Equipment focus: Scooter and wheelchair Tyres

For enhanced comfort, as well as safety and grip, your tyres are an essential part of your wheelchair or mobility scooter and as with all parts, they should be regularly checked and replaced if they are worn or showing signs of cracking or splitting.

Having a good set of tyres on your wheelchair or scooter can help you to maintain grip over different terrains and indoor surfaces. The tread on tyres can vary and obviously if you intend to use over a more general outdoor surface, then a deeper tread pattern may be more advisable.

See this example of our black pneumatic scallop tyre, with it’s distinctive tread patter, designed to maximise grip of mobility scooters across both indoor and outdoor surfaces

As with all mobility technologies, over the years, tyres have greatly improved and today’s tyres are manufactured to extremely high international standards and they offer much greater performance and lifespan than their predecessors from a few years ago.

These improvements are down to better choice of materials, configuration of the layers of the tyre build and better knowledge around surface requirements and tread patterns to disperse water and maintain grip across multiple surfaces, including tarmac, carpeting and tiles indoor surfaces.

In choosing the right tyre for your individual piece of equipment, you should refer to the handbook of your mobility scooter or wheelchair, where you will find the tyre radius, width and other specifications to allow you to order a replacement with confidence.

If you have any difficulty assessing your tyre type and the model you need, you can make an enquiry to our team via our contact page, or by simply calling us on 0800 567 7222 where a member of the Mobility Smart technical team will be happy to help you.

Our tyre range falls into two main categories, that being solid tyres or pneumatic tyres, the latter usually having an inner-tube and needing inflation before use.

For pneumatic tyres, tyre pressure is an important factor, as under-inflated tyres will not perform as well as correctly inflated tyres. Over inflated tyres can also create problems in that the grip and traction will be greatly reduced if too little tyre surface area is in contact with the surface, due to over-inflation.

It’s always a good idea to check the correct Psi for your particular model of tyre from your equipment specification manual.

Solid tyres are as the name suggests, tyres that are made from a solid block of rubber, so they don’t require inflation, but it’s still important to regularly inspect solid tyres for wear and tear and potential cracking and degradation of the rubber, or loss of tread over time.

As well as tyres, inner tubes for pneumatic tyres are available to replace those that have suffered from punctures or that need replacing due to general wear and tear. Good quality inner tubes can maintain an even tyre pressure for your wheelchair or mobility scooter and they are generally very resistant to punctures and impact shock with correct use.

You can view our range of inner tubes here, we stock a wide range of models, so be sure to enquire about your own specific requirements and we’ll be delighted to answer any of your questions.

To see our full range of tyres and tubes, take a look at our main category page here. Keep safe and comfortable, check your tyres regularly and we’re only a phone call away if you need help or advice!