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My Schwalbe tire has the marking 37-622, 28x1.40, 700x35C, 37/110-622 M/C 26B on it. I understand that 37-622, 28x1.40 and 700x35C are alternative ways to indicate the same size. (Why isn't it 35-622 or 700x37C though?)

But what are the /110 and M/C in 37/110-622 M/C, and what does 26B mean?


The model is hard to read, but something like '50 Energizer'. They are 'normal' inner tube rims and tires, not tubeless.

It's on a second-hand bike, so not sure about age, but there's not a lot of wear on the thread, so within the last 5 years I'd guess.

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3 Answers 3

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Sounds like your tyre is something in the Energiser range.

https://www.schwalbetires.com/Energizer-Plus-11101131

The 50 marking might be "E-50" which is an ebike certification claiming its been tested for ebike usage.

enter image description here
From https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/tour-reviews/schwalbe-energizer-plus-2015


I found one mention that 37/110-622 means

  • 37mm nominal width when installed and inflated
  • sidewall is 110% height of the width, so tyre will be about 41 mm tall when inflated. This depends heavily on the rim's internal width.
  • 622 is a Bead Seat Diameter of 622mm as per normal.

Further googling returns that 26b may be another rating system

  Code (weight/km/h)    26B (95kg/50km/h)

This was found at a motorbike tyre seller, https://www.maxiscoot.com/en/product/tire-heidenau-m4-2-1-4-16-20x2.25-m-c-26b-tt-86024

So I'm presuming that M/C stands for Motor Cycle, related to the ebike rating.

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    +1. Good job on identifying the tire. Knowing what the ink is supposed to say I can confirm it's indeed an Energizer Plus tire. It's not on an e-bike, but I suppose this is simply what the previous owner's LBS had in stock. Your answer provided enough keywords that I was able to find a complete wiki list of markings with links to official sources, I've posted a comprehensive overview based on that as an answer. It turns out basically all your guesses are correct :)
    – BrtH
    Mar 23 at 10:06
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    Is your height estimate from the bead seat diameter or from the outermost portion of the rim?
    – Paul H
    Mar 24 at 2:09
  • @PaulH the height of the rim could vary in ways that don't affect the tyre, so I'd guess the 110% is the height from the inside to the outside of the tyre when its mounted on a rim with the recommended internal width. Hard to measure cos it would be inside the rim.
    – Criggie
    Mar 24 at 2:26
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    what does testing for e-bike do? (considering that in most countries the "e" part of the e-bike can't really add any amount of weight or power that a human-powered bike would have) (Or are we talking about fully-electric bike, not just electric assistance?)
    – njzk2
    Mar 25 at 17:09
  • @njzk2 I don't know - such markings I only know of from car tyres. That would make a good new standalone question.
    – Criggie
    Mar 25 at 19:22
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For some reason the German Schwalbe website has much more information on this topic. https://www.schwalbe.com/technik-faq/e-bike/#zulassung

In short, it’s “fast eBike“ (moped) regulations for 45km/h or 50km/h mopeds in Europe which require certified tyres.

DeepL translation:

Our tires for fast e-bikes are marked as E-Bike Ready with "E-50". There are two different forms of approval that we use:

  • The ECE-R75 approval offers the advantage of a higher total weight and is recognizable by the special coding (e.g. "28B"), which indicates the maximum load and maximum speed, in the index column. The load indication is a number code given by the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA) (e.g. 28 = 100 kg), the speed indication is an alphabetical code (e.g. B=50 km/h)

  • Tires with an engraved "B" speed index on the sidewall are approved by the tire manufacturer for use on a fast e-bike, provided the total weight (rider + bike + luggage) does not exceed 150 kg. These tires can be operated both with tube and tubeless, provided they are approved for TLR or TLE operation.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

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    Good find! This confirms the information I was now able to find on the load and speed rating.
    – BrtH
    Mar 23 at 10:09
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    Not really "for some reason", Schwalbe is a German company and those are often not the best at providing all their information in more than one language.
    – arne
    Mar 23 at 10:41
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    @Holloway OK, Ralf Bohle is a German company after all. It just never made any tyres in Germany. They have always been made in Asia since the brand was created. "The German side of the business focused on development, marketing and distribution, while his Korean partners handled production." Mar 23 at 15:08
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    @VladimirFГероямслава So a company with the slogan "designed in California, assembled in China" is not really a US company?
    – dobiwan
    Mar 23 at 20:35
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    @dobiwan I have already acknowledged it is a German company so why are you asking? It was a joint German-Korean venture, the brand is owned by the German side. Mar 23 at 20:55
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The answers from @Criggie and @Michael provided enough keywords to find a comprehensive overview, the Tire code Wikipedia article. (Which seems obvious in hindsight, but somehow managed to evade both me and the answerers apparently.)

37/110-622 26B is an ISO metric tire code in the form of nominal_section_width/aspect_ratio-metric_diameter load_indexSpeed_rating. This code type is usually used for automotive tires. I suspect that the automotive code is added because this tire is meant for e-bikes, @Criggie was able to identify it as a Schwalbe Energizer Plus.

The 'nominal section width' and 'metric diameter' are obvious and have the same meaning as in the 37-622 code.

110 means an aspect ratio of 110% of the sidewall height to the nominal section width.

It is possible that - is used to indicate this is a cross-ply tire, in this position you have "an optional letter indicating construction of the fabric carcass of the tire". If it was a radial tire, as most car tires are, you would have an R here instead. It is also possible that it is simply meant as a separator.

The load index stipulates the maximum weight the tire can carry. 26 means a weight of 95 kg per tire (not in the table on Wikipedia).

The speed rating is a code from A1 to A8 and then B to Z that indicates the maximum speed at which the tire can carry the load specified in the load index. A B rating means 50 km/h.

The page also has a list of additional marks and specifies for M/C: "Only for motorcycle fitment". Calling an e-bike a motorcycle seems weird to me... but Schwalbe is better safe than sorry I guess.

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    “Calling an e-bike a motorcycle seems weird to me... but Schwalbe is better safe than sorry I guess.” I think it’s just regulations. Here in Austria fast eBikes (“S-pedelec”) are legally the same as mopeds. They can support you up to 45km/h and can have 4kW of motor power but you also need a driving license, insurance, helmet, braking lights and mustn’t use cycleways. The components (like the tyres) also have to fulfill certain regulations.
    – Michael
    Mar 23 at 10:17
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    @Michael I didn't think about speed pedelecs (as they're called in NL), if the tires are also meant for those than that makes sense
    – BrtH
    Mar 23 at 12:18
  • The reason for exceeding the current markings on regulations is that in the future the laws may change, which could obsolete all the current tyres if they don't comply at that time. So going overboard on markings will help avoid non-compliance.
    – Criggie
    Mar 23 at 18:23
  • Related - bicycles.stackexchange.com/q/47426/19705 Bicycle tyres are almost all crossply construction. Radial is rare, but requirements are bleeding toward motorbike requirements with heavy and powerful ebikes,
    – Criggie
    Mar 23 at 18:25

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