Alternate tires for segways....

[cmonkey]

I'm currently using the Kings kt-962 in a 2.75-14.
They are a bit large for 170 fenders, and they needed to be shaved down a couple of mm.

Today I tried to fit them to a 180 and even shaved, it's a no go.
For a 180 you'd probably need a 2.50-14.

You can see how they fit from the link in my sig.

[KSagal]

I am currently using my Ketts (Chen shin 186) on my E and because I cannot find any more, I am using IRC Motorcross iX kids on my i2. I did not have good luck with the kings...




This shot from my gallery shows the chen shins...




IRC on the i2

[Madsegs]

Karl are the IRC´s comfortable or mainly for offroad? As compared with your C186´s.

[KSagal]

Originally Posted by Madsegs

Karl are the IRC´s comfortable or mainly for offroad? As compared with your C186´s.

I run them all the time, now, more because I only have one set of wheels, and I am too lazy to keep changing them...

THey are a tiny bit smaller than stock, so I would guess the affect the speed to the negative about as much as the ketts do to the positive...

They have a grippy ride that I like, but the rubber lugs are a bit too far apart for my taste, and they have that "Snow Tire" rumble. Not as bad as super ketts (183's) but not as good as regular ketts... as far as the rumble...

For grip, I would put them on a par with your ketts or maybe a point or two better... NOTHING seems to stop them, mud, wet rocks, grass...

In over a hundred or two miles, I only had one slip, (no fall, just that momentary dance we all know) and that was with one tire in soft sand that drifted onto the sidewalk... If I had seen it, or planned for it, I could easily have glided thru it, but it was in a blind spot, all the sudden I am attempting a gradual turn and one wheel goes into 2 or 3 inches of loose sand... Again, no fall or even close, but a momentary spin on one side, then perfect again... (Obviously, the perfect refers to the machine, not the man...LOL)

[Madsegs]

Found a way to get the MS2 more comfy and much quieter.
As the noise is from the centre row knobs which are far apart...
I ran the segway in power assist with one wheel jammed (to act as my lath) and used a small grinder (115mm) with a sanding pad on to remove 3mm from the centre row. This allows the first left and right rows of knobs to touch the ground at the same time as the centre.
I have tried my best to make a pic, a wet tyre on paper with no load. The original only runs on the centre track.
Hope this helps.
Make sure you grind straight and when done do some in reverse direction to make a cleaner finish. Grind/sand until you start to sand half of the left and right tracks as in the photo.

[Madsegs]

Though i would try my dunlops again andshave some off but it did not make much of an impact on the ride. Still a bit bumpy on hard surface.....
I will be getting 6 new models this week and i believe that i have a tyre to better the chenshins (Ketts), will update when tested. not listed on my first list as i have not tested them yet. the common problem is to fit the new segways and some problems on the i180.
Dunlops 756.jpg
Pic is of my dunlops, shaved but no real improvement as i had with the MS2´s. The dunlops also had a smudge on hard breaking on a hard surface so they are not as good out of the mud as the Ketts.
My Ketts have now covered +5000km and are showing a little wear and tear but they will do another 15000 easily. So far they are the best.

[Madsegs]

Segway tyres are 100/65-14
Most of our replacements are 60/100-14

First number is the width in mm so this meens that we are running narrower tyres -correct
The second number is the % of the width in mm - (so we are as in the case of the MS2 60/100-14 running 60/60mm)

The last number is the rim diameter.

So with a few calculation i realised that an 80/80-14 would measure 80/64mm wider than the alternatives listed (most) but almost exactly the segway hight. slightly streched to for the rim it should clear all fenders.........
Correct??
There are plenty of great 80/80-14 tyres around scooter slicks, reinforced, snow, medium , hard and soft compound.
Anyone tried some.
I have a few on there way to me and will post the results after testing.
Many manufacturers list 2.5 or 2.75 next to 80/80-14, i think that the 2.5 can be achieved (fitting all segs without mods) just by fitting it onto the wider seg rim? (Note: 2.75 only fits i167/170 fenders)

I JUST NEED MORE RIMS as i am tired of unmounting tyres that work in search of a better one.

[KSagal]

I see it differently...

I have aways thought that the tire size is backwards to what you mentioned...

100/65 - 14 is 100 mm wide, by 65% tall as measured in the sidewall. The 14 inch rim size seems to be what everyone aggrees to...

I have always thought that they do not measure the tire itself, as that would mean that extra thick rubber would measure differently than thin tires, and also, the actual measurements have never met the theoritical size...

I believe that they measure and report the air space within a properly inflated tire.

