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Terrain, trail conditions, equipment, and riding style all play a role in choosing the right mountain bike tire pressure. But for everyday rides, or rides where we’re not sure what to expect, most of us have a go-to amount of pressure we prefer. What’s yours?
The results show that most people ride with a lot less pressure than I do, but I still use tubes. It would be interesting to see how much the pressure varied between tubes and tubeless.
I run tubes as well and am running low 40s. I’ve been thinking lately I’m running too high, but at the same time I worry about a pinch flat if I go too low, so I err on the high side. ha ha
I run tubes at 20 psi and I ride in the high desert that is rocky . I ride a hardtail so lower pressures is helpful . Now I am not riding super fast and that is more difficult to do on a hardtail . No pinch flats or rim strikes . Now I only weigh 160 pounds . I have actually taken the pressure down to 18 front and back to get a bit more grip in the loose dry conditions and so far so good .
kangaldog, funny and respect for honest yet very low tech/simple approach. Kind of my preferred method. Found a pressure I like and stick to it no matter what the situation is.
kangaldog, funny and respect for honest yet very low tech/simple approach. Kind of my preferred method. Found a pressure I like and stick to it no matter what the situation is.
At my Weight (180lbs) I typically inflate to:
XC/Trail Bikes – 21F/25R (most conditions)
Plus bike- 11F/15R
Fat Bike – trail/conditions dependent but typically well below 10PSI
What size tire are you running on your plus bike? I just put 2.6s on and I’ve been doing about 21 front, 23 rear — and I’m close to your weight. Maybe I should try going lower!
I’m same 180, run 2.25’s (EXO casing) on 25mm internal width rims and run 16-17F, 18-19R. If I run thin sidewalls to save weight I’ll run 1-1.5lbs more F and R to get rid of the sidewall squirm from the thinner rubber.
@dralbright On my plus bike I’m running 3.0 Maxxis. As for @MTBMike4111 running 18-19R I can tell you that is too low for me on my bike for way I ride (and I’m running Maxxs 2.35). I tend to push pretty hard on most rides and I’ll hit up to 3’ drops. At lower pressures I’d be very concerned about damaging my rims. One other note: if you tend to ride lower pressures make sure you check them before each rid as all tires lose pressure.
My god who in their right mind would use upwards of 40 psi in their tires??? Must make you feel like your teeth are going to fall out riding with tires that hard.
This 190lb clumsy 75yr old rides around 30lbs psi on my hardtail, 15-20lbs on the 4″ fatties.
Having seen Danny Mcaskill try to destroy the rims on his santa cruz, I no longer worry about my rims, I just keep enough pressure to avoid pinch flats.
These are great responses. I have been concerned about rim damage or pinch flats which is the main reason I do not go under 35 psi with my tubes. So, based on these responses, I will try 25/30 and see what the results are. Since I never had any rim damage or pinch flats at 35 psi, I might as well try and gain some more traction.
Practice the art of riding light. With elbows and knees, you have suspension to absorb inertia and preserve tubes, tires and rims! It does take time to get it down and for it to become automatic however, it preserves bikes as well as riders.
On my Marin Hawk Hill 3 with 27.5 x 2.35″ tubeless tires I run about 18 PSI front and 20 PSI rear. On my previous 2009 Jamis XCT 2.0 with 26 x 2.35″ tires with tubes I ran 23 PSI front and 25 PSI rear. Haven’t had any pinch flat/burping issues with either, though I weigh about 135 pounds.
Right, there are many considerations when it comes to finding the right tire pressure. However, knowing the average and seeing the range of pressures others run can give folks, especially new riders, a good starting point.
Wouldn’t it make a bit of sense to also ask what size wheels one is running? Surly these guys know that a 4 in wheel is different than a 2.25? and Tubes vs tubeless, but hey it’s just click bait
First published May 24, 2020 @ 6:20:00
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The results show that most people ride with a lot less pressure than I do, but I still use tubes. It would be interesting to see how much the pressure varied between tubes and tubeless.
I still run tubes so, 35 to 40 psi is good for me.
35-40 PSI? Wow, I only ran 30 when I was running tubes.
