Pressure in tyres

[eskyx10]

Hello.

I have been wondering what is the correct tyre pressure to run at. I have 26'' x 2.50 tyres.
What do lower and higher tyre pressures do differently.

Thanks

 

[BT180]

What bike are you riding and what sort of trails? Tubeless? Seems you may have a pretty burly bike if you have a 2.5?

Generally speaking the lower pressure you run, the better grip you have, but then your rolling resistance increases. You're also prone to pinch flats. Tubeless allows you to run lower pressures.

A higher pressure will lead to a faster rolling tyre but grip will be compromised.

I run about 30psi on the back and about 25psi on the front (with tubes).

 

[JTmofo]

What bike are you riding and what sort of trails? Tubeless? Seems you may have a pretty burly bike if you have a 2.5?

Generally speaking the lower pressure you run, the better grip you have, but then your rolling resistance increases. You're also prone to pinch flats. Tubeless allows you to run lower pressures.

A higher pressure will lead to a faster rolling tyre but grip will be compromised.

I run about 30psi on the back and about 25psi on the front (with tubes).

What he said ^^^^

I run 2.4" 650b Maxxis, with Procore at 15-18 psi. Dont care much about rolling resistance and very little of my riding enjoyment comes from XC pedalling....
Grip for the win. :cheer2:

 

[eskyx10]

Thanks heaps for all the info. Im new to all this my bike is an older model giant glory. I am running 35psi in them atm but will try different pressures.

 

[pharmaboy]

No one asked what your weight is?

If BT is 60kg running 30 on the rear and you are 90, then you are way different, even assuming same tyres.

It's a suck it and see problem depending on you. Find someone riding similar sized tyres, simialr riding conditions and simialr weight and go off them as your start point. Your range is going to be around 20 all the way to high 30's

 

[The Duckmeister]

Thanks heaps for all the info. Im new to all this my bike is an older model giant glory. I am running 35psi in them atm but will try different pressures.

Tubed or tubeless? That will affect how low you can go (tubeless can run lower pressure because you don't have the risk of pinch flats).

Too much pressure will have you pinging off rocks & things, and getting to know the local trees quite personally. Reducing pressure allows the tyres to wrap over surface bumps better, so your grip and control improve. You can generally run less pressure in the front, firstly because the static weight balance on the bike is rear-biased, plus you tend to lift the front wheel over stuff so are less likely to crunch it.

Try gradually dropping pressure. When you get a pinch flat or feel the tyres fully compressing & cruching the rim you'll know what too soft is & put a bit more back in.

 

[Three]

Takes time to find the pressures you like. Like what has been said already, depends on your weight and tubes/tubeless,

But for reference I sit around the 100kg mark and run tubeless with 2.5 front (24psi) and 2.4 rear (28psi) on 27.5 inch.
On 26 inch I seemed to run a couple psi higher front and back. No specific reason, it just felt right to lower it on the 27.5
Both tyre sizes were just from experimentation to find what I was comfortable with. Hope that's of some help for a benchmark to start at.

Cant give any help on tubes though. I've forgotten what pressures I ran

 

[robbie b]

if you have been running 35psi in the already drop it by about 2 pound each ride and see how it goes until you find your desired pressure, you can afford to run 2 or 3 pound less in the front but if your flatting or getting tyre squirm you have gone too low