What tire pressure do you run on your road bikes?/////////

[Penfold6290]

Re: What tire pressure do you run on your road bikes?///////

I run my 700 x 23C Michelin Hi Lite Super Comp HD at 110 psi (I'm 164lb or 74Kg).

They feel comfortable at that pressure and I have found them more prone to punctures at lower pressures.

Martin

 

[cotterpin]

Re: What tire pressure do you run on your road bikes?///////

As a general rule I put 100psi in the back and 90-95 in the front on 700x23 tyres. Two reasons, 1 most of the weight carried by a bike is on the rear wheel so the tyre deflection is the greatest. 2 A slightly softer front gives better cornering (and is also kinder on the hands).

 

[lewisfoto]

Re: What tire pressure do you run on your road bikes?///////

To be more faithful, the benefit of higher tire pressure, less rolling resistance, levels off at the same time that comfort decreases. if you look at the chart to find optimum pressure for your weight and tire it looks like my 80 lbs per wheel and 700x23 tires the optimum pressure is 90 psi just ten pounds less than what I was using.

 

[jonnyboy666]

Re: What tire pressure do you run on your road bikes?///////

a few years ago i built 4 Cervelo bikes for the yamaha utag team, the subject of tyre pressure came up, as they were using Zipp wheels most of the time they dug out some research that Zipp had done, and bear in mind that traditional TT thought is to get tyres to stupidly high pressure, 175psi! (although that is tubs), but the research said that after 125psi there is no further benefit, even in a tub, so now they stick to 125psi.

personally i used to run my 700x23 tyres at 120psi when i was alot fitter/younger/faster, these days when i ride road i'm at about 110psi just to give a little more comfort.

 

[hamster]

Re: What tire pressure do you run on your road bikes?///////

Jonny I guess that you have the same problem as me, which is all the cattle grids in the New Forest - curiously I run exactly the same as you, but drop about 10psi when it's wet (and if I remember).

CyclingPlus did some investigation 10-15 years ago and found that 23c was faster than 20c. The reason is that very narrow tyres get a long thin contact patch rather than a short wide one. This deflects the tyre carcass more, causing more losses.