Originally Posted by
StephenH
...The tube is not intended as a structural component, but just as a bladder...
Technically true and debatable - Further I am not really sure what mathematical ratios apply for strength of a wheel increasing or decreasing with tube pressure...
I do know that when my tires are pumped up to reasonably higher pressure my wheels are in fact more stable - Two times I have had to re-true my wheels after riding them with low pressure - You can feel the difference immediately by simply testing different pressures in your driveway - When I was slogging my 286# on my old FUJI with old wheels I had to make sure I maintained pressure to the point I would check the pressure half way through my ride - But these are personal lessons learned for a touring FUJI road bike - I do not know if this applies to Mountain bikes or other styles - I did a search and found many threads in this forum about tire pressure but not any specifically to tire pressure increasing wheel strength - Might make a good future thread...