[Lee170]

I’ve just bought a new bike and have been out a few times on it, it’s ace so far.

I’m around 70kg and ride a 25c tyre, what pressures should I be running front and rear,
I am going out today to buy a gauge track pump as my current pump has no gauge.

Topic

[Simon E]

Batchy wrote:I’ve recently

Batchy wrote:

I’ve recently dropped my tyre pressures by about 5psi from 105 to 100 this is not a great deal but they really do roll better. So its well worth experimenting !

Try another 5 or 10 psi less and see what it’s like.

And always use the same gauge. It doesn’t matter how (in)accurate it is as long as it’s consistent.

[Batchy]

I’ve recently dropped my tyre
I’ve recently dropped my tyre pressures by about 5psi from 105 to 100 this is not a great deal but they really do roll better. So its well worth experimenting !

[crikey]

I was once talked into buying
I was once talked into buying a pair of Kenda tyres that were ‘so popular I’ve only got two left’, and I used them for a circuit race where it rained. I fell off 4 times in 4 laps on the same hairpin bend before finally admitting that perhaps they left a little to be desired in the grip department…

Every time I have a bath ( which is more frequently than you are about to suggest) I am reminded by the scars on my knee.

I mean generally; people don’t push the envelope of tyre performance to any great extent.

[fukawitribe]

crikey wrote:The idea that

crikey wrote:

The idea that people are testing the limits of grip on a regular basis is an odd one too.

You’ve not ridden wired Bontrager R1s then I take it 🙂

[rjfrussell]

crikey wrote:I don’t pump

crikey wrote:

I don’t pump mine up above an indicated 100 psi, and I don’t get excited until they begin to feel soft when I stand up to climb.

I think a lot of it is subjective/psychological, to be honest, and different people will have different view points- I ride wide tyres (28s) but I like them hard- any hint of softness- especially as crikey says, when standing to climb, and especially on a short sharp one- feels dispiriting; and whether, de facto in physical terms the softness it is slower or not, dispiriting is not good.

[crikey]

As I pointed out above, the
As I pointed out above, the chances are that the pressures people think they are riding at are probably not the pressures they actually ride at. I don’t pump mine up above an indicated 100 psi, and I don’t get excited until they begin to feel soft when I stand up to climb. Worrying about 10 -20 psi here or there is a bit too OCD for me.

The idea that people are testing the limits of grip on a regular basis is an odd one too.

[dottigirl]

As mentioned above, too-hard
As mentioned above, too-hard tyres can actually be dangerous – my housemate riding cheap 23s was complaining she was losing grip and felt unsafe. I got her to reduce pressures by 20psi and she says she feels much more confident. Her commute time has also decreased.

[fukawitribe]

ibr17xvii wrote:crikey

ibr17xvii wrote:

crikey wrote:

What is abundantly clear is that the modern bicycle geek spends far to much time arsing about with tyre pressures…

This seems to sum it up perfectly for me.

Run whatever you’re comfortable with seems the best advice.

I think the point of threads like this is to let people know what sorts of pressure they can actually use to get comfortable in the first place without fearing that their tyres will be ground into their rims on every bump or explode in shower of rubber.

Tradition has much to do with it…

Tradition

[ibr17xvii]

crikey wrote:What is

crikey wrote:

What is abundantly clear is that the modern bicycle geek spends far to much time arsing about with tyre pressures…

This seems to sum it up perfectly for me.

Run whatever you’re comfortable with seems the best advice.

[Mase1981]

This thread has been very
This thread has been very interesting.
I have been riding a road bike for 3/4 years now and only just started looking at optimum tyre pressures after a discussion with some friends. Always been running my tyre pressures at 120/130psi as i just presumed that was the fastest/most efficient level. What a div! I will certainly be dropping them down now though, so thanks all.

[jacknorell]

This chart may help with
This chart may help with figuring out tyre pressure base ranges, though YMMV:

http://www.bikequarterly.com/images/TireDrop.pdf

[700c]

BBB wrote:
There’s evidence

BBB wrote:

There’s evidence that at least in case of racing tyres, on smooth tarmac, pressure make almost no difference to speed.

No, evidence says that increasing tyre pressure reduces rolling resistance, particularly with higher quality (higher tpi) road racing tyres, which *should* lead to being faster on smooth surfaces. Of course rougher surfaces or poor weather conditions require a lowering of pressure.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/12/bikes-and-tech/resistance-futile-tire-pressure-width-affect-rolling-resistance_355085

Obviously this will be marginal, but that’s the context in which we’re discussing – a couple of mm differences in width, a few psi etc etc – and we’ve not even considered aerodynamic effects of tyre width choice on speed

It’s horses for courses, but if we were to simply say ‘lower pressure is better’, we’d better let all those amateur and professional track riders and triathletes know asap as they’ve got it very wrong indeed 😉 !

[Must be Mad]

It depends on the surface you
It depends on the surface you are riding on.
The roads round where I live tend to be very rough and bumpy – and I find that the wheels roll over the rough stuff noticeably better with 100+ psi.

During Winter or in the wet, I’ll reduce pressures to 90-80psi to trade off a bit of performance for a bit more grip.

[dottigirl]

I’ve had impact punctures on
I’ve had impact punctures on fast downhills when my tyres were too hard.
Now, I don’t ride anything about 80/90, and I’ll knock around 10psi off in wet weather.
(65-70kg, GP4000s in 25s)

[vonhelmet]

I run 90psi on big fat
I run 90psi on big fat Michelin Pro 4 25mm tyres. Very comfy, though it can be a bit bouncy if I’m putting the hammer down on rough ground.

[Author]

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