Following recent reports in Scootering magazine that some Schwalbe scooter tyres have suffered delamination problems where sections of tread either blister or, more rarely, come away from the carcass, the German manufacturer has issued the following statement.
“Any scooter tyre that is run below the maximum recommended pressure can be subject to delamination and/or tread separation. This can be further exacerbated when tyres are run at even lower pressures and/or exceed the maximum load and speed rating of the tyre.
Interim tests have shown that equivalent competitor’s tyres suffer from the same issues as Schwalbe tyres if run at too low pressure and/or at too high speed and/or when overloaded. In some cases, competitors’ tyres have experienced these problems at half the mileage of Schwalbe tyres during identical tests.
We recommend that consumers check and adhere to the recommended maximum tyre pressure found on the sidewall of the tyre, and its speed rating and load index upon purchase. This information can be found at www.schwalbe.com/gbl/en/produkte/scooter/reifen/produkt
“Do not follow scooter manufacturer’s tyre pressure guidelines.
“The testing of tyres takes a long time in order to replicate the conditions it will be subjected to. A tyre that is needed to be run at 100 km/h for 5000 km will take 50 hours. Other tyres will be run for 14,000 km at 90 km/h and so on. Consequently, it takes weeks for full reports to be issued, therefore a full conclusive test report will be issued in the coming weeks”.
In a further supplementary statement, Schwalbe advise that their 3.50-10 scooter tyres should only be run at a maximum running pressure of 47 psi if the maximum load over the tyre is 536 lbs. Recommended minimum pressure for the same tyres is: front 25 psi, rear 36 psi (with passenger 40 psi).