I run tubes as well and am running low 40s. I’ve been thinking lately I’m running too high, but at the same time I worry about a pinch flat if I go too low, so I err on the high side. ha ha
I run tubes at 20 psi and I ride in the high desert that is rocky . I ride a hardtail so lower pressures is helpful . Now I am not riding super fast and that is more difficult to do on a hardtail . No pinch flats or rim strikes . Now I only weigh 160 pounds . I have actually taken the pressure down to 18 front and back to get a bit more grip in the loose dry conditions and so far so good .
Squeeze with left hand .
two seconds spurt with my garage air compressor .
squeeze again .
start riding
kangaldog, funny and respect for honest yet very low tech/simple approach. Kind of my preferred method. Found a pressure I like and stick to it no matter what the situation is.
kangaldog, funny and respect for honest yet very low tech/simple approach. Kind of my preferred method. Found a pressure I like and stick to it no matter what the situation is.
At my Weight (180lbs) I typically inflate to:
XC/Trail Bikes – 21F/25R (most conditions)
Plus bike- 11F/15R
Fat Bike – trail/conditions dependent but typically well below 10PSI
What size tire are you running on your plus bike? I just put 2.6s on and I’ve been doing about 21 front, 23 rear — and I’m close to your weight. Maybe I should try going lower!
I’m same 180, run 2.25’s (EXO casing) on 25mm internal width rims and run 16-17F, 18-19R. If I run thin sidewalls to save weight I’ll run 1-1.5lbs more F and R to get rid of the sidewall squirm from the thinner rubber.
Wow, that’s way less than I would have run in a 2.25! You don’t get rim strikes with that? Maybe it’s time to drop down below 20. 🙂
@dralbright On my plus bike I’m running 3.0 Maxxis. As for @MTBMike4111 running 18-19R I can tell you that is too low for me on my bike for way I ride (and I’m running Maxxs 2.35). I tend to push pretty hard on most rides and I’ll hit up to 3’ drops. At lower pressures I’d be very concerned about damaging my rims. One other note: if you tend to ride lower pressures make sure you check them before each rid as all tires lose pressure.
Sounds reasonable for a bloke with a light riding style on a plusser.
@165, I run 11-14 with a 15 psi max psi. 27.5 x 3.hellyeah!!
My god who in their right mind would use upwards of 40 psi in their tires??? Must make you feel like your teeth are going to fall out riding with tires that hard.
They are using dentures??
With i45’s and 3.0’s 10-12 is good for a beanpole that rides light.
Q-Tubes SL 26 x 2.7’s fit perfectly and eliminate the tire swap drama.
This 190lb clumsy 75yr old rides around 30lbs psi on my hardtail, 15-20lbs on the 4″ fatties.
Having seen Danny Mcaskill try to destroy the rims on his santa cruz, I no longer worry about my rims, I just keep enough pressure to avoid pinch flats.
These are great responses. I have been concerned about rim damage or pinch flats which is the main reason I do not go under 35 psi with my tubes. So, based on these responses, I will try 25/30 and see what the results are. Since I never had any rim damage or pinch flats at 35 psi, I might as well try and gain some more traction.
Practice the art of riding light. With elbows and knees, you have suspension to absorb inertia and preserve tubes, tires and rims! It does take time to get it down and for it to become automatic however, it preserves bikes as well as riders.
Trek Superfly hardtail, Maxxis Forekaster 29×2.35″ tires, 18/22 lb/in² frt/rear, 160 lb body weight.
On my Marin Hawk Hill 3 with 27.5 x 2.35″ tubeless tires I run about 18 PSI front and 20 PSI rear. On my previous 2009 Jamis XCT 2.0 with 26 x 2.35″ tires with tubes I ran 23 PSI front and 25 PSI rear. Haven’t had any pinch flat/burping issues with either, though I weigh about 135 pounds.
Jef – Surely knowing preferred pressure without also knowing corresponding tyre width and rider weight isn’t particularly useful, is it?
Right, there are many considerations when it comes to finding the right tire pressure. However, knowing the average and seeing the range of pressures others run can give folks, especially new riders, a good starting point.
Wouldn’t it make a bit of sense to also ask what size wheels one is running? Surly these guys know that a 4 in wheel is different than a 2.25? and Tubes vs tubeless, but hey it’s just click bait