The tires that come with the segway have a relatively small amount of rubber between the tube and the road... Ketts or the many knobby tires have much more...

This is why people are finding more success with tires that are 100/60 instead of other sizes...

The other factor that is a major player is that we keep taking tires from the dirt bike industry. Those rims that are standard are much narrower than segway rims. The result of this is that the sidewalls on segway tires becomes less, because that space in the tire is consumed by the tread width.

I would say that you could mount a 100/60 dunlop dirt tire on both a dirt bike and a seg, and the mounted and inflated tires would have different diameters because they would have different widths...

I would further guess that an 80/80 tire would act in the following way... The tire will need to expand wider than designed. Currently, when we do this to the previous tires, it had the affect of flattening out the tread that wraps around the corners of a dirt bike tire. On the 80/80, the tread starts out thinner, and the sidewall starts out taller, so I believe the affect will be that the sidewall will be what gets shortend, as oppose to the tread getting widened. I would like to see this, but think that the user will wind up riding on the sidewalls more than we currently do...

I suspect that the reason we need a shorter sidewall (60 vs 65) is because of the thicker rubber of the tires themselves... If you were to shave the tire lugs down to the point that the tire was the same thickness of the segway tires, then you would not need to find a new size...

And, yes, I did do a lot of tire investigation before I found Ketts, and I really liked them, and should have predicted their loss of availabliity, and saved more for myself... I truely believe they are a special tire...

[ryan_walters]

Originally Posted by KSagal

I have aways thought that the tire size is backwards to what you mentioned...

100/65 - 14 is 100 mm wide, by 65% tall as measured in the sidewall. The 14 inch rim size seems to be what everyone aggrees to...

Isn't this what madsegs just said, just in different words? I believed that how madsegs explained it was exactly how it worked. Of course there are differences in manufacurers.

Originally Posted by KSagal

This is why people are finding more success with tires that are 100/60 instead of other sizes...

I think most people are finding success with 60/100 sized tires. I've never seen any tire that's close to 100/60 without it being a segway tire.

Originally Posted by KSagal

I would say that you could mount a 100/60 dunlop dirt tire on both a dirt bike and a seg, and the mounted and inflated tires would have different diameters because they would have different widths...

Yes, I would expect the inflated diameter to be less on the segway as a result of the wider (100mm or so) rim.

Originally Posted by KSagal

I would further guess that an 80/80 tire would act in the following way... The tire will need to expand wider than designed. Currently, when we do this to the previous tires, it had the affect of flattening out the tread that wraps around the corners of a dirt bike tire.

Lots of 60/100 tires are being used on segways. This is much narrower than an 80/80. It does strech the tire out wider than it would be on a dirt bike, and it does flatten out the tread that would normally be more round on a dirt bike. However I think this is actually good. A dirt bike can 'lean' going through corners, and needs the rounded tread. A segway isn't capable of this (unless on one wheel), and therefore the tire is always perpendicular to the ground. Flatter tread would probably help here.

I don't know for sure, but I think an 80/80 could work. It isn't going to be streched quite as much (wide) as a 60/100. If anything, I would think the 80/80 would be slightly too big. Might only work on 167/170 fenders. I've seen typical inflated diameters of 80/80-14 tires online. Comparing that to my own measurements, I think the segways tires are closer to a 90/65-14 or so. A 60/100 when streched onto a segway rim, is slightly smaller in most cases than the original. If the 60/100 was mounted on a rim it was designed for, a dirt bike, I think it would be slightly larger than the segway tire. It loosing a bit of diameter because of the wide rim helps. It's normally 60 wide, and 60mm high. Put it on a wide rim (~100mm), and it's less than 60mm high. Take an 80/80. 80mm wide, and 80% of 80 high, around 64mm. It's already very close to the required width, so it won't loose a lot of diameter upon inflation on segway rims. It's also 64mm high as opposed to 60. Might work, might not. Might depend on fenders.

What we really need is a tire, size either 60/100-14, or 2.50-14 that isn't a true 'motocross' tire. They're quite bumpy on pavement. We need slightly less agressive tread in the same size. The C186's (ketts) were this kind of tire; a trail tire, as opposed to a MX tire. Only they were only available 2.75-14, and as such pushed the limits of fender clearance. The C803's (2.50-14) I used in the winter are much less aggressive than a true MX tire, and only very slightly more aggressive than the C186's. Not enough more to be bumpy.

[KSagal]

I had missed the subtlety of the difference between 100/65 and 60/100. I did not realize the reversal in the numbers. I was only reacting to the 60 vs 65 affect. Sorry for that...