seal the leak, which can help us cycle back to the repair shop. The latex sealant can help to keep low pressure to ensure that the tire still can hold our weight.

      Two types of tire are 100% safe from puncture. You can choose either one to use. If we are using electric bikes, there is no loss of speed except for some shorter travel range due to electricity use is slightly higher using non-puncture tire. Thanks for the support and give me your valued feedback.

      Reply
  5. Some tips for knowing when to change a bicycle tire Usually, based on tire wear and tire age, to determine the time to change tires. If you regularly use your bike, the tires will be in contact with rough surfaces, which can cause the tires to peel. Bicycle spikes have a very important purpose. It provides a better bite on loose surfaces like mud, sand, and rocks. You will notice worn sidewalls if there is uneven tread wear and bald areas on the right or left side of the bicycle tire. Chipped rubber, dull, dry, and brittle tires also indicate damaged sidewalls or cracked bicycle tires.

    Reply

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